Wendy Williams, Studs Terkel in radio hall of fame

Wendy Williams left her daily radio program, “The Wendy Williams Experience,” at the end of July to concentrate on her very LGBT-friendly television talk show, The Wendy Williams Show, the New York Times reported. The radio show had been broadcast since 2002 on WBLS-FM in New York and was syndicated nationally.

However, Williams recently received some good news regarding her years in radio: National Radio Hall of Fame Chairman Bruce DuMont called Williams to tell her that she is one of the 2009 inductees into the hall, causing her to shed tears. Williams responded, “I got here through being pretty popular on the radio … I’m just Wendy from the radio, a girl from Jersey who had a dream,” according to Streaming Magazine.

Among the other inductees is the late Studs Terkel, who hosted his own program on WFMT/Chicago from 1958 to 1998, according to the hall’s Web site. Premiere Radio Networks will produce and distribute the live induction broadcast from Chicago Saturday, Nov. 7, at 9 p.m. Tickets for the black-tie induction-gala benefit are $350 each and may be purchased online at www.RadioHOF.org.