WJOL’s Sancken cut from station
By Cindy Wojdyla Cain ccain@stmedianetwork.com May 29, 2012 9:24PM
Updated: July 6, 2012 8:52AM
Isaac Sancken, who has hosted the “Afternoon Rush” show on WJOL-1340 AM radio since 2007, was cut from the station on Tuesday.
Sancken, who also served as the station’s news director, said when he reported for work, he was called into the general manager’s office and told the station was “going in a different direction.”
Sancken had worked for WJOL since 2001 when he was hired as a part-time news reporter.
He worked his way up from working on the “Radio Trader” show and “pushing buttons and talking fishing” on a Saturday outdoor show to become news director and finally, in 2007, an afternoon host.
The show was expanded by an hour recently from 3 to 6 p.m. instead of 4 to 6 p.m.
In a telephone interview with The Herald-News, Sancken, 33, of Bolingbrook, was upbeat and said he was looking forward to new opportunities.
“I’ll miss the listeners and the folks at WJOL,” he said.
On-air personality changes are common in radio, Sancken said.
“I think it’s just the nature of the business,” he said. “It’s an evolving industry, and I’ve enjoyed all of my years working at WJOL.”
Sancken, who got married and became a father of two children during his years at WJOL, said he would particularly miss afternoon news reporter Evan Bredeson. The two became a team in the afternoon, which was good for the show, Sancken said.
Sancken said he will always remember some of the big stories he covered, including the Joliet tornado of 2004 and the death of U.S. Army soldier Shawn Pahnke in Iraq in 2003.
There is one more story he wishes he could cover.
“I think I’ll miss covering the Peterson case,” he said, referring to the upcoming trial of former Bolingbrook police Sgt. Drew Peterson, who is accused of drowning one wife and is a suspect in the disappearance of another. “I’ll be following that from afar.”
Sancken will be replaced by Kevin Collins, who worked on other Next Media radio stations and filled in for Sancken in the past when he was on vacation. Collins was on the air Tuesday.
Morning news anchor Steve Brandy will become the station’s news director.
Sancken, who has a broadcast journalism degree from North Central College and was raised in the Champaign area, said he appreciates how WJOL listeners embraced him through the years.
“Thank you for welcoming me into the Joliet and Will County area and always being a friend,” he said. “Overall, I would hope I gave the listeners some information they needed and made them smile at least once a day.”
