Month: May 2013

The Tribune Company dropped a bombshell this morning by announcing the hiring of Jimmy de Castro as the new president and general manager of WGN-AM 720 in Chicago. He starts June 3.

De Castro’s vast radio and digital media background makes this a monumental move for the Tribune-owned news/talk station. The added element of awesomeness is that de Castro reunites with Tribune Broadcasting President Larry Wert — the two of them were instrumental in the operations of WLUP-FM/97.9 The Loop during the mid 1990’s. While Wert’s primary priorities are involved with the Tribune’s various television stations throughout the country, de Castro will be in charge of the day-to-day operations at WGN Radio.

De Castro also has history with current WGN morning host Jonathon Brandmeier and WGN afternoon host Garry Meier from their days at WLUP, further solidifying the Loop reunion tour. How long before someone on a message board or on Twitter insists that de Castro hiring Steve Dahl is all but imminent?

Until today, the short-term future of the station has been murky. Tribune executives, including Larry Wert himself, have carefully been vague whenever referencing WGN’s future. The de Castro hire seems to suggest there is some type of commitment from Tribune towards rebuilding the station, as opposed to immediately selling it.

That is a stark contrast from the end of last year when the company was in the final stages of its four-year bankruptcy. It was highly believed that the aggressive expense cutting then taking place at WGN was in anticipation of an eventual sale of the station. The departure of long-time Vice President and General Manager Tom Langmyer, the firing of the highly rated Milt Rosenberg, splitting the poorly rated Mike McConnell into two midday shifts and the hiring of two inexpensive talents Carol Roth and Turi Ryder were interpreted as the beginning of dark days for the station (also not helping was the departure of John Williams, who has publically stated that the decision to leave was his).

Until recently, WGN was a leading source of revenue for Tribune, even while the station struggled with internal turmoil during the Randy Michaels and Kevin Metheny era. Though station revenue has nosedived of late, hiring a radio pro like de Castro is a sure indicator that the company thinks it can turn things around.

While it remains possible that the company’s long-term plan is to rebuild the station and then sell it for top dollar, such a strategy may be risky. The purchase of the iconic New York news/talk WOR-AM last summer by Clear Channel was reportedly for $30 million.  While $30 million certainly isn’t chump change, it’s a low number compared to previous trends where such stations would have likely sold for a higher amount.

There are no guarantees when approximating the future value of WGN or any radio station. Concerning WGN, the expenses invested in rebuilding the station, whether that rebuild works or not, the downward ratings trend of the news/talk format in general, and the continued advancement of technology all make it risky to not go for the fast grab of cash now, as opposed to maybe three to five years from now.

If WGN went up for sale tomorrow, they would likely have a decent list of potential suitors – Clear Channel, Cumulus Media and/or Hubbard Broadcasting might all possibly be on that list.

I have no doubt Clear Channel would love to have a strong Chicago outlet on the AM band. At present, Clear Channel/Premiere Radio syndicated programming airs up the dial on Cumulus-owned WLS-AM 890, which is believed to soon drop all Premiere programming (i.e. Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity) in place of their own syndicated programming (i.e. Mike Huckabee, Michael Savage or Geraldo Rivera). There is very little reason why Clear Channel would not want to have WGN as an option to either carry their syndicated shows or make money off some type of local talk format.

Last year, it was rumored that Cumulus was interested in purchasing WGN. That certainly was a rumor that made me shutter (concerning WGN, I’d take my chances with Clear Channel as opposed to Cumulus).

As a WGN fan, I’m excited. I hope today’s hiring is the beginning of better days. de Castro certainly will have his work cut out for him. Though I do not expect him to make any quick changes, I do hope one of his first priorities is to address the awkward midday schedule — the current schedule with Mike McConnell working the 10am-12pm and 1pm-3pm shifts must change. An upgrade to Carol Roth, now hosting the “Noon Show,” is badly needed.

The station needs to figure out what it wants to be. Right now, middays (with McConnell and Roth) is more or less a current events format, while the morning and afternoon shows are more “loose” or free spirited entertainment. WGN needs to pick a lane and implement a daytime schedule that is consistent with the format. It’s somewhat okay to break format during evenings and on weekends, but the daypart format must be consistent.

WGN Radio was given a second chance in late 2010 following the removal of Randy Michaels and Kevin Metheny. Tom Langmyer and Program Director Bill White did the absolute best they could at undoing most of the damage done by Michaels and Metheny (even with some hurdles leftover, such as McConnell’s long and expensive contract, or Sean Compton’s hiring of Brandmeier). The hard work by Langmyer and White sadly came crashing down at the end of 2012.

With Wert and de Castro now overseeing things, WGN appears to have been granted a third chance. Let’s hope the third time’s the charm.

Days prior to his Dec. 2011 debut as morning host at WGN-AM 720 in Chicago, Jonathon Brandmeier, in an interview with Chicago media critic Robert Feder, claimed he was capable of handling serious breaking news.

Absolutely, positively. I just absolutely can do it. I always consider myself a journalist. Ron Magers used to say, “Brandmeier will take a story and peck it apart like a chicken until he gets every feather off of it.” I feel like that’s what I do. They’ll have me and the great resources of the Tribune Company. These guys know what they’re talking about. Believe me, I know what I’m doing.

Luckily for those listening to WGN in the morning, Brandmeier hasn’t had to really handle an immediate breaking news situation — outside of a winter snowstorm or the morning after the Boston Marathon bombings (more on that later).  I listened to Brandmeier this morning to see if he would discuss, or how he would handle discussing, yesterday’s devastating tornado damage in Moore City, OK.

Brandmeier began the show with staff meteorologist Tim McGill to talk about the situation. Ignoring some of the borderline humorous side remarks or connotations coming from either Brandmeier or his sidekick Buzz Killman, I thought the conversation was decent, for Brandmeier standards.

Any positive vibes I had went out the window as soon as I heard the theme music for the Wicked Witch of the West’s character from the “Wizard of Oz.” I understand the connection and that the tornado was such an important component of that movie.  I get it.

What Brandmeier or someone on his staff apparently doesn’t get is that because that song is associated with an aloof movie character who ultimately was meant as comedic fodder, the playing of that song mocks the seriousness of the story, whether intentionally or not. This natural disaster killed or injured countless people and has shattered the lives of many more.

How appropriate was it for Brandmeier to congratulate a runner for completing the Boston Marathon — when considering how steep some of those hills are — during an interview the morning after the bombings!?

Thankfully, he wasn’t on WGN the day after Sept. 11, 2001. Is it too far fetched to imagine him asking one of the rescue firefighters “so… after learning of the attack, did you still slide down the pole while on your way out of the station?”

Memo to whoever is left running the Tribune Tower: It is high time to constrain your morning host and his staff. And if the consequence of that results in him leaving, so be it. His ratings have dropped significantly since joining the station, and if the rumors are true that he never got around to signing his contract, then what’s the hold on not upsetting him? It’s not like his leaving would cost the station that much, if anything.

More like an addition by subtraction.

Both Robert Feder, via Twitter, and Larz at Chicagoland Radio & Media reported yesterday that WBBM-TV/CBS 2 has released morning news anchor Susan Carlson. According to Larz, CBS 2 opted to remove Carlson from the air prior to the expiration of her contract, most likely to shake things up as the ratings for the morning newscast remain at or near rock bottom.

This move is a real shock to me. As a regular viewer of CBS 2’s morning news, Carlson was not the problem with that newscast. As a matter of fact, I have a hard time identifying any real significant problems with the newscast.

Carlson and co-anchor Kris Gutierrez were a respectable team – they worked well together, were capable of showing personality when appropriate, and did a solid job at delivering the morning’s news. The added personality coming from Meagan Glaros (weather) and Derrick Young completed the newscast, as far as on set goes. There was real chemistry.

CBS 2 has a real tendency to play musical chairs, seemingly every other year or so when their ratings don’t show improvement. Sometimes, such moves are necessary, such as when the station opted to remove Steve Bartelstein, who was not a great fit. Other times, the moves are done just for the sake of change, such as when the station decided to remove evening news anchor Anne State several years back.

And for the sake of honesty, even though I am a huge fan of State’s eventual replacement Kate Sullivan, she hasn’t been much of an upgrade. That’s not a knock on Sullivan — it just means that there was nothing wrong with State!

And there was nothing wrong with Carlson either. While there are plenty of talented female news anchors out there, it’s not a given that the new choice will do as good of a job as Carlson. And even if she does, it will be hard to find someone who does a better job than Carlson. So at best case scenario, they find someone who does as good of a job. To that, I ask, what’s the freakin point!? Besides demoralizing the rest of the morning news staff and potentially upsetting the on air chemistry, this move will do nothing to shake the ratings. At best, CBS 2 will likely find whoever they hire to replace Carlson will be nothing more then a lateral move.

Just for fun… Since CBS 2 is desperate for attention, maybe they should consider hiring recently ousted Comcast SportsNet reporer Susannah Collins.  At the very least, that would probably generate added views to their YouTube channel!