[il-talk] Jonathon Brandmeier Coming to WGN

Wed Dec 7 12:59:15 UTC 2011

No, Rbert, Feder now has his own blog.
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Robert A Hansen" <roberthansen33 at yahoo.com>
To: "NFB IL Talk" <il-talk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Wednesday, December 07, 2011 12:28 AM
Subject: Re: [il-talk] Jonathon Brandmeier Coming to WGN


>I thought Feder retired.  I haven't read his column in a few years. Anyway 
>I am into the stations below 92 which he probably does not cover.
>
>
> I do not need any insanity today.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: "Connie Davis" <connie.davis at rcn.com>
> Sender: il-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org
> Date: Tue, 6 Dec 2011 22:47:03
> To: 'Hap Holly'<hap at therainreport.com>; 'NFB of Illinois Mailing 
> List'<il-talk at nfbnet.org>
> Reply-To: NFB of Illinois Mailing List <il-talk at nfbnet.org>
> Subject: Re: [il-talk] Jonathon Brandmeier Coming to WGN
>
> I saw this on Facebook. I follow Robert Feder.
>
> Connie
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: il-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:il-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
> Behalf Of Hap Holly
> Sent: Tuesday, December 06, 2011 8:55 PM
> To: NFB of Illinois Mailing List
> Subject: [il-talk] Jonathon Brandmeier Coming to WGN
>
> *Yes, this is off topic admitedly. However, as much as so many of us 
> listen
> to radio and have for years, I thought some of you might find this Robert
> Feder piece of interest. And in case you aren't aware, Steve King and 
> Jonny
> Putnum are leaving WGN aftger more than 20 years of being the #1 overnight
> show in Chicago on WGN.*
>
>
> Brandmeier on WGN: 'This is the perfect home for me'
> Posted in Chicago Media blog by Robert Feder on Dec 5, 2011 at 12:00am
>
> Jonathon Brandmeier
>
>
> Will Johnny B. change WGN - or will WGN change Johnny B.?
>
> On that question hinges the future of the Chicago Tribune's 87-year-old
> radio flagship and millions of dollars in advertising revenue. Ready or 
> not,
> after a courtship that began more than 20 years ago in a secret meeting at
> the Fairmont Hotel, Jonathon Brandmeier and news/talk WGN-AM (720) finally
> consummated the deal that few believed would ever get done.
>
> When he steps into the Michigan Avenue showcase studio and cracks open the
> microphone Friday, the 55-year-old Chicago radio icon and pride of Fond du
> Lac, Wisconsin, will become WGN's fourth morning personality in three 
> years,
> following Greg Jarrett (who was fired), John Williams (who moved to 
> middays)
> and Spike O'Dell (who retired).
>
> But in substance and spirit, Johnny B. has more in common with their two
> predecessors - the late Radio Hall of Famers Wally Phillips and Bob 
> Collins,
> whose immense talents and double-digit audience shares defined WGN and
> dominated morning radio in Chicago for decades. Both no doubt would be 
> proud
> to share their mantle with Brandmeier.
>
> "This is the perfect home for me," he says on the eve of his 5:30-to-9am
> weekday show's debut. "It was one of the first things in my life that I
> didn't have to overthink."
>
> Unlike the lengthy and meticulous preparations that preceded his earlier
> jobs - including two stints at the Loop and one at the former WCKG - this
> time Johnny B. is hanging loose. As of Sunday, he still hadn't signed his
> contract. He still hadn't met everyone he'll be working with (although he
> did manage to bring back his old audio producer, Hector Soriano). And he
> still hadn't settled on a million other details. But none of that seems to
> faze him. "All I'm focused on is the product - talking into the mic and
> taking calls and getting a kick out of it," he says. "Sometimes you just
> have to strip it down so you can get back to where you were. That's how I
> started, and that's what I do."
>
> Such is the urgency to set things straight at WGN after years of decline 
> and
> decay that his new bosses insisted Brandmeier start at once and work it 
> out
> on the fly. "When you're talking about an opportunity like this, if you
> waver on it, they will move on you. They're not fooling around. They have 
> a
> business. They're not going to wait around."
>
> Even as they hustled Jarrett and morning show producer Jim Wiser out the
> door, WGN bosses refused to confirm another major realignment - the ouster
> of husband-and-wife overnight hosts Steve King and Johnnie Putman after 
> more
> than 26 years. Preferring to let Steve & Johnnie announce their departure 
> on
> the air, the station stonewalled inquiries on the promotion of Bill Leff,
> who takes over from midnight to 5:30am weekdays on December 12. ("We're 
> more
> than OK with the way things have worked out," King said, kicking off a 
> week
> of farewell shows Monday.)
>
> WGN general manager Tom Langmyer and program director Bill White basked in
> Brandmeier's hiring last week, but credit for the deal belongs to Sean
> Compton, president of programming for parent company Tribune Broadcasting.
> Working with Brandmeier's attorney, Scott Zolke, who also happens to be a
> longtime friend of Compton's, he hammered out the two-year agreement and
> personally shepherded it through the bureaucratic maze of the
> bankruptcy-gripped Tribune Co.
>
> When Compton called Brandmeier about the job on September 26, it was 
> hardly
> the first time he'd been approached by an emissary of WGN. As far back as
> 1990, he'd met secretly in a suite at the Fairmont Hotel with general
> manager Dan Fabian and program director Lorna Gladstone, who offered him
> virtually a blank check to join WGN. And as recently as last year, serious
> talks ensued with program director Kevin Metheny under the regime of 
> former
> Tribune Co. CEO Randy Michaels. But nothing ever materialized.
>
> So when Compton reached out this time, Brandmeier naturally was skeptical:
> "I said with all due respect, I'd heard it all before. I'll believe it 
> when
> I see it. I was like Hyman Roth in The Godfather: 'I'm going to go take a
> nap. When I wake up, if there's money on the table, I know we have a deal.
> If not, I go forward.' And he said OK, let's go. Let's do it. And he made 
> it
> all happen - boom, boom, boom."
>
> The deal they made covers only radio, although Brandmeier is eager to 
> pursue
> television, too. Brandmeier, his freewheeling weekly variety/talk show on
> NBC 5 and the NBC Chicago NonStop digital channel, concludes December 16,
> and he's in talks with station president Larry Wert on a renewal. But
> Brandmeier says he'd also be "wide open" to a deal on the WGN America
> superstation or elsewhere. "I'm definitely not going to choose to do just
> radio. Definitely not."
>
> At WGN, Brandmeier inherits a daypart that currently ranks 16th among
> listeners in the money demo (between the ages of 25 and 54) with a 2.6
> percent share, according to Arbitron. Though higher than the station's
> overall standing in 22nd place with a 2.1 share, it's a long way from the
> top ratings Johnny B. enjoyed in his heyday at the Loop.
>
> In a candid conversation Sunday, Brandmeier shared his hopes and
> expectations for the new morning show:
>
> Q. Can you describe what it will be like?
>
> A. It's the Today show on the radio. Just think of it that way. There's 
> Matt
> Lauer interviewing somebody who killed Moammar Gadhafi and next thing you
> know he's outside of the studio in a Halloween costume. That's how I
> envision the radio show.
>
> Q. Will you be expected to maintain the rigid format with traffic every 10
> minutes and all that?
>
> A. No, they're going to free it up a lot more. My understanding is 
> there'll
> be three breaks [an hour]. And that's it. What Sean [Compton] said to me,
> which really convinced me that they were serious, was that you're going to
> be the catalyst that changes the station. That sounds arrogant, but he 
> said,
> if we put you into place, and we have Garry [Meier] in the afternoon, then
> we start to loosen it up. That's the understanding. We'll see. If it 
> doesn't
> turn out that way, there should be some interesting listening.
>
> Q. Do you feel capable of handling serious, breaking news when it happens?
>
> A. 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.
>
> Q. But can you do it the WGN way?
>
> A. I don't look at it as WGN. I look at it as this is who I am, wherever I
> am. I have great respect for the call letters, but I am what I am. You're
> always going to hear the essence of me. You can't hide it, mask it or 
> format
> it. The essence of me is about fun. Curious, opinionated fun. I don't take
> life too seriously.
>
> Q. Tell the truth. Is there anything you're nervous about?
>
> A. No, except my equipment. I'm excited like crazy. I'm like a child. I 
> just
> want to go to work. I saw the showcase studio and I was like a 5-year-old,
> just looking around. When I walked into that room, it was the same feeling 
> I
> had when I saw KFIZ in Fond du Lac: "Look at the mics over here! This is
> unbelievable!"
>
> Q. Think you'll be able to get along with everyone there?
>
> A. You're talking to a guy who's worked with every one of those guys. I've
> been through every incarnation of personalities you can imagine. It 
> doesn't
> faze me. I just go to work.
>
> Q. How will you measure your success?
>
> A. I don't know. Somebody's going to tell me like always. I just know. I
> know in my head. Because if I get off the air and I had fun, that's it. . 
> .
> . I always tell my staff, "Let's find some meat. Let's put some meat in 
> the
> cooler. Meat."
>
> Q. Anything else we should know?
>
> A. When people are driving around, if they're talking about Jay Cutler and
> his thumb, or they're talking about his wedding, or the city blows up, I
> want them to know they can turn in to me on 'GN, and they're gonna get it.
> But they're also gonna get an opinion. That's the beauty of it. They don't
> just have to listen to the news, they can call right in, throw their
> opinions in. I love that! 591-7200. Oh, man, that's awesome. Who doesn't
> know that phone number?
>
>
>
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