Steve King (radio)

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For other uses of this term, see Steve King (disambiguation).

Steve King is a radio personality who has been heard on several different stations, almost all in the Chicago area. For more than two decades, King and his wife, Johnnie Putman, have hosted on "The Steve and Johnnie Show" overnights on WGN.

King's career started in 1966 at WJOB in Hammond, Indiana. After a stint at WLTH in nearby Gary, King spent two years in Indianapolis at WIBC and WNAP-FM, his only foray outside the Chicago market. He returned to the Windy City to work afternoon drive time at WBBM-FM, then moved to WLS in 1973, where he spent five years working the late evening slot. He left that job for the new format of talk radio at WIND-AM in 1978, where he stayed until 1984 (with a brief detour to WDAI). It was at WIND that he met Putman, a fellow show host.

In 1984, King moved to WGN, and Putman soon followed. They were paired together for the overnight show when she arrived, and their show was (and still is) the top-rated overnight show in the market. Because of WGN's clear channel signal, their show is heard throughout most of the United States and Canada, and their show (along with all of WGN's programming, except for Chicago Cubs games) is also webcast. They did their 5,000th show together with wife/co-host Johnnie Putman on August 17-August 18, 2006

King has been diagnosed with celiac sprue, an intolerance to gluten. Since his diagnosis, King has become involved in local and national organizations which fight the disease.