Posted by chicagomedia.org on November 28, 2008 at 12:35:49:
Ahern's Olympic dreams
Ex-WBBM chief in good position to help local bid as an adviser
November 28, 2008
By LEWIS LAZARE
Back in June, when Joe Ahern showed up at a Chicago 2016 rally in Daley Center Plaza, he probably wasn't aware of the fate that awaited him last month, when he was unceremoniously ousted as president and general manager of CBS-owned WBBM-Channel 2, a station whose local news ratings were still embarrassingly -- and unacceptably -- low after Ahern had spent seven years trying to lift them out of the dumpster. But on that day in June, the visceral excitement of Chicago's Olympic bid hit Ahern and made him realize what a big deal it could be for the city he has called home since the mid-1970s.
So it may not have been too surprising that when he exited the flashy new WBBM headquarters in the Loop for the last time as the station's leader on a fateful Tuesday in October, he stopped for a moment to write down a few things he might want to do next that could possibly keep him here in Chicago. He told us the item that he scribbled at the top of that list was working on the Chicago 2016 bid. A subsequent heart-to-heart conversation or two with Chicago 2016 Chairman Pat Ryan apparently led to the announcement last week that Ahern would become -- for now -- a volunteer adviser to the Chicago 2016 bid committee, providing strategic counsel in areas ranging from marketing to international relations and sponsorships.
Whatever faults he may have had as a television station manager, Ahern has two assets that could serve the Chicago 2016 group well -- a strong familiarity with the Chicago market and a thorough knowledge of how the broadcast industry works. Both will be key in helping Chicago win the 2016 Games, and then, if that should happen, helping the committee organize what will surely be a complex media game plan for the event.
Ahern is no stranger to the Olympics: He previously attended the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, the 1988 Games in Calgary, Canada, and the 1996 Games in Atlanta. He has seen firsthand how the Olympics can transform a city and elevate its image on the global stage. Just how much impact Ahern will have on the big local bid effort will depend in part, of course, on how well he meshes with the rest of the large Chicago 2016 staff. Many of those who are involved in the Chicago 2016 bid effort are here because they had previous experience drawing up Olympic bids made by other cities -- not because they necessarily know or understand Chicago well.
Having been one of the city's flashiest station managers, Ahern also might bring a little pizzazz to the Chicago bid -- something sorely lacking in the project so far, especially in the marketing component, plagued by pedestrian videos and a revised bid logo that is as prosaic as they come. Right now, Ahern is being painfully diplomatic, saying how much he admires and respects everyone he has come in contact with so far at Chicago 2016. And Ahern is vague, too, about whether he would slip into a full-time staff position should Chicago emerge as the 2016 host city, a possibility that seems suddenly more probable with Barack Obama headed for the White House. "I'd love to help in any way possible," Ahern told us.
On a personal note, Ahern has two more good reasons to become a major player in Chicago's Olympic project, if it goes forward -- namely his two daughters, who are budding athletes in their own right. Since their father started talking about getting involved with the Olympic bid, his kids have started seriously dreaming about the possibility of competing in the Olympics right here in Chicago. It's a dream that Ahern obviously would love to help realize for his daughters. Added Ahern: "God works in mysterious ways." Indeed.
(Chicago Sun-Times)