Cumulus News/Talk 890 WLS Chicago is adding Bob Sirott & Marianne Murciano to fill the late morning opening created by the cancellation of Jonathon Brandmeier’s syndicated show.
Sirott & Murciano have a long history in the Chicago market. Sirott previously worked at WLS from 1973 to 1980 during the station’s CHR heyday before moving to television including a five year run with the CBS network as a Chicago based reporter. In 1994 he was named co-anchor of WFLD-TV’s “Fox Thing In The Morning” where he was first paired with Murciano. By 1999 the couple married. The couple would host weekend shows at 105.9 WCKG and 720 WGN before moving to 12-3pm at WGN in 2013 until their exit in September 2015. They have been doing some fill-ins anchoring election coverage for WLS.
Along with the addition of Sirott & Murciano, WLS will make a few other schedule adjustments. Morning hosts Big John Howell and Ramblin Ray Stevens will move from 5-9am to 6-10am. Rush Limbaugh will move to a one-hour delay airing from 12-3pm which will bump afternoon host Steve Dahl from 2-6pm to 3-7pm. The syndicated Mark Levin moves to 9pm-12am replacing Michael Savage. The vacant 7-9pm slot on nights when there is no Chicago Bulls or White Sox games will be filled in the near future.
Cumulus Media announces that it will debut a new live talk show featuring Bob Sirott and Marianne Murciano, Chicago’s favorite husband and wife on-air team, on WLS-AM 890, the flagship radio station of the Chicago Bulls and the Chicago White Sox. “Sirott and Murciano” will debut on WLS-AM 890 on Monday, January 2, 2017, and will air weekdays from 10AM-12 Noon.
Multiple Emmy-winning broadcasters Bob Sirott and Marianne Murciano previously hosted the popular Sirott and Murciano program weekdays from Noon-3PM on Chicago’s WGN Radio. With a longtime passionate fan base on-air and on social media, they are fixtures on the Chicago media landscape. They co-anchored Fox Thing in the Morning on WFLD-TV in Chicago from 1994 to 2000. Their web site, SusosFork.com, combines their personalities and passion for food. Most recently, Sirott was seen doing commentary on CBS News’ CBS Sunday Morning with Jane Pauley. Murciano is currently writing a book on her native Cuba and the story of her grandfather who was murdered there in 1948.
Peter Bowen, WLS AM 890 General Manager and Vice President/Market Manager for Cumulus Media-Chicago, said: “Bob Sirott and Marianne Murciano are deeply rooted in Chicago and are well known to the community. With their addition, WLS is more local and more relevant to Chicago listeners and advertisers.”Peter Bolger, WLS AM 890 Program Director and Operations Manager, said: “Bob and Marianne are simply great local storytellers who will inform and entertain Chicago radio listeners and keep mornings on WLS fresh, fun and always interesting, with more than a few surprises.”
Sirott said: “Generations of Chicagoans, like me and listeners all over the Midwest and beyond, grew up with WLS. That makes hosting a show on this station very special.”
Murciano said: “I look forward to talking about the news of the day, the trending topics, and even the marital disputes I have with Bob! It’s going to be fun.”
Concurrently, WLS will launch its new weekday programming line-up for 2017, with the following new airtimes:
6AM-10AM: Big John and Ray
10AM-12 Noon: Sirott and Murciano
12 Noon-3PM: Rush Limbaugh
3PM-7PM: The Steve Dahl Show
7PM-9PM: TBA
9PM-12 Midnight: The Mark Levin Show