For over a decade, I have considered myself to be a loyal fan of Chicago’s WGN Radio. Those of you who have seen my car have seen the WGN/Cubs window stickers – heck, I even used to have one on my office window (back when I had an office with a window). ‘GN was one of the first radio stations in the country to have an Internet stream, and Todd and I have been taking advantage of that for ages. I remember listening in horror when the coroner’s office called into the station to confirm the death of then morning host Bob Collins. Todd and I have been to the station many times and were even on the John Williams Show live from the showcase studio during our honeymoon. And then, of course, there are Pat and Ron and the Cubs – and, this year, the Blackhawks. The stories are countless, and anyway, you get the picture: We loved WGN.

We’re making the trek to 435 N. Michigan Ave. for possibly the last time next week. Our friend John Williams, despite having done so much for this station during his 10+ years there, seems to be on his way out. ‘GN has been on hiring spree, bringing in personalities from out of town and totally being fine with them dropping hints about which time slots they’ll be taking over – like John’s. At least it seems like John has a plan for his future, and we of course wish him the best in everything he does – though his departure will surely be a loss socially and intellectually to Chicago talk radio. And after John goes, there will be very little left to listen to on this station other than the live sports coverage.

In the past 14 months, WGN has “lost” the Kathy & Judy Show, Sports Central (they kept Dave Kaplan, but in a very limited on-air capacity) and Steve Cochran. Before that, Spike O’Dell retired, and after some schedule-shifting, which included six months of morning shows for John, they brought in a guy from San Francisco. Even though I can’t say I was a big fan of every single one of those shows, I know each one had a big fan following. Excuse me if those fans are/were 50+ in age, but since when are those demographics not profitable commercially for advertisers in talk radio? Anyway, the point is, WGN is changing. Sure, change happens. But it doesn’t have to happen the way Tribune management is forcing it to – without class and without even so much as telling the truth about what’s going on.

If you want to catch a glimpse of how ugly things are getting under Kevin Metheny’s leadership at WGN, all you have to do is read the blog entries I’ve linked to above. All were penned by veteran Chicago media columnist Robert Feder, who clearly knows Chicago, its radio and its audiences better than anyone currently in management at Tribune Co. Yes, blogs are one-sided, but take a look at the WGN Radio fan page or any of the personalities’ pages on Facebook if you don’t believe how unhappy the WGN audience is with the recent moves.

I “unlike”d the WGN Radio fan page on Facebook today, and if I find any good Cubs-only (no WGN logo) window decals in the city next week, I’ll be removing the window stickers from my car, too. This isn’t the station I grew to love, and it’s clear that that station is so far gone, it’ll never come back. So goodbye, WGN. It was nice knowing you while you cared.