LARadio
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![[*]](./images/iconic/default_icon.gif) posted on 7-1-2010 at 08:30 AM |
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An interesting read: from the "minds" at Tribune
Former WGN host Steve Cochran just ripped into WGN management in a column written by Chicago media reporter Robert Feder.
http://blogs.vocalo.org/feder/2010/07/cochran-goes-off-on-wgn-%E2%80%98worst-...
Although no one should have been surprised by last Friday’s firing of Steve Cochran from WGN-AM (720), his departure after 10 years at the Tribune
Co.-owned news/talk station still came as a blow to longtime listeners.
For most of his time on the air there, Cochran, 49, had been regarded as the future of the station. By all accounts, the seasoned radio veteran was
being groomed as the successor to WGN’s 40-year line of top-rated morning hosts — from Wally Phillips to Bob Collins to Spike O’Dell. But as the Sam
Zell era at Tribune Co. unfolded, Cochran suddenly found himself on the outs with new management (and most notably with WGN program director Kevin
“Pig Virus” Metheny).
Cochran’s fate was all but sealed when he was signed to just a four-month contract extension earlier this year and demoted from afternoon drive to a
two-hour midday shift. For many listeners already disgusted by changes in the station’s lineup and attitude, his ouster may have been the last
straw.
Here, in his first extensive interview since he left WGN, Cochran lets loose on what really happened to him — and what he thinks is happening to the
once-great radio station:
Q. Let me get this straight: WGN just fired its most talented, youngest and most versatile full-time host. I don’t get it.
A. I don’t know that I get it either. One answer may be politics, but I believe it was largely because I spoke out about what I was witnessing. I
didn’t like what they were doing to the radio station and let them know that with regularity. They want people who will never ask questions and just
do as they are told.
It’s also likely to be a decision from the man behind the curtain. [Tribune Co. CEO] Randy Michaels is making programming decisions and has wanted tobring in his guys for as long as he has been in charge. That’s why the new guy from WLW [in Cincinnati] was hired and why they wanted Bill
Cunningham, too.
The “young-ing up” of the demos is the funniest argument I’ve heard. I was the youngest guy in the prime-time lineup. John Williams is just a year
older than me at 50. The rest of the staff is 55-plus — and sounds older than that.
Q. How long have you known this was coming?
A. That is a bit unclear, but I certainly feel I was on top of the hit list for standing up for what I felt was right. This was not about change.
Change is appropriate and needed in the evolution of any company. I certainly represented change when I was hired 10 years ago. The difference here
is that there seemed to be no consideration for building on what worked. Instead, it was about tearing things down and the almost daily drill of
insulting and threatening memos, and a sense of a total lack of respect for anyone who was here before the Zell invasion.
When I turned down the morning show, I’m certain it was not if but when they would pull the plug. The reason it took a year and a half is because the
show consistently made money.
Meanwhile, the statements made from the inside about WGN were ridiculous. One main argument from management was that once the Arbitron ratings
methodology had changed to digital metering from paper diaries to record listenership, the “real” WGN ratings were known. In other words, the success
for decades prior was an accident. If you believed that, then you would also have to say that any successes by the radio-heavy Tribune upper
management were also fraudulent since everyone was scored the same way. In other words, the bosses owed their careers to the alleged flawed
technology they were citing as the reason they had to change WGN. It’s enough to make your head hurt.
Q. You never got to say goodbye to listeners on the air. What would you have told them?
A. The 10 years I spent at WGN were the most rewarding of my career despite the lunacy of the Sam Zell era. The audience for that station has been
the most loyal and supportive I have ever seen. You don’t fully get that until you work there. Bottom line is I can never thank the listeners enough
for the run I had at WGN. It’s their radio station and I’m honored to have had a chance to be a part of the history of what was one of the greatest
radio stations ever. From Wally to Bob Collins through Spike and Kathy & Judy, it was always a lineup of legends that I was proud to be a part of
until very recently.
It’s too bad the new Tribune management never got that. In my opinion, the reason Randy Michaels & Co. have failed, are failing, and will fail here
is because they have no respect for the audience. They simply don’t seem to care what the listeners think. Imagine that attitude in any other
business. It’s so counter-intuitive because people logically think that any business run for profit would focus on pleasing their customers. The
current Tribune Company appears to be run by a club of Randy and friends who only talk to each other and really seem to think they are the smartest
guys in the room.
Q. What’s been the reaction of people to the news?
A. It’s been amazing. Thousands of emails, Facebook outrage, and more. The people are no longer confused. They are pissed off. It’s not about me.
It’s the sum total of a series of decisions so bizarre and so wrong that it’s hard to remember which bad idea was worst. And no, the Sunday night
show with the guy with the French accent is not meant to be a joke. Kevin Metheny apparently thinks that’s fascinating.
Q. What’s your theory on what’s really going on at WGN? To outsiders, none of this makes any sense.
A. It won’t make anyone feel better, but it makes even less sense on the inside. There are daily discussions in the hallways about what the management
could be up to next. The fact is Kevin Metheny is making some of the decisions and also putting Randy Michaels’ programming decisions in play. The
idiocy of it all is the notion that you can bring in unknown guys from Cincinnati and the Chicago audience is going to suddenly fall in love with
them. I actually feel bad for the new guy because he has no idea what he’s in for. At a time when there have never been more entertainment choices,
starting over with an all-new lineup is beyond a long shot. It’s a bad joke.
Q. What do you think of the current daytime lineup on the station?
A. These are professional opinions only and not meant to be personal in any way.
Greg Jarrett is not ready to host his own show, and therefore not ready to host mornings on WGN. He doesn’t listen, which makes him a bad
interviewer. He doesn’t seem to prepare, so he consistently sounds like an outsider even after a year here.
John Williams is doing a great show — especially under these circumstances. If they lose him, the last link to what WGN has always meant to Chicago
will be gone.
Jim Laski is an inexplicable hire. At a time when crooked politicians are front and center as The Problem, Laski is hired as the answer? He has zero
experience as a talk show host and proves it everyday. And none of this goes to his hiring being primarily to replace “Sports Central,” where David
Kaplan was the perfect fit between Cubs and Blackhawks games and had done a great show for years. You can’t make it up.
Garry Meier is in a tough spot. He’s got a big crowd from the old days that are finding him, but the regular audience needs to give him a chance.
He’s still funny, and the rap on him that he’s a co-host only is B.S. He works hard and I like his show.
Q. I heard something about management changing the lock on your office door without telling you several days before you were fired. That didn’t really
happen, did it?
A. Last Wednesday [June 23], after the show, I had numerous people stop me on the way back to my office to say that the lock on my office door was
changed while I was on the air. Since I wasn’t told I needed a new key and was expecting to be popped at any point, I thought this was their subtle
way of saying goodbye. I was later told they were re-keying the lock so my new producer could have a key, but that seems a bit pricey for a bankrupt
company. I was then given the new key but not fired until two days later. Another WGN “you can’t make it up” moment.
Q. I got the sense that there was bad blood between you and your bosses ever since you turned down the morning job. What really happened then?
A. [General manager] Tom Langmyer offered me mornings after Spike left, and I assumed we would easily come to a deal. It was never close. The offer
was for the exact same dollars that I made doing the afternoon show even though the morning show was billing two to three times as much. So to get up
at 3 a.m. and make the company even more money meant this deal was beyond bad. It was very disappointing, but the absolute right decision for me.
John Williams was offered the show after I turned it down — then had it taken away a few months later when Randy Michaels insisted Greg Jarrett be
hired from San Francisco despite apparently never having been to Chicago before or never having hosted a show on his own. The sad thing is John was
never given a fair chance.
Q. Don’t hold back: What do you really think of Tom Langmyer and Kevin Metheny?
A. Langmyer mostly got what WGN was, and I think he meant well when he came in. He made some positive moves, but then watered them down with some
really bad ideas. The worst for me was giving me the afternoon show but adding traffic every 10 minutes, which made it nearly impossible to do a show
with any flow at all. Somewhere along the way, he lost control of the place, and I believe he hasn’t made any programming decisions since Metheny was
hired.
I think Kevin has been a disaster. He has made a Joe DiMaggio hit streak of bad decisions with no end in sight. His leadership style varies between
absent and intimidation. Since the intimidation never worked with me, he was just absent. He almost never held a staff meeting because he never
wanted to be challenged. His disdain for the audience was clear when he was on with me last summer and with Garry last week. Any caller who asked a
tough question was cut off by sarcasm or bitterness. I believe he has no interest in programming WGN day-to-day, and he seems to be burned out beyond
belief.
Q. What’s next?
A. This Internet thing might eventually catch on so I’m launching stevecochranshow.com within days. The website will have podcasts and live shows
including the best guests from my former show. It also will allow me to do many things that I couldn’t do within the confines of WGN, and I’m excited
about that. There will definitely be more stand-up dates in my future. I also am closing in on a book deal and have some offers to do radio that I’ll
decide on soon. If you keep an eye on Facebook and Twitter, I expect I’ll be living there daily as well with updates on whatever I am doing.
Q. Think you’ll ever be invited to one of Randy’s drinking/smoking/gambling parties at Tribune Tower?
A. So far nothing in the mail. What amazes me is that those pictures and text here on your blog didn’t become a criminal matter. The gambling is one
thing, but in the city of the great Chicago Fire to have the landmark Tribune Tower’s smoke detectors tampered with is beyond words. Have I said this
yet? You can’t make it up! But that was a proud moment for the company, wasn’t it? And by the way, that wasn’t some company morale-building event. It
was the small group of yes-men who Randy keeps closest to him.
Bottom line is just because they own the place doesn’t mean everything is OK. It’s stunning that the primary creditors in the bankruptcy would want
these people to continue to run this company and expect they would be successful on any level.
The bad signs were there from the beginning. In the first “dog-and-pony show” meeting, Sam Zell announced to the radio staff that if this new Tribune
Company didn’t work, it wouldn’t affect his lifestyle but it sure would affect ours. Then as they kept cutting $25,000 to $50,000-a-year employees,
they approved huge bonuses for themselves. Very classy.
They claim success because they are able to show better money numbers. What is never stated is that personnel have been cut beyond reasonable totals
and the quality of the product suffers more everyday. So they pay less money to less people with less experience and damn the consequences. Gee . .
. good plan.
What I have witnessed is the worst possible kind of management that trips over itself to cover their asses and manage up, so that Randy Michaels will
keep them around and overpay them for jobs they don’t deserve. Chicago deserves better than that. The question is: Is it too late to save Tribune
Company?
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Boondocker
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| posted on 7-1-2010 at 11:03 AM |
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Wow. That piece speaks volumes about a lot of things about the current state of radio -- and not just at WGN. It's nice for me to see Cochran echo
exactly what I feel about John Williams, and especially about Randy Michaels, who had a big role in propelling the decline of KOA.
Thanks for spotting this, LARadio!
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Dale Motel
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| posted on 7-2-2010 at 08:39 AM |
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Boondocker
Randy Michaels, who had a big role in propelling the decline of KOA. |
Hmmmmm....... Let's see.... a few weeks back, you yukked it up over a rambling non-sensical post from a wannabe shock-jock in Cheyenne, thinking he
was soooooooo hilarious, and now this. Nice to see that you never let FACTS get in the way of a great post.
As much as I like Randy, Greg Jarrett was a terrible choice for mornings. Can't pronounce the street names and just seems generally disinterested. I
don't get Jim Laski either. He has a very thick Ch-caw-goe accent and an 'Al Bundy' personality to match.
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Boondocker
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| posted on 7-2-2010 at 09:24 AM |
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Dale Motel
| Quote: | Originally posted by Boondocker
Randy Michaels, who had a big role in propelling the decline of KOA. |
Hmmmmm....... Let's see.... a few weeks back, you yukked it up over a rambling non-sensical post from a wannabe shock-jock in Cheyenne, thinking he
was soooooooo hilarious, and now this. Nice to see that you never let FACTS get in the way of a great post.
As much as I like Randy, Greg Jarrett was a terrible choice for mornings. Can't pronounce the street names and just seems generally disinterested. I
don't get Jim Laski either. He has a very thick Ch-caw-goe accent and an 'Al Bundy' personality to match. |
Re: Randy and Jacor: You needed to be here in 1987, when Jacor bought KOA from Belo, and throughout the 90s, when solid information was replaced with
fluff and manufactured "attitude" which aimed to lure in a younger target but didn't succeed.
But I agree with you completely on Jarrett -- and especially Laski, who sounds like the corrupt political hack he is. For the majority of our readers
who don't know much about Chicago radio, Laski did time in federal prison for accepting nearly $50,000 in bribes while he was Chicago's city clerk.
WGN has been using him in part-time roles to fill in for super-nice-guy John Williams from 9 to noon.
The worst of it for me, though, is bringing in Mike McConnell and the race-baiting Billy Cunningham, polarizing figures that totally torpedo the
formula that made WGN a consistent overall ratings leader: its reputation as the friendly, welcoming, unifying place on the dial, the anathema of the
partisan polarizers on conservative WLS and WIND and liberal WCPT. I'm sorry, Dale, but to me that kind of move stinks of Randy Michaels.
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LARadio
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| posted on 7-2-2010 at 12:19 PM |
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I didn't mean to raise a stink, guys...
As a veteran Chicago and LA radio person, however, I'm willing to say this: IMHO, WGN is completely off target. That's one of the few stations in
America where change should come slowly -- over the course of years.
Many will argue WGN started deteriorating when former morning show host Bob Collins died in a plane crash in 2000. They might be right. Spike O'Dell
saw what was happening, and left. After that, there may have been no stopping the disaster that is now WGN.
I'm also willing to lay odds that PD Kevin Metheny will not survive this. WGN is truly an agency buy -- and management WILL be looking for a scapegoat
for the bad press.
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Boondocker
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| posted on 7-2-2010 at 07:51 PM |
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| Quote: | Originally posted by LARadio
I didn't mean to raise a stink, guys...
As a veteran Chicago and LA radio person, however, I'm willing to say this: IMHO, WGN is completely off target. That's one of the few stations in
America where change should come slowly -- over the course of years.
Many will argue WGN started deteriorating when former morning show host Bob Collins died in a plane crash in 2000. They might be right. Spike O'Dell
saw what was happening, and left. After that, there may have been no stopping the disaster that is now WGN.
I'm also willing to lay odds that PD Kevin Metheny will not survive this. WGN is truly an agency buy -- and management WILL be looking for a scapegoat
for the bad press. |
Not a "stink," LARadio, just a healthy debate about the direction radio should go. What we argue about here is tame compared with the hundreds of
comments that were posted under Feder's column about Michaels issuing the list of 119 forbidden words and phrases. That conversation veered into this
same discussion about the future of WGN.
I met with Kevin for awhile last summer on another matter, and had the impression at the time that he was getting swept along with the changes from
above. Just my opinion, but I don't think Zell and Michaels will worry about the bad press for awhile; ditching Kevin would be an admission that their
changes were bad ones. But when the ratings sink, then it could happen. The protests that followed the axing of Kathy and Judy might pale in
comparison to what WGN's core audience might do if Williams and Meier leave. John Williams is such a breath of fresh air and a master at his craft
that I even listen to him from here in Longmont as I work in the morning.
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Bruce the Fierce
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| posted on 7-6-2010 at 07:37 PM |
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So it looks like Billy Cunningham will be on Channel 9 here in Chicago, and Channel 2 there in Denver, instead of on WGN radio, a job which he turned
down. Apparently Michaels, holding Metheny's leash, wanted him to replace Garry Meier. Un-be-freaking-lievable.
http://chicagoradioandmedia.com/news/737-bill-qwillieq-cunninghams-tv-show-to...
Bill "Willie" Cunningham's TV Show To Air Next Week
Written by Larz
Tuesday, 06 July 2010 18:33
Bill Cunningham's new television show is tentatively set to make its debut test run next week on WGN-TV and other Tribune-owned television stations.
Bill Cunningham is the controversial Cincinnati radio host who just recently turned down WGN-AM's offer to become their Noon-3:00pm radio host after
verbally accepting it previously. A few days before turning down WGN-AM, he was in town at WGN-TV's studios, taping the first five episodes of his TV
Show for the Tribune Company, then called "Big Willie."
It is these episodes that WGN-TV will be running next week.
Well... most of those episodes, anyway. Only four out of the five that were taped will be shown. One of the episodes, where Cunningham and the show's
staff allegedly verbally abused some child beauty pageant contestants, along with their mothers, and encouraged the audience to do the same, will not
be shown. Cunningham's treatment of these participants and the way they claim they were misled to be part of the show, has resulted in the Tribune
Company being sued by five women.
The other four episodes supposedly contain show topics as classy as: grandmother prostitutes, pregnant girls who like to smoke & drink, a look at
conjoined twins, and a show where Cunningham makes an morbidly obese woman eat like a dog off the floor.
As one can surmise from these show topics, the shows are not aiming for an intellectual crowd. Tribune CEO Randy Michaels is looking to create a new
show in the Jerry Springer/Mort Downey Jr vein... and perhaps even cruder than that.
These four shows will have their test run next week, from Tuesday July 13th through Friday July 16th. It will run in the afternoon, displacing one of
the two episodes shown each day of "The Tyra Show." The show most likely will air from 3:00pm-4:00pm, following an episode of "Maury." It is possible
that the show could also run in place of "Maury" for those four days. Almost everything about these shows is subject to change at the last minute.
The show will air in numerous markets, wherever the Tribune owns stations. Most will air the shows in the afternoons. Showing times could vary from
market to market, however.
There will be no advance promotional push for the airings. The Tribune will simply be looking for feedback to see if the show needs to be changed,
tweaked or improved prior to the true start of the show tapings, which probably begin in September.
The show has dropped the name "Big Willie," which was the title of the show during the tapings. Apparently, the title being a juvenile nickname for a
man's genitals was just too much for many station managers. The title is now "The Willie Show," which was the original title, although insiders have
said that the final title has not yet been decided upon and may not be until September.
The television episodes of the full run of "The Willie Show" (or whatever title the Tribune executives settle upon) will all be taped in Chicago at
WGN-TV's studios, beginning in September, if all goes according to producer's plans. The telecasts could start as early as October of this year.
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Bruce the Fierce
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| posted on 7-15-2010 at 07:10 PM |
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http://blogs.vocalo.org/feder/2010/07/don%e2%80%99t-look-now-but-wgn-is-shuff...
Don't look now, but WGN is shuffling the deck -- again
By Robert Feder
In another move that’s certain to confuse and alienate listeners, Tribune Co.-owned news/talk WGN-AM (720) just shook up its daytime programming
lineup again.
Under the new arrangement, Greg Jarrett will lose 30 minutes from his morning show, and John Williams (who, by one count, has occupied five different
time slots in the last 19 months) will move yet again — this time from middays to early afternoons. It’s hardly a vote of confidence in Jarrett, whose
audience shares decline steadily from the moment he signs on at 5 a.m.
Both moves, effective Aug. 9, coincide with the arrival of Mike McConnell, a newcomer from Cincinnati’s WLW-AM, who’ll take over a four-hour slot
between Jarrett and Williams from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. With Jarrett and McConnell on from 5 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., WGN will be fronted for more than
seven hours each day by hosts who never worked in Chicago prior to June 2009.
In a statement announcing the changes Wednesday, Tom Langmyer, vice president and general manager of WGN, said: “Mike and John back-to-back make an
extraordinarily strong team, and our listeners will be well-served with the best in news, information and engaging conversation.”
For Williams, who’s been on shaky ground at WGN since the current regime took over, the move appears more beneficial to his second job with WCCO-AM in
Minneapolis. Under his new schedule, Williams will originate his WCCO show out of a studio at WGN from 9 a.m. to noon, and then host his WGN show from
12:30 to 3 p.m. Williams will be reunited on his afternoon show with newsman Steve Bertrand and traffic reporter Leslie Keiling.
News anchor Jim Gudas moves from afternoons to mornings along with traffic reporter Mary Van De Velde, and news anchor Andrea Darlas moves from
mornings to afternoons/evenings. Those moves take effect July 26.
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Boondocker
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| posted on 7-16-2010 at 07:33 AM |
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Thanks, Bruce -- I think. Here's what I wrote in this blog item's comments:
These moves really stink of Randy Michaels. When he headed Jacor, it did the same thing to KOA-Denver’s few remaining moderates in the ’90s as WGN is
doing to King John: cutting their air time to disrupt the flow and putting them in a slot where they’re frequently pre-empted by baseball — and then
giving more airtime to brash, polarizing and angry hosts.
Has anyone here ever listened to Mike McConnell? He hosted a show on Clear Channel stations called “The Weekend.” He is snide, arrogant and abusive to
disagreeing callers — everything WGN wasn’t.
WGN used to top the ratings because it was the friendlier, more welcoming place on the dial. Now that Michaels has “younged it up” and made delivery
of information less important than manufactured attitude and “the noise you can’t ignore,” WGN will turn into just another fringe talker that fans the
flames of division and aggression — and its slide down the ratings will be blamed not on Michaels but on listeners who are “resistant to change.” I
mourn for what used to be the best radio station in America.
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LARadio
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| posted on 7-26-2010 at 07:01 AM |
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Um, wow. Only from the "minds" at Tribune.
http://chicagoradioandmedia.com/news/792-lee-abrams-looks-to-fix-tribunes-tv-...
Lee Abrams Looks To 'Fix' Tribune's TV News
Saturday, 24 July 2010 10:10
Tribune Company-owned television stations may soon see their newscasts "fixed." An experimental new concept in TV News called NewsFix will begin
rolling out this fall.
The idea behind NewsFix is to remove all on-camera anchors and reporters. Instead, the newscast will use only fast-edited video, natural sound and
added graphics/special effects to tell news stories. Instead of a traditional newscast, it is meant to be a collection of stories that just roll
together.
The first Tribune station to experiment with NewsFix will be KIAH-TV, Houston, TX's Channel 39. KIAH-TV is consistently the lowest rated newscast in
Houston between the five local English-language stations that air daily news programs, drawing as low as 0.1 percent of Houston's television
audience.
KIAH staffers were called into a meeting Thursday and told about the impending changes, which now involve reassigning the on-air anchors and
reporters. The TV news people, used to being able to look good on camera while verbally conveying the day's news, will now be used for new, off-camera
duties. The innovative format is expected to begin in late September.
The NewsFix concept comes the mind of Tribune Company's Chief Innovation Officer, Lee Abrams. Lee Abrams is the former radio programming guru brought
into the Tribune by CEO Randy Michaels in March 2008. He was the Senior Vice-President and Senior Programmer for XM when he was pulled to Michaels'
side. Radio Ink once called Abrams one of the most important radio figures of all time. He is credited with inventing the Album Rock format -- the
first successful format on FM radio -- and being one of the architects behind the Classic Rock and Active Rock formats. He supposedly was also
instrumental in launching Radio Disney. Additionally, Abrams has dabbled in the music industry, producing albums and working with the careers of some
very high profile musicians. A few years ago, he even helped with the redesign of Rolling Stone Magazine.
This is not the first time Lee Abrams has stepped away from the music world, and ventured into television, though. He has worked with MTV before and
also helped with the launch of the cable network TNT. He now has his sights on helping Tribune Company newscasts.
In a statement put out by the Tribune on June 29th, Lee Abrams said, "Incremental change at our television stations won't get it done. We have to be
radically and noticeably different -- we have to imagine TV and TV news in a totally new way, one that breaks through and reinvents the decades old,
tired TV playbook."
NewsFix is Abrams plan for differentiating their newscasts from their competitors' newscasts. Houston's KIAH-TV will be the first to experience
NewsFix, but the plan is to slowly roll out the concept to other stations across the country, especially in those markets where the newscasts are
under-performing in the ratings.
Tribune Company owns 23 television stations, including Chicago's WGN-TV & CLTV. While WGN-TV is expected to see some elements of NewsFix occasionally
worked into its daily newscasts, because of the strong viewership it currently has, a full NewsFix roll out is not expected there anytime soon.
Tribune-owned CLTV may see much more "tweaking" in the coming months, though.
In a recent interview with the Chicago Tribune's Phil Rosenthal, Lee Abrams told him, "We're going to do the greatest level of experimenting where we
have the least to lose. You'll see tweaks to WGN and CLTV with this new structure. But we have a lot of cities where we're not doing well in morning
and evening news, and we're not going to tweak our way out of it. We have to do something dramatic. What happens sometimes is a station will mimic the
big guy and end up with the poor man's version of traditional news. To really bust out, we have to do something noticeable and different."
The June 29th press statement made a bold call: "The TV revolution is underway at the new Tribune." Lee Abrams' NewsFix is the opening salvo in that
revolution.
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RadioDude
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| posted on 7-26-2010 at 09:29 AM |
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Oh boy, well this is going to be interesting when it hits DENVER on channel 2 in the morning, even at night. Not only does the nickname "DUCE" not
making channel 2 look even better but now this experiament? Will lets hope it doesn't come to Denver anytime soon.
This reply came from Radiodude
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Boondocker
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| posted on 7-26-2010 at 09:31 AM |
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They're phasing out people. No more high-salary anchors. It's purely to lower the overhead. ALL that matters to Randy is bottom line and return to
shareholders. Period.
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LARadio
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| posted on 7-26-2010 at 10:03 AM |
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KWGN is owned by Tribune, but is it operated by the company that owns KDVR, which (I believe) is "Local TV, LLC."
While several former colleagues tell me Local TV, LLC has no business in "local TV" (very cheap, small-market company), I do believe that Local TV,
LLC controls all the news content on KWGN, and that KWGN has only one employee who is a Tribune employee.
In reality, Tribune itself has very little to say about the programming on KWGN anymore, due to the duopoly. So I don't believe you will see changes
there in Denver in KWGN's newscasts. As it is, save for a few anchors, all the content is coming from KDVR's owner Local TV, LLC, anyway.
In radio, it's called a "duopoly." In television, it's more often called a "JOA," or "joint operating agreement." So long as KDVR's owner is picking
up the salary tab for KWGN's anchors -- and I do believe they are -- Tribune has no say in the matter. It's at the Tribune owned and operated stations
(emphasis on the word "operated") where this could make a big change.
Nonetheless, I also think this is idiocy. If you ever watch WGN America, you might have noticed a feature called "SkyDives," where Lee Abrams himself
(Lee Abrams is the man making this change in TV news) presents features about crappy, hole-in-the-wall restaurants generally in middle America. It's
bad television and serves no purpose.
Tribune may yet learn. They have syndicated a new TV show with WLW, Cincinnati radio talk show host Bill Cunningham, the content of which is even
lower and more prurient than Springer or Wilkos. It failed in six of seven test markets -- including Chicago.
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LARadio
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| posted on 7-26-2010 at 10:47 AM |
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Well, there are a few variables in my analysis. Will the no-anchor news happen here NOW? I think no. Could it eventually? Under certain conditions --
maybe.
1) The thing has to work first in other markets. Instinct tells me it won't.
2) In the mornings, Tom Green and Angie Austin would have to lose lots of viewer appeal in a hurry -- and that probably won't happen anytime soon.
Viewer appeal equals billing in TV. And KWGN still has good numbers on the AM news. They have for many years with Green, Austin and (back then)
Natalie Tysdal.
3) KDVR's owner would have to cede salary control of all the KWGN people back to Tribune. Tribune is still in Chapter 11 -- Local TV, LLC is not.
Tribune couldn't resume full control of KWGN until it emerges from Chapter 11, and the way that whole deal is going, who knows when or if that could
even occur?
4) Tribune collects a check from Local TV, LLC for doing nothing. Why would they change that?
Where I think this could happen, however, is in that 7 pm newscast on KWGN, which has usually been in ratings "hash marks" since its inception. What a
horrible, badly-presented idea that was and still is. Again, not immediately. But if the 7 pm "News On The Deuce" doesn't catch on in a huge way, it's
possible Local TV, LLC would ask Tribune to do the "NewsFix" concept at 7 pm on KWGN.
What would that do? Most of the KWGN people would probably shuffle over to KDVR to work on KDVR's 5 pm and 9 pm news shows. You probably wouldn't lose
a ton of jobs.
But you would doom KWGN's early-evening news to pure mediocrity. Sure, it's mediocre right now. But you stand a better chance of getting numbers with
people than you do with graphics.
PS: Boondocker, there aren't really "shareholders" in Tribune anymore, and those that are there are highly diluted across the private equity regime
brought in by Sam Zell. It's all investment banks at Tribune now, just like Bain and Lee and Clear Channel. So, what's the motivation?
Money, to be sure. But private equity groups don't look to own companies forever, unlike stockholders (who sometimes do). Tribune will be sold,
whether it's in pieces or in a whole, and will eventually (probably) once again be a publicly traded company.
The difference is this: private equity looks to cut costs harder and faster than stock-owned groups do -- all so that they can sell it back to a
public group faster.
What happens then?
Tribune probably goes away, save for the Chicago properties, which will still be "Tribune," minus (of course) the Cubs, which have already been sold.
Local TV, LLC can then assume full ownership of KWGN there in Denver, while other Tribune TV stations can be sold off to the highest bidder.
At that point, we all pray that new owners will again involve "people" in broadcasting. Sometimes, it does happen that way.
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duder
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| posted on 7-26-2010 at 02:52 PM |
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| Quote: | Originally posted by RadioDude
Oh boy, well this is going to be interesting when it hits DENVER on channel 2 in the morning, even at night. Not only does the nickname "DUCE" not
making channel 2 look even better but now this experiament? Will lets hope it doesn't come to Denver anytime soon.
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You right " the nickname "DUCE" not making channel 2 look even better" That is a very important and I also agree that "this experiament" will
hopefully not come to Denver.
But back to reality, they need to blow up many of the newscasts in this town. Every night that I watch FOX31 news it hurts my feelings. Seriously I
came up with a drinking game, every time there is a technical issue on FOX31 news take a drink....you can go through a a case of beer in a single news
cast.
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mkdenver1
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| posted on 7-26-2010 at 03:28 PM |
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| Quote: | Originally posted by duder
| Quote: | Originally posted by RadioDude
Oh boy, well this is going to be interesting when it hits DENVER on channel 2 in the morning, even at night. Not only does the nickname "DUCE" not
making channel 2 look even better but now this experiament? Will lets hope it doesn't come to Denver anytime soon.
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You right " the nickname "DUCE" not making channel 2 look even better" That is a very important and I also agree that "this experiament" will
hopefully not come to Denver.
But back to reality, they need to blow up many of the newscasts in this town. Every night that I watch FOX31 news it hurts my feelings. Seriously I
came up with a drinking game, every time there is a technical issue on FOX31 news take a drink....you can go through a a case of beer in a single news
cast. |
Oh good I'm not the only one who has noticed all their technical glitches recently.
You'd think the people running the boards there would be a lot less "small marketish."
This no-anchor thing is a bunch of BS. Who watches TV without anyone broadcasting or speaking? People may as well just listen to the radio. It
definitely would not hold anyone's attention especially when there is no one describing what is going on.
Seems like to me it's just an excuse to get rid of some very good anchors all in the name of "saving money". I wonder how they feel? Their passion
is to be in front of the camera and yet some millionaire CEO piece of shit thinks they're better off behind the scenes with the producers.
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LARadio
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| posted on 7-27-2010 at 09:14 AM |
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WGN = Who's Gone Next?
and KWGN = Know Who's Going Next?
Honestly, I think the minds at Tribune feel they can change the entire media world to their liking. But it would appear that the fat lady just grabbed
a lungful of air, and is getting ready to sing:
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN2725913320100727
UPDATE 2-Examiner sees signs of dishonesty in Tribune sale
* Bankruptcy examiner says saw evidence of 'dishonesty'
* Says did not find 'credible evidence' against Zell Group
* Says co did not forthrightly procure solvency opinion (Changes dateline to NEW YORK; adds more details from court documents, spokesman and analyst
comments)
NEW YORK, July 27 (Reuters) - The court-appointed examiner investigating Tribune Co's (TRBCQ.PK) bankruptcy said he had found some evidence of
dishonesty in the 2007 leveraged buyout of the media company by real estate developer Sam Zell.
In a more than 600-page document summarizing his findings, bankruptcy examiner Kenneth Klee said Tribune did not act forthrightly in getting an
independent opinion about the company's solvency. He also said senior management did not "adequately discharge their duties" in preparing financial
projections.
Klee did not mention any names.
Tribune's businesses include the Chicago Tribune and Los Angeles Times newspapers, as well as television stations such as superstation WGN and WPIX-TV
in New York. The company tumbled into bankruptcy after Zell led an $8.2 billion takeover, which saddled it with billions of dollars of debt.
Klee had been tapped to investigate whether real estate developer Zell's leveraged buyout of Tribune left the company insolvent.
The findings are of particular interest to junior bondholders, who say their best chance of recovery lies in getting senior claims refused.
"The independent examiner issued his report late yesterday, and it is a lengthy document that we are still reviewing," Tribune spokesman Gary Weitman
said. He declined to comment further.
Klee said he had found evidence indicating that Tribune's senior financial management did not apprise the company's board and special committee of
relevant information underlying their October 2007 projections upon which independent financial advisory firm Valuation Research Corp relied in giving
a solvency opinion.
Junior bondholders have been hoping to find evidence that would lead to the disallowing of billions of dollars of senior claims.
Klee, however, said he did not find any credible evidence against the large stockholders, lead banks, the financial advisers or the Zell Group.
A representative for junior bondholders was not immediately available to comment.
As part of the leveraged buyout, Tribune assumed some $3.6 billion in debt in what were known as Step Two transactions.
"It is somewhat likely that a court would conclude that the Step Two Transactions constituted intentional fraudulent transfers and fraudulently
incurred obligations," Klee said in the report.
Still, "other aspects of management's projections, while aggressive, do not support the conclusion that the senior financial management at Tribune
prepared them in bad faith," the report said.
The case is In re: Tribune Co et al, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, District of Delaware, No. 08-13141. (Reporting by Sakthi Prasad in Bangalore and Chelsea
Emery in New York; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)
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Boondocker
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| posted on 8-9-2010 at 09:10 AM |
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(Click here for original
column)
WGN: A loving radio family turns into angry arguers
By DAVE GATHMAN
Elgin (Ill.) Courier-News
dgathman@stmedianetwork.com
A member of our family is dying. She's called WGN Radio.
When I wake up in the morning, when I'm driving to or from work, when I'm taking a bath at 3 in the morning, WGN has almost always been in the
background. It's been that way since I was in my 20s. I have come to know personally a few of the station's present and former hosts, like Floyd Brown
and Roy Leonard and Nick Digilio. Brown, of course, lives in Elgin. Some other on-air staffers, like Orion Samuelson, Tom Petersen and Matt Bubala,
live in our area.
Longtime afternoon host Steve Cochran gives a stand-up comedy show every New Year's Eve at The Hemmens. Late-morning host John Williams once rescued a
kitten from an Elgin home heating duct while he was on the way here to give a speech.
But new station managers, including former Howard Stern associate Kevin Metheny, are making major changes.
On the WGN we have loved, the hosts listened to callers and talked to them in a civil way. They were warm and personal, to the point that we knew the
names of their children and spouses. They came with a whole spectrum of political and religious views but didn't shove those into our faces. Sometimes
they talked about politics. More often, they talked about comic collecting, or great TV episodes, or whether women should wear panties with their
pantyhose.
Keystoning the lineup were a succession of true superstars on the "morning drive time" shift, all of whom specialized in comedy. From the 1960s
through 2008, we were able to wake up with a refreshing dose of "upbeat," laid over news and information, from first the sill-ily inventive Wally
Phillips, then the brilliantly down-to-Earth "Uncle Bobby" Collins and finally the nice-guy-next-door Spike O'Dell.
But under the new bosses, people like that are being replaced in an effort to get younger listeners. When O'Dell (who then lived in Aurora) retired 18
months ago, everyone expected him to be replaced by Cochran, whose almost constant little joking tied with knowledgeable, middle-of-the-road politics
would have been perfectly in line with the Immortal Morning Three. Instead, wake-up time has been taken over by a stuffed-shirt named Greg Jarrett,
who delivers news and interviews with nary a trace of humor or personality.
At least Jarrett is just bland. After drive time, Metheny's strategy seems to be to fill the air with males who have strong, mostly right-wing
political opinions; who talk mainly about politics (goodbye pop culture, goodbye panty hose); and who argue with or even ridicule listeners. Metheny's
model of an ideal talk-show host seems to be Rush Limbaugh.
Last May, Metheny fired morning hosts Kathy O'Malley and Judy Markey, whose proudly trivial talk about day-to-day women's lives had attracted an army
of "girlfriends." They've been replaced for now by a demoted John Williams. Williams already also has begun hosting a show on a Minneapolis station.
Then, two weeks ago, Cochran was fired. He will be replaced Aug. 9 by a right-wing political ax-grinder named Mike McConnell.
To host the evening drive, Metheny has added former Steve Dahl sidekick Garry Meier. Meier at least tries to be funny, but his exaggeration and
sarcasm are so dry, I can't tell when he's being serious. One hot day, he told about how he doesn't have air conditioning, so he and a buddy opened up
a fire hydrant like they used to do as kids. A day later, he was talking about the settings on his condo's air conditioning.
Next, Metheny & Co. canceled Dave Kaplan's "Sports Central" show and added a political-talk show hosted by Jim Laski, a dese-dems-and-dose lunk whose
biggest claim to fame seems to be having served time in prison for political corruption. Laski rants about one perceived slight after another in a
fingernails-on-the-chalkboard Chicago accent.
On weekends, pop culture expert Digilio is being edged out by the likes of French-born ad exec Simon Badinter, whose accent is so thick, it takes a
focused effort just to decipher what he's saying. One statement I could decipher was that Simon gets "upsetted" when he has sex with a woman and she
wants to sleep with him; he has been robbed too often by women like that.
Can our overnight sleeping companions Steve King and Johnnie Putman be far behind in the exit lane?
Whoops. I just noticed this column is turning into an angry rant. I apologize for not being a little more pleasant and friendly.
But maybe that does qualify me for a job at the new WGN.
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Bruce the Fierce
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Location: Chicagoland
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| posted on 8-15-2010 at 10:29 AM |
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http://www.suntimes.com/entertainment/people/2595146,SHO-Sunday-metheny15.art...
Boo & oink
LOCAL MEDIA | He's been continually savaged throughout his career, but the jury's still out on whether controversial WGN honcho Kevin 'Pig Virus'
Metheny is helping or hurting the Chicago radio institution
August 15, 2010
BY MIKE THOMAS | mthomas@suntimes.com
Kevin Metheny's reputation precedes him, and not always in a good way. It's been the case for years.
It was certainly the case when, following what's been described as a "volatile" 10-year stint presiding over several radio stations in Cleveland
(including the powerful news/talk outlet WTAM-AM, which carries Rush Limbaugh and pro sports and shot to No. 1 during his tenure), Metheny arrived at
Chicago's venerable WGN-AM (720) as program director in mid-December 2008.
It is the latest of many stops in an almost entirely radio-centric, decades-long career.
He's "a fiery guy with a bit of a Napoleonic complex," Metheny's former Cleveland boss Jim Meltzer cracked in a 1998 press release heralding Metheny's
hiring.
Speaking recently, Cleveland-based radio analyst John Gorman told the Plain Dealer that some of Metheny's colleagues in that town likened dealing with
him to "a daily root canal."
Gorman himself is no cheerleader. "Metheny," he once wrote, "is of the belief that the only way his stations will survive is to purge talent and
creativity."
Most notoriously, there's the disdainful nickname "Pig Virus."
Bestowed upon Metheny at New York's WNBC-AM in the early 1980s by his then charge and frequent nemesis, shock jock Howard Stern, it was propelled to
national consciousness in Stern's bestselling 1993 memoir, Private Parts, and has trailed Metheny like garlic stink from gig to gig.
While he has discounted Stern's portrayal and claimed they made nice, Stern's take doesn't jibe.
"Pig Virus landed on his feet again," the Sirius XM Satellite Radio provocateur announced on his show when Metheny, 56, migrated to WGN. "I don't
spend my day thinking about Pig Virus, but it is amazing how guys we know who are pretty unoriginal keep landing on their feet."
"The actual Pig Virus," Stern added, was "mean and vicious."
In Chicago, skeptical radio executives cynically regarded Metheny's hiring as a bone from an old pal, Tribune Co. chief operating officer and veteran
radio honcho Randy Michaels.
Not exactly a red-carpet welcome. Then again, Metheny's no stranger to wariness and abuse.
He has admitted, though, that WGN is "certainly the [station] where you feel the burden of the responsibility more than anyplace else I've been."
That burden hasn't stymied the progress of what many consider a stunningly swift, hugely misguided and highly unnecessary transformation that began
shortly after Metheny set foot on sacred ground.
"Wally Phillips," one online commenter declared, invoking the late and legendary WGN host, "must be rolling in his grave."
'WGN needed to evolve'
A major goal of Metheny and his cohorts, including Michaels and WGN's vice president/general manager Tom Langmyer, is increasing the size of WGN's
still-expansive but aging audience -- particularly in the widely worshiped 25 to 54 "money" demographic. The station consistently performs well in
what's called the "12+" category, which includes lots of older listeners in the 55-plus bracket, and is bolstered greatly by Cubs and Blackhawks
broadcasts. But there's now a concerted effort to attract younger fans, those who'll sustain WGN in the future.
To that end, in part, there's a drive for less laid-back folksiness and more in-your-face edginess. Stronger points of view, goes the reasoning, make
for more engaging radio -- even, as Metheny remarked in a memo to staffers, if those points of view are fake.
"Truthfulness is only an added benefit when it happens to drop into your lap," Metheny wrote, adding that truthfulness in points of view is "optional.
This is SHOW BIZ, not a court of a law."
(After initially expressing interest, Metheny repeatedly declined to be interviewed for this story. E-mailed queries went unanswered.)
Among professional haranguers, Vocalo.org blogger and longtime Chicago media critic Robert Feder (who first excerpted Metheny's memo directives) is
leading the anti-Metheny charge and decrying WGN's shake-up at every opportunity.
"As Metheny continues to overhaul WGN's programming with a bag of tricks he acquired working in some 16 markets over his career," Feder wrote in
November, "the station's hallmarks of honesty and truthfulness slowly are being replaced by posturing and attitude."
Nonetheless, says Talkers magazine publisher Michael Harrison, WGN "needs to make changes to survive."
He compares the "heritage" station and those like it to "a public park or monument. People love them in theory and consider them to be an integral
part of the culture and heritage of their community, but they don't actually visit them personally on a regular basis. Or perhaps haven't done so for
a very long time."
Radio-Info.com columnist Tom Taylor is of a similar mind.
"WGN needed to evolve," he says. "I think a lot of people would say that. And then the question is, do you need to wrench it that hard? Do you really
need to pull it off the tracks and put it on a completely different track?"
Detractors are asking that, too. Why, they wonder, have beloved personalities (Kathy O'Malley and Judy Markey; Steve Cochran) been jettisoned and
locally unknown ones (former San Francisco morning man Greg Jarrett last June and Cincinnatian Mike McConnell this month) imported? Why was the
well-regarded evening program "Sports Central" replaced with the often confrontational stylings of convicted felon and radio greenhorn Jim Laski? Why
has now-early afternoon host John Williams been bounced from shift to shift like a human pinball? All of that and more has legions of loyalists in a
serious snit.
"I absolutely understand why many people have been incensed by certain things that have been changed at WGN," Metheny told "Radiogirl" podcaster and
WGN employee Margaret Larkin in May. "But many of the people who have been incensed weren't listening to the things that got changed, otherwise ... it
wouldn't have been necessary to change them."
During the same session, he referred to WGN as an "incredible, indescribably meaningful crown jewel of American broadcasting." To some ears, no doubt,
his reverence rang hollow.
Partly because it's more satisfying to hate the sinner than the sin (especially when the sinner has no apparent interest in being saved), much of the
mounting outrage has been directed, sometimes in very personal terms, at the conveniently chrome-domed Metheny -- depicted by one enterprising
cyber-griper as WGN's very own Dr. Evil. http://tiny.cc/bl4cg)
"This arrogant self-serving conniving sloven belligerent stuck-up pompous pig-headed a-hole needs his walking papers handed to him in the worst way,"
wrote an obviously disheartened soul identified as "Bill Costello" on the Facebook page "WGN Radio: Fire Kevin Metheny," of which Metheny himself is a
member.
If some of these slings and arrows hurt, the outdoorsman, sports maven and father of two teenage daughters hasn't said so publicly. Attacks and
armchair quarterbacking from media critics, he told Larkin, have no effect.
"I'm really at peace with the people who write about WGN," he said, "and with not only very little understanding of what we're doing or why we're
doing it, but very little interest in having any understanding of what we're doing or why we're doing it. Because they need me to be [cartoonarchvillain] Snidely Whiplash! Nyah ah ah!"
Like father, like son?
Metheny's father, Terrell, is a genial radio lifer who retired in 2001, after nearly a half-century on the job. An Orthodox Christian, he now
volunteers as a pastoral aide at a hospital near his home in Arkansas. Although he and Metheny have communicated little in the past couple of years,
Terrell says, they aren't estranged.
Back in the day, as Dad hopped from station to station and state to state (Oklahoma, Nashville, Milwaukee and New York, to name a handful), his son
got an up-close broadcasting education.
"A lot of the times when he was with me in Milwaukee [at WOKY, in the early 1960s], and we had studio engineers, he spent a lot of time on the other
side of the glass watching how it worked technically," says Terrell, who served in various on-air, managerial and executive capacities throughout his
career. "And he also spent a lot of time in the music room with the music director scouring Billboard magazine and Cashbox magazine and the Gavin
Reports -- the way the music was selected."
Metheny -- who went on to man the mike during high school (at KWHP-FM in Edmund, Okla.) and left home post-graduation for a DJ post in Seattle -- got
a gander at Dad's management style, too.
"I was known as a pretty tough guy," says Terrell, who laughs and says his supposed nickname, "Terrible Terrell," sounds plausible. "Some of that
stuff that he's picked up, unfortunately, he saw it in action."
Ernie Gudridge, under whom Terrell toiled in Louisville from 1964 to 1968, says he "saw Kevin and his sister occasionally [at the station], but I
didn't know Kevin."
Metheny was unresponsive when asked to confirm or deny his father's accounts.
Like his son, Terrell also issued dense memos to underlings ( http://www.1080wklo.com/wklometheny memos.htm ) and was vilified for turning a joint on its ear and instituting unwanted changes
-- for canning beloved hosts and installing replacements, for making new rules and scuttling old ones. For fixing something that, from outward
appearances, wasn't broken.
In the late '70s, at WBCS in Milwaukee, things got out of hand. Prior to his first day of work, Terrell remembers, the elimination of news on sister
station WRIT necessitated his firing roughly 25 people. Another 35 were cut loose soon thereafter. Fury ensued.
"There were four of us on the staff who trusted each other and -- this is a hard thing to imagine -- we would literally go out and check my car to
make sure it wasn't wired with bombs," Terrell claims, laughing. "The police actually assigned someone to follow me for a while because I had
threats."
Fortunately, he says, ratings and revenue improved dramatically, yielding handsome profits for those with a stake in the station.
"On the other hand, had the station not been successful, it would have been a horrible, horrible tragedy."
Laments Terrell, "I destroyed a lot of lives."
'A hot-air guy with a cold heart'
Some of those who know him say it's Metheny who needs the overhaul.
"He truly is a boring man," erstwhile WGN personality Kathy O'Malley says. "I think he finds himself quite interesting. But personally, I found him
boring."
She also calls him "a liar" for telling WGN listeners in June (while on the air with Garry Meier) that she and her WGN partner of two decades, Judy
Markey, retired of their own volition in 2009. Both women strongly contend they were kicked to the curb.
Markey, for her part, says Metheny "has no moral compass" and deems him "a hot-air guy with a cold heart."
Another heave-ho'd host, Steve Cochran, has no love for his onetime boss, either.
Metheny, he says, "has an anger, which I don't entirely understand. And he lashes out. He's got a rage problem, screaming at people in his office,
screaming at people in the hallways. He just needs to figure out what he's so angry about."
Markey says she and O'Malley were "never on the receiving end of any screaming and yelling. Never, ever."
And Cochran puts no stock in the theory that Metheny is simply misunderstood. He's just a "bad guy" whose advent "expedited the destruction" of WGN.
"As a matter of fact," says the newly minted proprietor of steve cochranshow.com, "I'm going to call Howard [Stern] and tell him I'm still upset,
because he was wrong in Private Parts. Kevin turned out to be much worse than he ever said."
Metheny has plenty of allies, too. Many of them are among his more than 2,000 Facebook friends. He's also a regular tweeter whose banal and jaunty
microbursts run the gamut from family and politics to sports and food.
"He's incredibly creative and risk-taking. He lives and breathes radio," says tabloid TV star Jerry Springer, whom Metheny has guided through stints
on national talk radio (including Air America) and a string of guest shots on WGN.
Harrison characterizes Metheny as "a radio pro, married to the culture of being in the radio business, not being a hero to a segment of the
radio-listening audience."
Predictably, WGN staffers -- excluding Langmyer, who couldn't be reached for comment -- were quick to stand by their man.
"He's been very pleasant and we get along fabulously," says Meier, who began at WGN last April after an extended absence from airwaves and a truncated
run at the former WCKG-FM in 2007. "And I hear these comments about him and I'm thinking, 'I don't know who that is.' "
Jarrett also has no complaints -- though he can see how Metheny's methods might be misinterpreted.
"Sometimes Kevin takes an extremely short way to communicate information. Short and abrupt," Jarrett says. "And other times, he goes the long way
around in an effort to get to the point that he's making. ... You either really get along with Kevin and understand what he's trying to do, or you put
up with him, realizing that he's working as hard as he is. Or, you just don't like him. I'm in the first two positions."
Snidely Whiplash or Dudley Do-Right?
According to the most recent Arbitron ratings report, WGN's evening numbers in the 25 to 54 demo plummeted in the absence of Blackhawks playoff games.
Weekends, which Metheny revamped considerably, took a big hit as well. Weekday mornings and mid-days suffered more modest drops. The station did,
however, see significant improvement in afternoon drive, when Meier holds forth and Cubs games are often broadcast. And it remains a strong No. 2 in
the 12+ demo, which reflects the large contingent of older listeners who haven't abandoned ship.
Which is to say, after a year and eight months of Metheny's captaining, the Titanic is listing.
In the view of naysayers, Metheny and his crew are merely rearranging deck chairs on a sinking vessel. And more than a few of its former passengers,
those who've leapt over the sides, won't ever get back on board. Metheny knows that.
He also, presumably, knows this: Even if WGN's metamorphosis renders it financially fitter and more popular than ever, to some degree his reputation
will always precede him. He'll always be the overbearing "Pig Virus," the unfeeling ax man, Snidely Whiplash hatching a dastardly plan.
But to hear Terrell Metheny tell it, there's nothing dastardly about his boy's plan for "the greatest radio station in the world, ever."
"He loves that radio station. Absolutely loves it. He wouldn't be there if he didn't love it. Who would go through that hell?"
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LARadio
Junior Member
Posts: 27
Registered: 2-21-2010
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| posted on 8-20-2010 at 03:07 PM |
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And, well. Now they're in REALLY deep. From AllAccess today:
It's back to the drawing board for TRIBUNE CO., which told U.S. Bankruptcy Court TODAY that the key lenders who supported its proposed reorganization
plan have walked away from the deal and that it will file a new amended plan by AUGUST 27th.
The company's Chapter 11 plan lost the support of key backers J.P. MORGAN CHASE AND CO. and ANGELO GORDON AND CO. this week in the wake of an
independent examiner's allegation that the company's buyout in 2007 involved some measure of fraud. J.P. MORGAN CHASE may join a committee of
unsecured creditors in filing a competing reorganization plan with the court, while TRIBUNE attorney JAMES CONLAN of SIDLEY AUSTIN said that the
company may sue over the fraud issues.
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Bruce the Fierce
Posts: -80
Registered: 3-11-2003
Location: Chicagoland
Member Is Offline
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| posted on 8-22-2010 at 07:58 AM |
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| Quote: | Originally posted by LARadio
And, well. Now they're in REALLY deep. From AllAccess today:
It's back to the drawing board for TRIBUNE CO., which told U.S. Bankruptcy Court TODAY that the key lenders who supported its proposed reorganization
plan have walked away from the deal and that it will file a new amended plan by AUGUST 27th.
The company's Chapter 11 plan lost the support of key backers J.P. MORGAN CHASE AND CO. and ANGELO GORDON AND CO. this week in the wake of an
independent examiner's allegation that the company's buyout in 2007 involved some measure of fraud. J.P. MORGAN CHASE may join a committee of
unsecured creditors in filing a competing reorganization plan with the court, while TRIBUNE attorney JAMES CONLAN of SIDLEY AUSTIN said that the
company may sue over the fraud issues. |
Randy sent out a pep-talk memo on Friday:
Memo to Tribune employees
From: Tribune Communications
Sent: Friday, August 20, 2010 12:55 PM
Subject: Message from Randy and Gerry/Chapter 11 Developments
Today we informed the U.S. Bankruptcy Court overseeing our Chapter 11 filing that we intend to file amendments to our plan of restructuring by next
Friday, Aug. 27th. We'll also be filing a supplemental disclosure statement and a motion about procedures related to voting on the plan, and it
appears that our confirmation hearing may be rescheduled to Nov. 8th.
This process is moving more slowly and has become noisier than we had hoped. In spite of the noise, you are performing exceptionally. As the Chapter
11 process moves forward, we must continue to focus on our business and our mission to provide outstanding service to our customers, advertisers and
communities. Next week, we'll file our monthly operating report for July and once again, our financial results will be strong. All of our media
businesses are profitable, and our creditors recognize how well we are performing. We're delivering new, creative products to the market, transforming
our business, and operating more efficiently. Our strongest asset is you, and the fine work you are doing.
Thank you -- for your creativity, your innovation, your dedication. We've done a lot. We have a lot more to do. Don’t get distracted. We're on a roll,
and we aren't going to slow down. Let's go!
[CEO] Randy [Michaels] and [COO] Gerry [Spector]
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Bruce the Fierce
Posts: -80
Registered: 3-11-2003
Location: Chicagoland
Member Is Offline
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| posted on 8-25-2010 at 08:13 PM |
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http://chicagoradioandmedia.com/news/878-tribune-shake-up-coming-zellmichaels...
Tribune Shake-Up Coming?
Zell/Michaels Out & Eisner/Shell In?
Written by Larz
Wednesday, 25 August 2010 20:01
Will Chicago's Tribune Company soon be rid of Sam Zell & Randy Michaels? Numerous reports are out tonight saying that may very well be the case if the
creditors get their way.
The last week has been a bad one for the current Tribune bosses, who have been unable to gain any ground in their quest to exit bankruptcy. All talks
have broken down between Tribune representatives and both the major & minor creditors. Zell & Michaels, who thought they would have been out of
bankruptcy by now, are now looking at the very best, many more months of battles, and the very worst, completely losing their company & jobs to
creditors.
According to a wide amount of sources tonight, including the Tribune itself, the major creditors, who not too long ago were completely behind Zell &
Michaels' reorganization plans, are now cold to the Tribune's plans and courting other executives to take over the operations of the company if/when
the creditors take power. The largest creditors include JPMorgan Chase & Co., Angelo Gordon & Co., and Oaktree Capital Management.
Latest reports have the largest creditors asking former Walt Disney CEO Michael Eisner to become Chairman of Tribune Company, replacing Sam Zell. Jeff
Shell, the President of Comcast's programming group and a former News Corp. executive, is under serious consideration to replace the
ever-controversial Randy Michaels as Tribune CEO.
On Monday, Michael Eisner gave an interview to Variety Magazine where he admitted that he had been familiarizing himself with the Tribune Company's
situation and even buying up some of their debt.
Michael Eisner happens to be close, personal, childhood friends with John Angelo, the co-founder of Angelo Gordon & Co., one of the large creditors
looking to take over Tribune Company. In Eisner's forthcoming book, "Working Together: Why Great Partnerships Succeed," Eisner spends a whole chapter
talking about his friendship with Gordon, who he describes as being closer to than anyone, ouside of his wife & children.
Both Eisner & Shell are Los Angeles area residents and could consider eventually moving operations out of Chicago and to California.
Before any executive changes can be made by the creditors, a reorganization plan must be be approved between all parties involved & by the US
Bankruptcy Court and in place. The current Tribune regime, not wanting to be tossed out from their positions, may make these talks difficult. They
have already attempted to force a plan that would give the top exiting executives -- especially Randy Michaels -- incredibly wealthy "golden
parachutes," totaling potentially hundreds of millions. These "golden parachute" clauses will certainly become sticking points in upcoming
negotiations.
According to the Chicago Tribune report on these new developments, many other top executives have also been courted to take over the company by
creditors. Some of those names include: Mel Karmazin, CEO of Sirius XM Radio Inc., Robert Pittman, former COO of AOL Time Warner, Fred Reynolds, the
former CFO of CBS Corp., and Terry Semel, the former Chairman and Co-CEO of Warner Bros.
Tribune Company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in December 2008, soon after Sam Zell led a leveraged buyout of the company, which threw
the deeply in-debt company into much deeper debt.
Tribune Company owns 23 television stations, 13 newspapers, various magazines, one radio station and many other websites and companies. Locally, among
the company's properties include the Chicago Tribune, RedEye, Hoy, Chicago Magazine, WGN-AM, WGN-TV, CLTV, and WGN America.
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