Remembering Jim Bohannon

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: WGN Radio Chicago

by: Dave Marzullo

Posted: Nov 12, 2022 / 06:40 PM CST
Updated: Nov 12, 2022 / 06:40 PM CST

Legendary radio talk show host Jim Bohannon has died at age 78. Jim’s radio career began in high school and college. After military service including a tour of duty in Vietnam, Jim worked at several local stations, eventually joining Mutual Network, now Westwood One, in 1983. In 1993, Jim took over the radio microphone from Larry King when Larry moved to CNN and the nightly Jim Bohannon Show debuted. It would air nationwide on hundreds of stations until his death.


Read more: https://wgnradio.com/wgn-insider/remembering-jim-bohannon/

---

Short article. Actually heard this on my local news radio station early this morning as an aside. I used to listen to Larry King's graveyard radio show before he went to TV (CNN, he was still doing radio too although eventually left that), and Bohannon being brought in as the sub, and then as host. I know many DUers know about him and I'll leave it at that.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

1. Thanks for the thread. I used to listen to him. WTOP was talking about him too.

He used to work at WTOP.

He had civility, a sadly lacking trait in late night talk show hosts anymore.

This wasn't even a month ago:

Mon Oct 17, 2022: Talk show host Jim Bohannon retires, has been diagnosed with stage 4 terminal cancer.

Hat tip, the hosts of the Red Eye Radio talk show, which comes in on KDKA

Jim Bohannon

{snip}

Radio career

{snip}

For several months during the summer of 2022, Bohannon was off the air due to unnamed health reasons. On October 10, 2022, Bohannon announced that he would be retire from hosting the Jim Bohannon Show. His final episode aired on October 14, 2022, during which he announced he was retiring and had been diagnosed with stage 4 terminal cancer.

{snip}

The Jim Bohannon Show

[BumRushDaShow]

2. Yeah they said he had just stepped down from the position

apparently due to his diagnosis.

He used to air on the-then WCAU 1210 here (later with call letter change to 1210 WPHT - the original CBS affiliate before all the consolidation threw KYW into the CBS pot). Westwood lost Philly's Sid Mark (Sinatra-focused host who broadcast from here) this past April.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

3. WCAU comes in, but with not much strength.

There's another station down around 600 kHz that comes in. That's WTEL.

KYW is the big one in Philadelphia. WBZ in Boston is a flamethrower. It comes in with much more of a signal that any Philadelphia station.

[BumRushDaShow]

5. That 1000 - 1500 range has a billion stations jammed in there

so it can be hard to pick out one...

I could still pick up 1030 WBZ despite it being so close in frequency to KYW plus my mom used to listen to David Brudnoy on WBZ. Down at the lower end, I would listen to WLW in Cincinnati (700 - although sometimes WABC 770 would block it out) and WLS (890) in Chicago.

[Lemon Lyman]

4. RIP

I worked at a radio station in college. Small town Iowa. I don't remember all the time slots. I know Jim Bohannon's show was one (night, I think). David Brenner's was another (afternoon, I think). They both only made it to 78. Gone too soon.

[BumRushDaShow]

6. I worked at my own college radio station at UMASS/Amherst - WMUA 91.1 FM

for my 4 years there. It was a fantastic experience and given that it was a "hobby" to me (as a chem major), I had no problem doing all the grunt work that most of the Comm Stu majors didn't want to do (doing voice work for station promo/PSA carts, doing 1 minute news segments, working with one of the Public Affairs directors to manage the phones for call-ins, etc.).

So I eventually "graduated" to having a 4-hour music slot the summer before my senior year when I was a new students' program counselor for those 2 months. My final semester, I did the Friday 5 pm, 30 minute drive-time news slot for the station. It would take me about 4 hours to prep for it but by then, since I was only taking 12 credits (had overloaded in credits before then so much that I only needed to take the minimum for full time), I could set aside those hours to gather the news.

I know that Bohannon's show was often running alongside Art Bell's show in that late-night talk netherworld.

[CarmanJohn]

8. Rest in Peace Jim

Used to love listening to Jim. Used to love listening to him and his opinion. Many times disagreed with his opinion but he always gave intelligence opinion. Called and had intelligence discussion's with him. Will miss him, although we often disagreed. Rest in Peace Brother.