It was Friday, January 9, 2004, when Garry Meier last appeared on WLS as part of the “Roe and Garry Show”. Together with Roe Conn, Meier had spent eight years building one of the most popular radio partnerships in Chicago history.  In the midst of contract renegotiations, Meier was forced off the air by ABC Radio suits. Conn stated publicly on the air that he and Meier would continue to partner together regardless of what happened at WLS. As the weeks dragged on, it became clear that Meier wanted to play hardball with a general manager and operations manager that he despised. He would risk his very career to prove a point with his bosses.

Meanwhile, Conn’s patience began to wear thin. As he watched his own contract coming to and end, Conn found himself stuck between his loyalty to his partner and his professional aspirations. In the end, Conn took a seven-figure deal with WLS, leaving Meier on the street for the next several years.

The re-launched “Roe Conn Show” took to the air in the summer of 2004 with newsman Jim Johnson and traffic reporter Christina Filiaggi both locked into long-term deals. The show lacked the creativity and dry wit that it possessed when Meier sat alongside Roe. Johnson couldn’t match Meier’s skill as a foil to Roe, and Filiaggi didn’t seem to add much at all.

It became clear early on that the show lacked both the creative and ratings punch it once had. The new station GM John Gallagher quickly ushered in a series of auditions, including Bruce Wolf and Bill Leff. As the show limped along in 2005, Leff was eventually added as Roe’s new sidekick, but the show remained, “The Roe Conn Show”, with Leff, Johnson, and Filiaggi playing only supporting roles.

The early criticism of the new foursome was that Conn marginalized his cohorts, reducing their roles to minor ones. Leff would occasionally score a punch line, but it often came at awkward moments in the show. Much of the natural chemistry that Conn enjoyed with Meier simply didn’t exist alongside Leff. The partnership was clearly uneasy from the start, as Leff had no desire to rock the boat.

For a brief period of time in 2006, the show enjoyed a resurgence that allowed the team to renegotiate their contracts and extend the show from 6pm to 7pm each evening. The move would prove to be detrimental to the show and would eventually be reversed.

In early 2008, with the show’s wheels spinning, massive cutbacks were ordered by station owners Citadel Broadcasting. Among those out of a job were Filiaggi, who seemed almost expendable at this point. Also released was the show’s longtime technical producer. In the summer, Abritron launched their new audience measurement technique, the Portable People Meters or PPMs. This measurement technique began to shake-up some longtime radio talent in Chicago, as their ratings began to quickly slide. The Roe Conn Show was no exception.

In June, Filiaggi was re-hired, thanks the lobbying efforts of Conn, but Conn’s eyes were already on another addition that he was hoping to make to his team. Veteran TV reporter Amy Jacobson had been fired by WMAQ-TV Ch. 5 on July 10, 2007, because of her involvement in the investigation of the disappearance of Lisa Stebic. Jacobson was videotaped in the backyard of Lisa’s husband Craig. She was wearing a bikini top and a towel, which raised questions of journalistic integrity.

Jacobson soon found herself regularly appearing on Conn’s show on WLS, and by early 2009, Leff and Filiaggi were both let go by WLS to make way for Jacobson. Conn had once again reshuffled his team, hoping to strike ratings gold. Jacobson had been promised a substantive role in the show, perhaps even a true co-host position, depending on who you choose to believe. But once again, Conn had no desire to share the spotlight with anyone, and Jacobson’s role was quickly reduced to traffic and weather reports and the occasional rejoinder.

The ratings slide was already underway. The show slipped badly throughout 2009, especially in the most advertiser-friendly demographics. At the same time, Conn’s massive seven-figure salary loomed large in a market where such paydays were fast becoming things of the past. Citadel Broadcasting faced bankruptcy, and it became clear that something had to be done with Conn and his show.

Some insiders suggested that Conn should have been shown the door, as he lacked the ability to generate the ratings he once did with Meier. Conn had already begun exploring alternative career options and launched his own syndicated daily feature, “The Roe Report,” while reportedly auditioning for a TV gig at CNN.

The easy decision would have been to move the syndicated Sean Hannity Show into the daypart that Conn had occupied for nearly 13 years. The cost reduction would have been huge, and the ratings would likely have remained the same.

But like the proverbial cat with nine lives, Conn has found yet another way to survive. According to reports, Conn will now be partnered with Cisco Cotto, a one-time reporter with WLS who has spent the past three years as the voice of the right wing agenda on WIND-AM’s morning show. Conn will be taking a huge reduction in salary under this new arrangement. He’ll also be giving up something that he’s enjoyed for the last six years – top billing on his own show. The new show will contractually include both Conn’s name and Cotto’s name.

Just days before the new show was set to take to the air, it suffered another blow. ABC 7 anchor Ron Magers, who had been a daily contributor to the show since the Garry Meier days, was informed that Citadel Broadcasting would not be extending his deal into 2010. Mager’s daily interaction with Conn at 3pm had been one of the show’s strongest segments for years. The station blamed budget cutbacks for the move.

As 2010 begins, Conn will attempt to resurrect his career once again, with his fourth co-host in six years. Cotto is perhaps the least entertaining of Conn’s prior co-hosts. His reputation has been as a political firebrand, quick to defend the Republican agenda and to speak in conservative talking points. Those who have worked with Cotto have described him as difficult to work with and perpetually lazy in his show prep. Both counts could also be made against Conn, as well. It’s unclear how these two egos will co-exist on a show that has belonged solely to Conn since Meier’s departure in 2004.

Publicly, both Conn and Cotto are talking nicely about each other and about the future of the show, but behind the scenes, the tension is high. Conn will be slow to give up control of his show to the younger and less skilled Cotto. There’s no doubt that Cotto will move quickly to seize his piece of the pie. Meanwhile, questions remain about Jacobson’s future role in the show. It would seem that Cotto is taking the job that Jacobson was promised less than a year ago.

It’s not likely that anyone will confuse the new Conn and Cotto show with the successful Roe and Garry show of a decade ago. As WLS seeks to tilt it’s programming to the right, it’s not clear whether longtime Conn fans will be as loyal to the new pairing as they have in the past. Clearly, the show will be less entertaining than it was when Garry Meier was part of the show. It will also not be as political as much of the rest of the WLS line-up, as Conn has never shown a comfort level wading too deeply into the conservative political waters. At best, he’s a right-leaning moderate. More accurately, he’s a moderate forced to temper his views on a conservative radio station.

The WLS of 2010 bears little resemblance to the Petri dish of talk that it was just ten years ago. With the departure of names like Garry Meier, Jay Marvin, Deborah Rowe, Jerry Agar, Eileen Byrne, Jake Hartford, and others, the station has become a homogenous blend of right wing talking points. With the addition of Cotto to the afternoons, it seems that WLS will continue in that direction. The only real question is how much longer will Roe Conn survive?