Cinncinnati talents heading to WGN?

[Arbitorn]

My experience with Kevin has been that while he may personally lean left, he realizes the low hanging fruit is center-right and drives a station that way unless it is intentionally and blatantly targeted to the left.

 

[Rusty Muck]

It seems that, generally, he's been able to overcome his personal extreme left wing agenda for the good of the station, except when he dropped Glenn Beck for Jerry Springer in Cleveland. However, part of that decision may have gone higher as it might at WGN, as I suspect Randy Michaels and PV share more in common than just radio genius.

Do you want to expand on that thought for the rest of us?

The only thing that remotely explains why Jerry Springer replaced Glenn Beck on WTAM/1100 was to try to build a state-wide network for his show. However... Cleveland never has had a liberal/progressive talk outlet as Jerry's other affiliates were. WTAM is the main talk station by default in Cleveland (and as such, is a standard conservative talker) with all of the relevant major league play-by-play contracts in the evening, so it was process by elimination that forced Glenn off the air, even though his show was ranked #1 in key demos prior to that switch.

To call it a disastrous move is a gross understatement. Ratings on WTAM for that daypart fell by 66% in less than a year, so much so that Jerry was dropped unceremoniously for Bob Frantz, a local conservative-leaning host. Meanwhile, two suburban talkers in Elyria and Akron found outstanding success carrying Glenn's program, so much so that after Kevin left CC/Cleveland, WTAM reacquired the rights the day before the 2008 election (Frantz moved to the evening slot outside of all sports PBP).

I personally consider it a gamble that didn't pay off at all, not a political statement by Kevin. Considering the circumstances that his job entailed with CC, he did a decent job.

 

[Rusty Muck]

WGN's new (finalized?) lineup!

WGN just posted on their Facebook fan page the new show times with McConnell in the mix, effective August 9:

5:00am-8:30am: Gregg Jarrett
8:30am-12:30pm: Mike McConnell
12:30pm-3:00pm: John Williams
3:00pm-7:00pm: Gary Meier

To accommodate WGN's new lineup, and to save possible costs incurred by actually cloning a human being, WCCO will be scooting John Williams to the 9am-12noon slot, supposedly trading places with their current late-morning host, Chad Hartman.