Chicago Radio: DeCastro Vows ‘No More Taped Shows’

Anticipated changes at WGN 720 AM come not long after de Castro announced he’d reunite with Tribune Co.’s president of local broadcasting Larry Wert in May. The duo ruled Chicago’s radio roost back in their days at the Loop WLUP-97.9. WGN-AM personalities Garry Meier and Jonathan Brandmeier, and Steve Dahl are Loop alums as well.

Could Dahl be in the mix for the station’s new lineup?

Steve Dahl

“No one has made me an offer I can’t refuse, and I’m presently very content growing my podcast network every day,” Dahl told the Sun-Times via email.

De Castro recently said the AM station was in need of change: “We need to be the station that’s newsbreaking. We are live, local 24/7. No more taped shows. We will be doing what Chicagoans are asking and conversing about and telling us about. That will be the content of the station.”

For years, WGN-AM has struggled to increase ratings in key demographics, particularly among listeners in the advertiser-coveted age bracket of 25 and 54.