Chicago Radio: Report..Kathy Hart Not Returning To WTMX

Kathy and Eric

Kathy Hart has been missing since late April from the top-rated morning show she co-hosts with Eric Ferguson. “The Eric & Kathy Show” on HotAC WTMX 101.9 FM for the past 20-years.  The show has been a ratings juggernaut for Hubbard Radio for more than 20 years.

So what’s new? According to longtime Chicago Media writer Robert Feder, this week marked the end of Hart’s personal leave of absence under the Family and Medical Leave Act, which permits employees to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave for family and medical reasons.

Feder reports the company is hoping to resolve the matter once and for all in the coming days. With Hart’s contract up in December, there’s strong speculation of a financial settlement and a parting of the ways.

Even with Hart out of The Mix for three months, ratings for the morning show have not suffered. If anything, there’s been an easing of tension in the studio that’s been discernible to longtime “Eric & Kathy” listeners. Ferguson leads a seasoned ensemble cast that includes Melissa McGurren, Brian “Whip” Paruch, John Swanson and Cynthia DeNicolo.

It was only last November that the duo was inducted in the National Radio Hall of Fame.

People at the station seem as baffled by the turn of events as everyone else.

“Whatever has happened has been Kathy’s choice,” one insider said. “It’s a scenario that she created — leaving, not coming back, not responding, not having contact with anybody. No one did that to her. It’s all been a strategic choice on her part. And nobody here knows why.”