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Metheny wants 'GN to be more edgy

"Today and the rest of the week will be Jerry Agar."
And, let's just hope that the above can be changed to: "today and permanently..it will be Jerry Agar."
 
radioman148 said:
Who would you suggest?

It doesn't matter who I want. I'm a 42-year-old woman. My expendable income isn't deemed valuable by anyone in radio.

If I had my choice, I would like someone intelligent, thought provoking and right down the middle, politically.

It won't happen. Rush and Hannity sell. Moderate common sense is gone.
 
I listened to "Shawn Wasson - The News Junkie" yesterday. What a joke. He is a news illiterate. I listened just because I was in total disbelief that someone with this low quality level was on WGN. He actually was pleading with people to call him and for them to get upset about any number of items HE wanted to talk about. When he did engage he was often factually incorrect on the issues.

My suspicion is that WGN isn't paying the guy much. At first I thought it was somebody that came from WLTL and a joke.

I was hoping to listen to Sports Central on Sunday and heard Jerry Agar. Yes, he is just another angry shrill voice that is very common in talk radio today. No wonder he was fired from WLS.

It was so odd to hear the station break for the news/weather/sports and then return to these shrill voices that wanted to engage and get the audience mad or emotional or say dumb things so these two guys could become impolite and all they received were rather civil discussions.

Wassom really wanted the folks to go to there respective windows and yell out, "I mad as hell and I'm not going to take it any more!"- from the movie Network.

I wonder if the WGN staff is waiting for all of the shoes to fall.

I was actually saddened by it all. Regardless WGN skews old, it was a great radio station.
 
Yeah, that guy filled in for Nick that Saturday night he got married. I changed the station. He was awful. I listen to WGN at night here form Arkansas. I was born and raised in Chicago and was raised on WGN, WLS. the station is really taken a strange turn. Steve and Jonnie, Nick and Brian that is on after in the overnights are great. I hope that never changes.
 
b344077 said:
Regardless WGN skews old, it was a great radio station.

Agreed. Was is the key word. WGN's quality used to be something we could count on. That's now gone. It's going to take me awhile to get over it.

Honestly, I feel like I've lost a friend. That sounds silly, to be sure, but it's been a huge part of my day for over 30 years. Now, I have almost nothing left of the quality.

Hosts come and go, but the replacements have almost all been something I could listen to and they tended to carry the WGN tradition of non-shock, non exploitative, high quality radio.

It sickens me that 25 year old men are targeted more than me, a 42-year old woman. I have plenty of expendable income. I didn't when I was 25.

[/end rant]
 
That a person with the intelligence and reputation of WGN GM Tom Langmeyer presides over what WGN is becoming is hard to believe. The man is well respected throughout the business and has a strong track record, most recently at KMOX.

This "evolution" of WGN is pure PD power talk: formulaic talk radio drek at its "finest." The loudest person in the room wins. Get the listener involved, play to their lowest instincts, make sure the issue/topic is positioned to appeal to what the listener "feels" rather than what the listener "thinks." God forbid anybody thinks these days. It's easier to spout off the pre-packaged talking points of both wing nuts and lib nuts. Don't fairly present or both sides of an issue, that's too much for the average Joe or Jill to comprehend.

Yes, some will argue the median age of the average WGN listener is 62, so they have to "young it up." Whatever. This is precisely the reason 26 year old men and women with a college degree don't want to listen to AM talk radio... it's what their nutjob Uncle Dave listens to and he's got all the talking points down like a parrot. Brawww, Democrats are socialists. Brawww, Cheney's a war criminal...

BTW, a 42 year old woman is most certainly a desirable demographic, however you're in the wrong seat in the wrong stadium; the media mavens have pigeon-holed you either as a listener of NPR, or the best testing 287 songs most commonly featured on an Adult Contemporary radio station that's voice-tracked and plays all music, all the time or at work favorites from yesterday and today.
 
What is Metheny going for...LS Lite? Especially with a Dlister like Agar. The first words out of this guy's mouth is always a snipe at something. Getting a younger audience does not necessarily equate with getting more combative hosts. It means getting more Sirott types.
If listeners want confrontation, there's plenty of other places to get it without WGN turning itself inside out to get there.
 
Maybe GN could get Eileen Byrne ? 8) Doubtful with her twin 1 year old babies.
Deborah Rowe ? No idea what she is doing now~em~days
Teri O'Brien ? Wait they just fired 2 like her.
Jay Marvin ? He's in pretty bad shape, hope he recovers no matter his views.
Larry Lujack ? ;D :D

GN also has former LS host and news reader David Jennings.
I have not heard Dan Dieber on GN lately, what happen to that nutty guy ?
 
Racine Radio Head said:
Maybe GN could get Eileen Byrne ? 8) Doubtful with her twin 1 year old babies.
Deborah Rowe ? No idea what she is doing now~em~days
Teri O'Brien ? Wait they just fired 2 like her.
Jay Marvin ? He's in pretty bad shape, hope he recovers no matter his views.
Larry Lujack ? ;D :D

GN also has former LS host and news reader David Jennings.
I have not heard Dan Dieber on GN lately, what happen to that nutty guy ?

What's up with Jay Marvin? I haven't heard.
 
As a 43-year-old man, I enjoyed WGN for the past 25 years. I think they always presented the point without shouting it down your throat. I don't want to be yelled at, (aka Limbough, Hanity, Savage).

If WGN ends up like that drivel, I'll let my tuning know to the talking. I'll be taking my money elsewhere. I urge everyone that's upset about GN's new direction, to do.
 
Element9 said:
BTW, a 42 year old woman is most certainly a desirable demographic, however you're in the wrong seat in the wrong stadium;

Yes, well, being a unique individual has its ups and downs. I'll take unique over ordinary, even at the cost of quality radio. (NPR is okay, just way too focused in one area for my varied tastes.)
 
WGN already has some of Metheny's influence coming through on the air.
The station actually sounds better than it did six months ago. As I mentioned
in an earlier post, I still believe WGN should add reverb for very fact that
no other staion in Chicago is using right now. I wish the best to Kevin Metheny
in his efforts to improve the station. I wonder if any Chicago radio executives
read these posts.
 
talk_radio_nut said:
If I had my choice, I would like someone intelligent, thought provoking and right down the middle, politically.

I think there are a lot more people like you than this business realizes.

You could well be the female version of me. :D

But I'm not in Chicago, and not listening to WGN one way or the other. I am only watching because the station's PD used to be here, and given the mix of WGN's recent history and his recent history (programming WTAM here), there were bound to be fireworks.
 
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