WLS reunites Eddie & Jobo as weekend talk team

WLS reunites Eddie & Jobo as weekend talk team

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It’s comeback time for Eddie Volkman and Joe Bohannon, the eternally youthful duo who defined contemporary-hit radio in Chicago for two decades. But this time, instead of playing the hits, they’ll be talking up the issues of the day.

Eddie-&-Jobo

Eddie & Jobo have been hired as weekend hosts at Citadel Broadcasting news/talk WLS-AM (890). Starting this weekend, they’ll be on from 7 to 9 p.m. Saturdays. (The syndicated “Kim Komando Show” shrinks to one hour.) The new gig is an outgrowth of Eddie & Jobo’s fill-in stint for afternoon host Roe Conn last March.

They’re part of an enhanced lineup of local personalities on weekends including Jake Hartford, the team of Bruce Wolf and Dan Proft, “Steve Dale’s Pet World,” Tom Roeser, “Connected to Chicago” with Bill Cameron, and “Beyond the Beltway” with Bruce DuMont. Said WLS operations director Drew Hayes:

“WLS is Chicago through and through, and Eddie & Jobo are Chicago through and through, too. We are excited about them joining our ever-expanding lineup.”

Until they were bounced in November 2008, Eddie & Jobo hosted mornings on CBS Radio rhythmic Top 40 WBBM-FM (96.3) during two stints over a 20-year run. Their combined $3 million-a-year salaries —  which continued to be paid out for eight months after they were ousted —  put them among the highest paid radio personalities in the market.

Since their departure from B96, Eddie & Jobo have kept themselves in the public eye through television commercials and occasional media appearances. Last week they turned up onstage at a North Side nightclub as part of the Just For Laughs Festival. Their hilarious riff on Chicago radio —  with particularly brutal send-ups of Eric & Kathy and Drex —  was a highlight of Schadenfreude’s “The City That Works” show. (Have I mentioned what a genius that Schadenfreude guy Justin Kaufmann is?)

Volkman is the scion of broadcast royalty in Chicago. His father, meteorologist Harry Volkman, is the elder statesman of TV weathermen, having worked at four local stations over his 50 years in the market.