Month: November 2014

UPDATE – SPRING, 2016: While Garry Meier is no longer broadcasting on WGN Radio, he is now podcasting several times a week (usually two free shows a week, with two or three bonus shows a week for paid subscribers). To learn more, visit GarryMeier.com.

The popular question right now is either “where is Garry Meier?” or “why was he fired?”

To answer the first question, he’s now “on the beach.” The answer to the second question… only a few people for sure know.  Either way, the recently demoted WGN-AM 720 afternoon drive host was sent home from the Tribune Tower for good and will no longer be doing his online WGN.FM show.

For whatever reason, Meier had a falling out with his boss, Jimmy de Castro, the president and general manager of WGN, which led to him being taken off AM 720 to begin with this past May. Some have speculated the rift could have begun when Meier refused to return Steve Dahl’s phone call, even after de Castro himself having possibly urged Meier to– about possibly doing something together at their Radio Hall of Fame induction ceremony.

The more likely scenario, in my opinion, involves Meier’s likely unwillingness to work with a partner. During a March, 2010 interview on Margaret Lakin’s Radiogirl Podcast, Meier specifically stated he had no desire to share billing with a partner, going as far to clarify that even his WGN sidekick, “Elton Jim” Turano was no more than just that, a sidekick.

In August, 2013, a lengthy Chicago Tribune piece profiling an upcoming reboot of the iconic station mentioned Castro’s desire to pair Meier with a co-host. Chicago media reporter Robert Feder echoed similar sentiments about a possible co-host for Meier in his own piece profiling the then upcoming changes at WGN.

The new co-host for Meier never happened for whatever reason. One month later, in September, Feder wrote a piece announcing that WGN afternoon traffic reporter Leslie Keiling would take a more “prominent role as a contributor to Meier’s afternoon show.” It never happened. Keiling had already been a regular voice on the show, officially or unofficially, and the amount of time she talked never changed.

The above examples are just some of the potential scenarios that may have led to a rift between Meier and de Castro. While I have been hard on de Castro in my two previous posts, the honest truth is, only a few people truly understand the circumstances which ultimately led to Meier’s departure from WGN. Based on collective soundbites over the years from Meier, his former co-host Roe Conn, as well as a few friends and acquaintances of my own, I definitely do believe Meier isn’t exactly the easiest person to work with or to necessarily please.

Whatever Meier might be like off air, his on air persona was very popular and highly successful for Tribune Media. As the highest paid talent at the station, WGN seemingly left a lot of money on the table by demoting him from terrestrial to online only. Now, with Meier’s show gone entirely (while continuing to collect that hefty paycheck until autumn of 2015) and station management refusing further explanation or a simple on-air acknowledgement of the issue, de Castro appears to simply be standing his ground…

Or perhaps, stomping his feet while holding his breath.

While Steve Dahl was debuting his new WLS-AM 890 afternoon show yesterday, Roe Conn, the former occupant of that spot, wrote a heartfelt note to his followers on Facebook.

Thanks again to everyone for your incredibly kind words. It has been the honor of my life to a part of your lives for the past two and a hallf decades. Like all transitions, this one has its challenges, but please know, I’ve been able to read all of your comments and will answer as many as a I can.

I’m not able to answer the most dominant question, “what’s next,” quite yet. But I promise, you will be the first to know when that decision is finally made. I plan on being back in your ears soon, but in the meantime you can catch me mornings on Windy City Live on ABC7 and tomorrrow night I’ll be on Fox32’s election night coverage. Fasten your seatbelts, I have a lot to say!

Conn has been mostly quiet on the social media front since his final show at WLS, October 7. Asides from a thank you note to his fans the following day, much of his social media activity has taken place at 5 p.m. on Fridays, with references to the canarble wagon segment, an iconic mainstay of his show each Friday afternoon. While off the radio airwaves, Conn’s kept busy with his regular appearances on WLS-TV/ABC 7’s “Windy City Live.” Conn will also appear tonight on WFLD-TV/Fox 32’s special election coverage.

It should also be worth noting that since Conn’s departure from WLS, all content has been removed from his website (which hadn’t been updated since 2012). There is now a note staying that a new website is coming soon.

As for what is next for Conn, the most logical, if not obvious, spot for him to re-surface is down the dial on WGN-AM 720. However, as we all have become accustomed to, what appears to be the most logical or obvious doesn’t usually happen in radio these days.

Robert Feder wrote yesterday on his blog that his sources at WGN have said there’s been no job offer made so far. One of the many reasons Conn’s arrival at WGN would seem to be imminent is because he and WGN’s President and General Manager, Jimmy de Castro, are in fact friends. I’ll also point out that in a Aug. 20, 2013 Robert Feder post hyping de Castro’s re-launch of WGN, Conn was specifically mentioned as being on the general manager’s wish list. And for the record, also on that list was John Williams and Steve Dahl.

Having listened to enough of Conn through the years, I get the sense that he would absolutely love the more relaxed talk format at WGN, where he would presumably not be forced to keep the conversation as news and politics heavy as he was at WLS. Ironically, it was Conn’s WLS replacement, Dahl, who once complained on his own podcast how former WLS program director Drew Hayes was annoyingly adamant about keeping the non-heavyweight news and political talk to a minimum (back when Dahl regularly filled in for Conn’s co-host, Richard Roeper).

Personally, I do hope Conn lands at WGN. In my opinion, Conn is a genuine talk radio heavyweight that would be a valuable asset there. One of Feder’s readers commented on yesterday’s blog post saying “if it is happening in Chicago, Roe is the person you want to listen to and find out what is really going on.” That, I agree with 100%.

If Conn does land at WGN, the obvious question is where and at the expense of who? Below is the lineup I would schedule if it were up to me. This is NOT a prediction of what I think would happen.

• Steve Cochran, 5 a.m. – 9 a.m.
  Cochran in studio and ready to work by 5.
• Bill Leff & Wendy Snyder, 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.
  I agree with the sentiment that their style of show sounds better at this time of day as opposed to late afternoons.
• John Williams, 12 p.m. to 1 p.m.
  Williams’ ratings have never been outstanding, but he has a tremendous amount of goodwill will with listeners and advertisers. I have wondered if his being in Minnesota has posed any hindrance on that though. To make room in the lineup, I’d schedule Williams for just the one hour, having him anchor the “Business Lunch” format. A more business themed format would also be a good opportunity to have him correspond more with Orion Samuelson, which always makes for great radio.
• Garry Meier, 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.
  Meier sounded good while holding down the 1-4 p.m. slot when first hired at WGN. Move him off WGN.FM and put him back on the mainstream blowtorch. An absolute no-brainer.
• Roe Conn, 3 p.m. to 7 p.m.
  His WLS audience shrunk in afternoons, but I believe that was due to excessive commercial and traffic interruptions; not helping was severely weak programming in the morning. While commercials and the length of news is still a problem at WGN, I think Conn would benefit with their looser clock,  having more freedom to talk about non-news heavy topics while being surrounded by new people (i.e. Steve Bertrand and Leslie Keiling).
• Pete McMurray, 7 p.m. to 11 p.m.
  While I’m not a huge fan of McMurray, he brings a  younger and fresher voice, providing a much needed contrast to WGN’s other long-standing and iconic talent. He lands big name guests and seemingly fits in well when filling in during other dayparts. In all reality, McMurray is being underutilized in the evening. I’m sure even his bosses would agree. There simply hasn’t been enough hours in the day to yet allow him to move up. Then again, having a talented voice in the evening slot should in theory make the overall station stronger.

The removal of Bob Sirott and Marianne Murciano from WGN’s lineup, in my opinion, should have been made yesterday. While I don’t necessarily dislike their program, I think it is the least exciting and stimulating show in their daytime lineup.

One should-be obvious show idea missing from my above lineup is a reunited Conn and Meier. I would love nothing more than for a second run of “Roe and Garry,” but I just don’t think there is any chance of that happening. Meier has specifically stated on multiple occasions that he has zero interest in working with a partner. Also, it’s not like Meier is the type of person who easily forgives and forgets. Even if the money and opportunity for success was right, I’m not sure Meier would cave on this.

Though never declared publically, it would not shock me at all if de Castro – who likely knew Conn would be a free agent by the start of 2015 – had already broached the idea to Meier, and didn’t get the answer he wanted. Meier’s likely unwillingness to work with Conn, or any other partner, might very well be why he was banished to the garbage dump that is WGN.FM.

That said, I think both Meier and Conn are professional enough to be willing to work separate shows back-to-back of each other. If not, they could at least work their individual shows and if necessary, borrow Jonathon Brandmeier’s black curtain to make sure neither makes eye contact with the other.

While Conn going to WGN is not yet a slam dunk, it is seemingly the most likely place for him to re-surface at in 2015. That is until the radio gods once again remind us to never bet on anything that half-way resembles logic.

It’s showtime for Steve Dahl, who returns to terrestrial radio today as the new WLS-AM 890 afternoon host. It will be interesting to see if Dahl can give WLS the steady boost that it badly needs, and how his ratings compare to his predecessors, Roe Conn and Richard Roeper.

I expect Dahl will boost afternoons for the station, at least in the beginning. Eliminating traffic and weather updates every 10 minutes to minimize interruptions is a nice start. Another problem that plagued the “Roe & Roeper” show was excessive commercials. If that isn’t addressed, Dahl’s numbers will eventually drop.

The sure thing is that Dahl can’t save WLS by himself. The morning situation there really ought to be addressed, though there is no guarantee with the notoriously cheap station owner, Cumulus Media. If they do decide to make a change, for example, to their morning drive program, there are a few routes they can go down.

They can attempt to stick with the conservative format, but instead go with more lively, interesting and less partisan personalities. Other options could be going with a more general news/talk type of show, with someone like a Rob Hart, who is already employed at sister station, The Loop/WLUP-FM 97.9. Pair him with a female co-host and you might have something a bit different from the morning programs on either WBBM-AM 780 or WGN-AM 720. A third option might be leaning more towards a lighter entertainment based talk format.  J.C. Corcoran, who grew up in the Chicago area and spent most of his professional radio career in St. Louis, is one possible name who could fill that role. Corcoran isn’t at all timid to muse on current news and and politics when he sees fit. I’m not saying Corcoran should get the job. He is the example I went with because I am a fan of his and because he has been one of the fill-in hosts for various WLS shows of late.

As for Dahl’s afternoon spot, not everyone is happy that he’s coming back. The obvious unhappy bunch would be many of the displaced “Roe & Roeper” fans. Another group of people unhappy are the Dahl haters. A third group, consisting of his fans and his haters are those who understand that hiring him is just one more example of how poorly talk radio has developed fresh and younger voices. That, I can agree with, which brings me to the image at the top of this post, which I think appropriately reflects what WLS hiring Steve Dahl signifies.

“Been here. Done that.”

By the way, that graphic wasn’t made by either myself or anyone from the Dahl hater’s club. It was an actual image slider that rotated on the old WCKG-FM 105.9 website dating back to 2008, where Dahl last worked afternoon drive. Though I didn’t know why then, I knew use of that graphic seemed out of place.

Saving it for 2014 would have been much more appropriate.