John Hultman, a pioneering voice in Chicago’s all-news radio era and a longtime journalist and leader at WBBM Newsradio 780, has died at the age of 89.
Hultman joined WBBM in February 1968, just months before the station formally adopted its all-news format. Over the years, he became one of the defining figures in the newsroom, serving as both News Director and Program Director and spending many years anchoring morning drive.
Originally from Wilmette, Illinois, Hultman attended New Trier High School and later Purdue University. His broadcasting career began in Evanston, Illinois at radio station WNMP. He later worked at a television station in Fort Wayne, Indiana, hosting both a daily children’s show and a Saturday night dance program.
Hultman then moved to WWJ Detroit as a disc jockey. When that station transitioned to an all-talk format, he shifted into the newsroom, gaining experience as an anchor and street reporter while delivering news on both radio and television. The move helped prepare him for the fast-paced demands of Chicago’s emerging all-news radio model.
At WBBM, Hultman was part of the generation that helped define what all-news radio would become. His reflections on the station’s origins and the role he played in its evolution were chronicled in the 1988 book WBBM Radio: Yesterday and Today.
“We finally realized we didn’t have to try to be an electronic newspaper,” Hultman said about the station’s philosophy. “We’re not a newspaper and we’re not just a headline service. We give listeners a little information about a lot of different things and we give it to them as it’s happening.”
That approach, as he explained in the book, was most evident during breaking news.
“When something major happens, the whole format goes right out the window,” he said. “Then we go to continuous, in-depth coverage. Whether it’s a plane crash, the stock market, or an earthquake, we throw everything out and go with the big story of the moment.”
Hultman personally demonstrated that commitment to on-the-ground reporting during one of Chicago’s darkest days: the crash of American Airlines Flight 191 crash near O'Hare International Airport in May 1979, which killed 273 people.
“I had been at WBBM since five in the morning and was on my way home when the crash happened,” Hultman recalled. “I got a call while I was on the Edens Expressway, turned around, and went straight to O’Hare. I stayed at the scene until about nine that night. That’s the kind of reporting our listeners expect from us.”
Colleagues remember Hultman not only for his steady presence on the air, but for the sense of teamwork he fostered in the newsroom during major stories.
“When we’re in a situation like a blizzard or another big story, that’s when we do our best work,” he said in the book. “There’s a great pulling together of the whole staff, a great cohesive team effort.”
Hultman often credited an early opportunity in college for setting him on the path that defined his career.
“I started college in engineering, but it really wasn’t what I wanted to do,” he noted in WBBM Radio: Yesterday and Today. “When I had the chance to work at a radio station at Purdue, I switched to radio and television. I ended up working full time in radio while I was still in school. It was the best thing I ever did.”
Through decades of reporting, anchoring, and leadership, Hultman helped shape the sound and standards of Chicago all-news radio, leaving a legacy that continues to influence the newsroom he helped build.