Chicago Radio: John Howell's Deal Calls For Country Show

John Howell

When Big John Howell starts Monday at WLS 890 AM, Chicago listeners can expect to hear traffic reporter Jen DeSalvo.  DeSalvo was priously, providing afternoon traffic reports on WLS 94.7 FM, according to Chicago Media writer Robert Feder.

Feder also reports that Howell's deal with Cumulus calls for him to host and produce a weekly show for syndication by West One.

Jen DeSlavo

Before he shifted to talk radio at Salem Communications WIND 560 AM in 2006, Howell, 54, spent 17 years spinning country music at CBS Radio WUSN 99.5 FM. From 1999 to 2006, he hosted “Country Gold,” a live, five-hour weekly request show syndicated by Westwood One to 125 stations nationwide.

“Part of what made the WLS offer attractive to John was the opportunity to create long-form country content,” a source familiar with the Cumulus Media deal told Feder. “No matter how much Salem wanted to keep him, that wasn’t something they could ever match.”