Posted by chicagomedia.org on December 15, 2008 at 20:59:36:
In Reply to: Bye Kipper posted by Big Al on December 15, 2008 at 19:28:24:
Originally posted: December 15, 2008
Stern's old boss, the one he dubbed 'Pig Virus,' named WGN-AM program director
Kevin Metheny, whom Howard Stern dubbed "Pig Virus" from their run-ins at New York's WNBC-AM, has been named the new program director of Chicago Tribune parent Tribune Co.'s WGN-AM 720.
Metheny replaces Bob Shomper, who is replacing Kipper McGee as program director of Citadel Broadcasting's WLS-AM 890. "He's the perfect fit, the perfect guy, to lead WLS into the future, especially with the group of talent we have," WLS-AM boss Mike Fowler said Monday night.
WLS-AM recently hired Erich "Mancow" Muller, distancing him from his "Morning Madhouse" image in a pairing with former WBBM-AM 780 newsman Pat Cassidy, as a mid-morning bridge between Don and Roma Wade's early morning and Rush Limbaugh's nationally syndicated program. And Fowler looks to have Cassidy begin contributing to a couple of segments on the Wades' program, as well.
At WGN-AM, John Williams took over for retired morning star Spike O'Dell on Monday, but a midday replacement for Williams has not yet been named and could lead to other changes at the station.
Metheny, who exited his most recent post as head of programming for Clear Channel Radio's Cleveland cluster of stations this summer, was program director at WNBC-AM in the early 1980s, when Don Imus was its morning voice and Stern worked afternoons.
Stern called Metheny as "Pig Virus" in his memoir, "Private Parts." "I wanted to kill that creep, but I later realized that he was just a pawn in this whole game," Stern wrote. "The NBC brass was putting heavy pressure on him to get me in line and he was just doing his job."
When the book was made into a movie, the character morphed with other former Stern bosses into a composite character named Kenny Rushton (played by Paul Giamatti) that Stern called "Pig Vomit." The character is best remembered for his tutorial on how to correctly pronounce the station's call letters, "double you, ennnnnnnn be see."
Among the station's he oversaw in Cleveland was the 50,000-watt news-and-talk outlet WTAM-AM.
"During his 10 ten years in Cleveland, perhaps his most impressive feat was to take [WTAM] and make it the number one station in Cleveland and a top 25-54 performer," WGN-AM Vice President and General Manager Tom Langmyer said in a note to WGN staff.
"He did this through building the ... station to 'sound like Cleveland,'" Langmyer noted. "As a true radio guy, he has a great understanding and respect for WGN and what it means to Chicago. He also knows that WGN can be grown further in terms of relevance today as 'The Voice of Chicago.'"
Langmyer credited Shomper, who arrived from Dallas in 2006, with being "instrumental in implementing a solid ... structure and building a strong bridge between programming and the sales and marketing teams. He has also made solid additions to our programming team ... and will be missed."
(Phil Rosenthal, Chicago Tribune)