Hemmert Ready For Side 2
• Terri Hemmert, whose name has been synonymous with Entercom Triple A WXRT/Chicago for 45 years, announced that she will be dialing back her workload but will “continue to be proud of being part of the XRT family.” According to Chicago media journalist Robert Feder, Hemmert told colleagues in a Monday email that she plans to step down from her midday shift in a few weeks and switch to a “schedule with much more flexibility.”
Hemmert wrote, in part, “After 45 years at WXRT, I’m going to figure out how to turn the record over and see what plays on the other side. My doctor will be thrilled I’ll be getting eight hours of sleep a night. After all these years.”
As Feder remarked, “From the time she signed on at the fledgling progressive rock station in November 1973, Hemmert has been a role model, a mentor and a Chicago radio treasure. She made history in 1981 when she became the first woman to host a morning drive show in Chicago. She’s been hosting middays since 1992.”
Hemmert, who was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 2010, said she will continue to host her long-running Breakfast with The Beatles program on Sunday mornings and do vacation fill in as needed. In closing, Hemmert said, “I love music. I love radio. I love our listeners. And I love my radio family. Some things change, but that never will.”
Greg Solk, OM/PD of WXRT, was quoted as saying that the company faces “the awesome challenge of finding a successor to Terri for the midday shift in the coming weeks.” [Photo credit: Mary Rafferty]
