Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Chicago Radio: WGN Launches Sports Talker The Game

Chicago, which has one NFL football team and two major league baseball teams, now has three all-sports radio stations.

According to the Chicago Tribune, just after 1 p.m. Monday, at 87.7 FM, the alternative rock station playing the Beastie Boys gave way to Griff & Quigs, a sports show hosted by Howard Griffith and Alex Quigley.

The new station, known as "The Game" and operated by Tribune Co.'s WGN 720 AM moves the conversation about the Bears, the Bulls and Da Coach to the FM band.  The Game will take on WSCR 670 AM and WMVP 1000 AM.

WGN Radio President and General Manager Jimmy de Castro said the station will also focus on culture, music, movies and other buzz surrounding the sports world.

While the lineup card may change, former WGN 720 AM morning host Jonathon Brandmeier is set to run the morning show from 6 to 9 a.m. along with Buzz Killman. Longtime WGN-AM sports talk host David Kaplan, who agreed to a multiyear deal in December, will shift to the FM station from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., co-hosting until noon with Chicago Tribune sports columnist David Haugh.

WGWG-LP  87.7 FM Blue 35dBu Coverage Area
The rest of the day includes Griffith and Quigley from 1 to 3 p.m.; former ESPN 1000 teammates Harry Teinowitz and Spike Manton from 3 to 7 p.m.; Mark Carman from 7 to 10 p.m.; and NBC Sports Radio programming overnight.

The station is also planning on hiring several women as hosts, two of whom, with Comcast and ESPN, are under contract, de Castro said, though declining to identify them. The two will likely be announced this week.

Having an FM station means WGN won't need to farm out broadcasts of concurrently scheduled Blackhawks and Cubs games; one can air on each station.

Tribune Co., which also owns the Chicago Tribune, announced plans Friday to operate WGWG-LP, technically a low-powered TV station that can be heard at 87.7 FM, through a lease with its owner, Los Angeles-based Venture Technologies Group. It became available after Cumulus Media took over operations last month of WLUP-FM 97.9 (The Loop) and WIQI-FM 101.1 from Merlin Media.

The alternative rock station heard on 87.7 moved back to its previous home, at 101.1 FM.

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