Posted by chicagomedia.org on August 01, 2008 at 08:08:47:
Not that anything is likely to happen while WLS-AM 890-bound Pat Cassidy sits out the required three-week non-compete period following his now-lapsed WBBM-AM 780 contract—and, foolishly, no one has called for advice—but there's a smart strategy for Citadel Broadcasting staring it in the face.
Take the block from 5 a.m. to 11 a.m. in which Don and Roma Wade segue to Jerry Agar at 9 a.m. and slide newsman-turned-talker Cassidy, either alone or with a partner, into the first three hours with the Wades taking over at 8 a.m.
This almost certainly was not WLS' game plan when it began courting Cassidy, a veteran of more than 30 years in the Chicago market and co-anchor of the city's No. 2 show overall in morning drive in the most recent Arbitron survey.
The Wades' current contract is scheduled to expire this year, and Citadel probably thought it could dump them with little risk.
But Arbitron, which is set to switch from collecting its ratings through paper diaries to electronic gizmos known as Portable People Meters, gave stations a taste of the future when it released spring PPM sample figures along with its official spring diary numbers.
And, voila, Don and Roma went from seventh place overall with just a 3.2 percent share of morning drive listeners on paper to third place with a 6 percent share via PPMs, which more or less eavesdrop rather than rely on painstaking notes from its audience group.
Now there may be some quibbling about the Wades' appeal among the advertiser-coveted 25-to-54 demographic, but dumping a husband-and-wife team people have associated with the station for more than 20 years no longer seemed quite so prudent.
Cassidy is insurance if WLS can't strike a deal to keep the Wades. If it can, however, a tag-team approach to mornings at WLS-AM offers Citadel the best solution to what otherwise might be a delicate situation.
As for CBS Radio's all-news WBBM-AM, the shrewd move would be to keep Cassidy's interim successor, John Hultman, who co-anchored mornings on Newsradio 780 from 1980-98, in the job alongside Felicia Middlebrooks as long as possible.
Oh, and you're welcome.
Pat answer: By the way, no matter what Cassidy thinks he remembers more than three decades later, he actually landed at WMAQ-AM, his radio home until 2000, in mid-1976. He replaced Rick (No Relation) Rosenthal, who left to read the news for Wally Phillips at Chicago Tribune parent Tribune Co.'s WGN-AM 720. But Cassidy has been getting up before dawn for a long time. Cut him some slack.
(Rosenthal)