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Bob
Shomper named Program Director of WGN Radio, Chicago
 CHICAGO,
June 8, 2006 – WGN Radio today named veteran radio programming
executive Bob Shomper program director of Chicago’s WGN Radio
(720 AM), effective July 5. Shomper comes to WGN from the operations
manager/program director position at ABC-owned WBAP-AM in Dallas/Ft.
Worth.
"Bob is
a seasoned broadcaster with vast experience in the news-talk-sports
format. His success in working with talent at a major market news/talk
station makes him an excellent fit for WGN," said Tom Langmyer,
vice president/general manager of WGN Radio. "Having grown
up listening to WGN in the Quad Cities, he understands the unique
bond WGN has with its listeners throughout the Midwest." Langmyer
conducted the search for the new program director.
Shomper, a native
of Davenport, Iowa, joined WBAP-AM in 1999. Previously, he was program
director at KKOB-AM in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Earlier in his career,
he programmed KARN-AM/FM in Little Rock, Arkansas, WTSO-AM in Madison,
Wisconsin and WOC-AM in Davenport (where he worked alongside WGN’s
Spike O’Dell, who worked at WOC’s sister station).
“When Spike O’Dell left the Quad-Cities in 1987 to go
to WGN, he grew from star to living legend. That’s the kind
of place WGN is,” said Shomper. "I’ve been blessed
to share in the success of some of America’s great broadcasting
companies and heritage radio stations like ABC and WBAP. I’m
honored to now be a part of the Tribune Company and the legendary
WGN.”
Shomper holds
a bachelor’s degree from Augustana College in Rock Island,
Illinois. He was a nominee for Radio & Records magazine’s
“News/Talk Program Director of the Year” honor in 2006.
He serves as chairman of the Dallas-Ft. Worth Amber Alert Task Force,
where the Amber Plan originated in 1997 following the death of 9-year
old Amber Hagerman
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Tribune-owned
WGN Radio (720 AM) is a 50,000-watt station with a format of talk,
news, and sports. The Voice of Chicago for over eighty years, WGN
Radio is also the voice of the Chicago Cubs and Northwestern University
football and basketball. As Chicago’s top rated station, WGN
Radio’s powerful signal reaches thirty-eight states and Canada.
TRIBUNE (NYSE:TRB)
is one of the country’s top media companies, operating businesses
in publishing and broadcasting. It reaches more than 80 percent
of U.S. households and is the only media organization with newspapers,
television stations and websites in the nation’s top three
markets. In publishing, Tribune operates 11 leading daily newspapers
including the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune and Newsday, plus
a wide range of targeted publications. The company’s broadcasting
group operates 26 television stations, Superstation WGN on national
cable, Chicago’s WGN-AM and the Chicago Cubs baseball team.
Popular news and information websites complement Tribune’s
print and broadcast properties and extend the company’s nationwide
audience.
MEDIA CONTACT:
Lori Brayer
WGN Radio
312-222-4751
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