If the bosses of WMVP-AM (1000) have their way, they'll soon bereplacing their afternoon sports talk team of Bill Simonson and LouCanellis with Dan McNeil and Harry Teinowitz.
Bob Snyder, station manager of ESPN Radio 1000, confirmed Thursdaythat he is in serious negotiations with McNeil, who co-hostedafternoons at rival WSCR-AM (670) for nine years before his fallingout with management last November.
McNeil already has a foot in the door as a fill-in weekend host onESPN Radio Network. Teinowitz has held a variety of on-air roles atthe station.
"The Huge Show," hosted by Simonson and Canellis from 3 to 6 p.m.Monday through Friday, has been targeted because it is the onlylocally produced show on the station's weekday lineup and because itsratings have been a chronic disappointment.
"I am very anxious to begin taking a proactive approach to turningthis station around," Snyder said. "While we will never be solely inthe ratings game, our commitment to our advertisers and to the ESPNRadio Network must be to maximize our numbers. We are always lookingat ways we can do that."
The likelihood of his imminent ouster didn't upset the usuallyvolatile Simonson. One way he already began planning ahead was bymeeting earlier in the week with Fox Sports Radio in Los Angeles.
"Chicago has been great to me, but I understand the situation,"Simonson said. "With us being the only local show (on ESPN Radio1000), we're the only place they could make a change in order tokickstart the station. We're victims of corporate maneuvering.
"Ultimately, if they have to make that change, I would just hopethat another station would understand the value of our show."
With winter ratings due out Monday, Arbitron's fall survey showedESPN Radio 1000 tied for 27th place with a 0.9 share and a cumulativeweekly audience of 307,000.
Tracking: Channel 11 executive to retire
Andy Yocom announced Thursday that he plans to retire at the endof June after 22 years in management positions at Chicago's Window tothe World Communications (and more than 38 years in broadcasting).His most recent titles were senior vice president of cross mediacontent and senior vice president for broadcasting at publictelevision WTTW-Channel 11 and WFMT-FM (98.7).
Calling Yocom "the quintessential builder," WTTW boss Dan Schmidtsaid: "His astute management skills, in-depth knowledge ofbroadcasting and intimate understanding of our audiences made him aninvaluable player within our organization."
Sun-Times columnist Richard Roeper has called it quits after sevenyears as a contributing commentator to WFLD-Channel 32's morning newsshow. Roeper, who also teamed up with Rick Kogan for a weekly segmenton the show called "The Media Creatures," won two Chicago Emmy Awardsfor his work at the Fox station. (That was before Channel 32pitifully dumbed down the product.)
While continuing to host his nationally syndicated movie-reviewshow with Roger Ebert, Roeper has not ruled out another televisiondeal in the near future.
Scott Craig, Chicago's acclaimed producer/director of televisiondocumentaries, has had two of his national series, "The Good Life"and "Extreme Homes," renewed for fall by HGTV cable network.
Dialing: Radio Hall of Fame lists nominees
Paul Harvey's "The Rest of the Story" (created and written by hisson, Paul Harvey Aurant), syndicated talk show host and ex-Chicagoradio newsman Jim Bohannon and National Public Radio jazz host MarianMcPartland top the 2001 nominees announced Thursday for the RadioHall of Fame.
Local personalities nominated include Ron Chapman of Dallas, DickPurtan of Detroit, Scott Shannon of New York and Bob "Mr. Baseball"Uecker of Milwaukee.
In the pioneer categories, nominees are Mason Adams, Eddie"Rochester" Anderson, Douglas Edwards, Walter Winchell, Walter Brine,Jack Carney, Ed Dickinson and Joey Reynolds.
Radio Hall of Fame induction ceremonies will be Nov. 3 during anational broadcast at the Chicago Cultural Center.
Nick Digilio and Garry Lee Wright fill in all next week for WGN-AM (720) overnight hosts Steve King and Johnnie Putman.
Funeral services will be Saturday for Al Urbanski, a productionengineer at WJMK-FM (104.3) and a veteran of WLS-AM (890) and theformer WCFL. He died Wednesday at age 71.
Robert Feder's column appears Tuesday through Friday.
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