Eddie & Jo Bo - History

History

Joe Bohannon first signed on at WBBM-FM, known on-air as B96, in 1984 hosting an evening show as “JoBo In Chicago”. Ed Volkman started at B96 in 1986 hosting the morning show along with Karen Hand and Mike Elston. Elston left B96 in 1988 and Bohannon was moved to mornings along with Volkman and Hand; the creation of “Eddie & JoBo”.

The duo enjoyed success in the late 1980s and early 1990s. They invited their listeners, who they dubbed “The Worlds Most Dangerous Audience”, to assist in pranks such as cold water wake-up calls, the daily Twinkie check, and mattress attacks. Eddie & JoBo rode a wave of success, but on May 10, 1994, they were fired in the aftermath of a multi-million dollar defamation lawsuit filed against them by former WMAQ-TV newsanchor Joan Esposito. Esposito sued Eddie & JoBo in 1993 after JoBo falsely aired a statement that she had been impregnated by a member of the Chicago Bulls. Esposito eventually won a public apology and $1 million.

It was then that B96 decided to move the morning drive in a new direction, asking the listeners to “choose” the new morning drive in what was known as “The B96 Morning Show Open Auditions” which ran through the summer of 1994. Terry Jacobs and Bill Cody were chosen by the listeners to be the successors of Eddie & JoBo. However, very few people warmed up to “T.J. & Wild Bill” and the number of listeners dropped when compared to Eddie & JoBo's show.

Caving into pressure from a campaign lead by former co-workers and former on-air host Karen Hand, plus many phone calls and letters sent by Eddie & JoBo loyalists, B96 announced on December 12, 1996 that Eddie & JoBo had been re-hired, and would be returning to host the morning drive along with Frankie “Hollywood” Rodriguez starting January 13, 1997 from 5–8 am.

B96 began to see significant improvements in their morning drive ratings as the combo “Eddie & JoBo And Frankie” show and “Private Lives” slowly crept its way up the ratings. Afraid of another possible lawsuit, station management stepped in to exert more control over the show. They made on-air staff changes and imposed a taped delay, at times as long as 20 minutes. Every word spoken by the duo was closely monitored and had to be approved by a member of management prior to airing. In addition, a member of management had to be in the studio with Eddie & JoBo at all times or they could not broadcast.

Eddie & JoBo adapted to the changes, and ratings continued to climb back to their former glory. Private Lives was dropped from morning drive in 1999 and Eddie & JoBo hosted from 5–10am under tight restrictions until May 29, 2002. Rival station WKSC-FM 103.5 made an offer to them to do morning drive unrestricted on their station. B96 pulled the show as a negotiation tactic in the hopes of keeping the show. Negotiations continued until July when B96 announced that Eddie & JoBo signed on with the station in a 7 year, $21 million deal that begin immediately. Also, B96 agreed to drop all restrictions on the show.

Eddie & JoBo resumed a live show on July 22, 2002. However, the show began to see a marked decline in ratings. The station's overall severe decline in ratings ever since dropping its heavy dance music format for an all hip-hop & rap format in the late 90’s. Ever since abandoning dance music, B96 witnessed a steady decline from #1 in 1998, all the way down to #9, and even lower in recent years.

On November 21, 2008, Eddie, JoBo and Erica were relieved of their morning show duties.