WLS-AM 890 Program Director Stephanie Tichenor didn’t mince words when discussing The Windy City.
“Chicago is a very unique market in that Chicago loves hearing about Chicago,” she admitted.
So, naturally, the station has taken a Chicago-centric approach, doing everything it can to put the Second City in the spotlight.
Now, the revelation that a local station in a major market is turning its attention to the surrounding area isn’t groundbreaking news. That should be the goal of every outlet. But WLS-AM 890 was a bit of a different animal. A once proud station that had fallen on hard times. It needed to be rebuilt.
So Tichenor rebuilt it in Chicago’s image.
“Local is always the key,” she said. “The focus is always on local or localizing syndicated content. I think the way we really connect is by going out in the community and doing a lot of local events and meeting our listeners. The audio that you hear on air is really authentic. We go out in the streets, and we meet our listeners and talk with them so we can superserve them with local content. Any way we can make it more Chicago is the way to go with WLS.”
Morning show host Ray Stevens is a near-constant fixture in both city and suburban events. Scroll through the station’s social media feeds, and you’ll see Stevens — often accompanied by Stephanie Tichenor — either in a parade, helping out a local charity, or doing a meet and greet with listeners.
It’s paid off. In the November ratings from Nielsen, the morning show daypart had nearly doubled its average share in the Men 35-64 demographic compared to the same window in 2024, and nearly doubled its weekly cume, too. The show, helmed by Stevens, bested rival WGN Radio in the window, as well.
Tichenor said that commitment to being out of the studio and in the community has made a world of difference.
“Working with Ray in getting out in the community … It’s important that we get out there and meet our listeners and not just say hi,” she said. “We talk to them. We sit and break bread with them. And we listen. They help me do my job and be a better programmer. ‘What do you like to hear? What don’t you like to hear? Does this sound great to you?’
“These are the kind of questions that I talk to all of our listeners about, because they’re the ones listening just as much as I do,” she continued, “and they’re a different set of ears. I think that’s what you don’t really get enough of in radio. It’s a lot of people who talk, but not a lot of people who actually listen.”
One might think that regularly fielding questions from listeners wouldn’t necessarily be good for the soul. But the WLS-AM 890 leader said she can’t get enough.
“I love it,” she admitted with a laugh. “You don’t personalize stuff in our business. Here’s the thing: no one’s nasty. Those are the kind of emails I get. But when someone’s actually talking to your face and you’re smiling at them, most people — I would say 99% of people — are actually really kind. They think of the nicest way to say something. A lot of times, it’s really positive feedback, too. ‘We really like this person. When is this person coming to Chicago to do more events?’ Hearing the positive stuff definitely helps fuel us, I think especially Ray, to keep doing good stuff in our community.”
Stevens is the only local host on the otherwise nationally syndicated daily lineup at WLS. So, incorporating hosts from Washington, D.C. and New York into the Cumulus Media Chicago news/talk station’s lineup is an important part of making the station sound more local. And Tichenor said she has a specific plan and strategy to get that accomplished.
“One of our newer hosts, Guy Benson — who’s not new to Chicago, he went to Northwestern — when he started, I just gave him a call and was like ‘Can I have your cell number? I’m not going to be a creeper and share it, but I just want to talk to you and plan events.’ He came to Chicago a few months ago. We were actually texting on Thanksgiving, and he’s like ‘I can’t wait to do more stuff in 2026,’ and I’m like ‘Yes, me too, we need to get you here for an event.’
“It’s a matter of meeting our syndicated hosts and chatting with them and saying, ‘Ok, send me some extra liners. If you have callers from Chicago, put them on the air.’ I think after we speak, they get it. Anytime Chicago is mentioned on air, we turn that around into a promo. My producers know to listen for that kind of content. And Chicago is a huge city, so we’re in the news a lot. Anytime we’re featured on any of our syndicated shows, it’s using that audio and saying, ‘Ok, should we turn this into a video YouTube short? What’s the best way to repurpose this content to make us really shine? And then for me to really communicate with our hosts and say, ‘Ok, come to Chicago. Come hang out with us.””
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Garrett Searight is Barrett Media’s News Editor, which includes writing daily news stories, features, and opinion columns. He joined Barrett Media in 2022 after a decade leading several radio brands in several formats, as well as a 5-year stint working in local television. In addition to his work with Barrett Media, he is a radio and TV play-by-play broadcaster. Reach out to him at Garrett@BarrettMedia.com.
Stephanie is a great partner for Motor Racing Network. We love working with her. Her energy and passion are unmatched.