13 May Tribune Media To Unveil WGN Radio Walk Of Fame
Part of year-long 90th anniversary celebrations
This year, WGN Radio celebrates 90 years of growing up in Chicago. On June 1, 1924, the Chicago Tribune converted the operations that had formerly been WDAP to WGN, with the new call letters paying homage to the “World’s Greatest Newspaper.” WGN quickly proved itself a pioneer in radio and went on to establish several broadcasting “firsts,” such as the Memorial Day 500 (later known as the Indy 500), the Kentucky Derby, and the live courtroom proceedings of the Scopes Monkey Trial.
Throughout June 2014, the station will honor its rich history with several commemorative projects, videos, “Throwback Thursday” social media posts, and on-air programming featuring highlights throughout the decades.
The anniversary celebration culminates on Friday, June 27 when Tribune Media unveils the “WGN Radio Walk of Fame”. Plaques will be installed outside the Allstate Showcase Studio at the Tribune Tower, 435 N. Michigan Avenue. The 2014 induction will recognize ten beloved and legendary hosts from the station’s long list of distinguished talent including: Jack Brickhouse, Bob Collins, Roy Leonard, Judy Markey, Spike O’Dell, Kathy O’Malley, Wally Phillips, Milt Rosenberg, Quin Ryan and Orion Samuelson. Bios and career highlights of the inductees can be found at wgnradio.com. The ceremony will broadcast live from 11:30am-1pm, followed by an anniversary special broadcast, “90 years in 90 minutes” from 1pm-2:30pm.
“Our inaugural Walk of Fame class represents all nine decades of WGN Radio’s life in Chicago,” said Todd Manley, Vice President of Content at WGN Radio. “We look forward to honoring even more names who have helped make us the fencepost of conversation for 90 years.”
Additional details regarding the ceremony and events will be announced in the coming weeks and available at wgnradio.com/90thanniversary.
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TRIBUNE MEDIA COMPANY is home to a diverse portfolio of television and digital properties driven by quality news, entertainment and sports programming. TRIBUNE MEDIA is comprised of Tribune Broadcasting’s 42 owned or operated local television stations reaching 50 million households, national entertainment network WGN America, available in 72 million households, Tribune Studios, and Tribune Digital Ventures, including the websites Zap2it and TVByTheNumbers, and Gracenote, one of the world’s leading sources of TV and music metadata powering electronic program guides in televisions, automobiles and mobile devices. TRIBUNE MEDIA also includes Chicago’s WGN-AM, the national multicast networks Antenna TV and THIS TV. Additionally, the company owns and manages a significant number of real estate properties across the U.S. and holds other strategic investments in media.
Media contact:
WGN Radio
Morgan Sharar-Stoppel
mshararstoppel@wgnradio.com
312-222-5098