Pleased to rid themselves of financial albatross Chicago Cubs at the end of this year, WGN-AM is poised to replace team broadcasts with even more boring programming after the station was outbid last week by CBS-owned WBBM for Cubs broadcast rights.
Among new programs under consideration is a show where abrasive mortgage lending mogul David Hochberg hurls insults at callers with those who break into tears winning such prizes as an autographed photo of the station’s “Mr. Fix-It,” Lou Manfredini, who hosts his own snooze-fest on Saturday mornings.
Disgraced former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich will host a program about politics called “Rod’s Ramblings” while broadcasting remotely from his cell in a Colorado prison where he is serving a 14-year sentence. Because he now works only 14 hours each day, sports talker David Kaplan will co-host.
“If I could put Bob Sirott and Marianne Murciano on air 24 hours every day, I’d do it,” the station’s president and GM Jimmy deCastro said. “Fact is, there is a huge audience out there pining for the return of Milt Rosenberg along with Steve and Johnny.”
Added deCastro: “Sure it’s all boring as hell, but at least it’s not losing millions of dollars a year for us like the Cubs were.”
