Fogel called ‘perfect fit’ to host mornings on K-Hits

Dave Fogel

Dave Fogel, who stepped down last fall as morning host on WLS-FM (94.7), is stepping up to mornings on WJMK-FM (104.3), the CBS Radio classic hits station known as K-Hits.

Starting Monday, he’ll succeed the duo of Ed Volkman and Joe Bohannon, who were forced out after 20 months because of underperforming ratings. The station has gone jockless in mornings since Eddie & Jobo signed off December 6.

“Dave’s natural energy and enthusiasm for the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s music we play makes him a perfect fit for K-Hits,” program director Todd Cavanah said in a statement Friday. “I think our listeners will love waking up with Dave Fogel.”

A familiar voice on Chicago radio since 1996, when he was hired to replace Danny Bonaduce on classic rock WLUP-FM (97.9), Fogel also hosted afternoons for eight years on hot adult-contemporary WTMX-FM (101.9). After a stint hosting mornings in Kansas City, he returned to Chicago in 2010 to join WLS-FM.

Last September, Fogel was forced out and replaced as morning host at WLS-FM by Brant Miller, the same jock he had replaced more than two years earlier. The Cumulus Media station subsequently shifted from oldies to classic hits, becoming a direct competitor of K-Hits. Fogel has been hosting evenings on K-Hits since October.

"I love every song K-Hits plays,” Fogel said in a statement. “It's going to be easy to get up at 5 in the morning to play them on the radio. Who needs coffee?"

Airing from 5 to 9am weekdays, the new morning show also will feature live local newscasts — a first for the station. Cavanah said he expects to hire a news anchor by January 14. With Fogel shifting to mornings, evenings will be filled for the time being by a number of part-timers, including John Calhoun and Dona Mullen, Cavanah said.

In the latest Arbitron Portable People Meter survey, K-Hits tied for 16th place in mornings with a 2.3 percent audience share overall and a 2.7 percent share of listeners between the ages of 25 and 54.