Posted by chicagomedia.org on December 17, 2008 at 10:40:19:
In Reply to: WGN hire draws ire of Stern posted by chicagomedia.org on December 17, 2008 at 07:37:56:
Originally posted: December 17, 2008
Metheny on Howard Stern: 'What he was doing was more important than my format'
One interesting comment from new WGN-AM 720 program director Kevin Metheny that didn't make today's column is this nugget, concerning his time at WNBC-AM with Howard Stern:
"In fairness," Metheny said, "I was the one who had to learn and grow and come around. I figured out at some point that what he was doing was more important than my format and getting the traffic reports on perfectly on time, although I probably shouldn't say that in public."
Don't interpret that as meaning he's necessarily going to mess with the WGN's tight drive-time weather-and-traffic schedule, however.
"If you are the kind of radio station where those types of services are important and you've made a time-benchmark promise then you probably ought to [keep] the time-benchmark promise," Metheny said. "It really wasn't that important in the context of [WNBC]. The [traffic] helicopter there, as much as anything, was a marketing device for us."
The Chicago Tribune, like WGN-AM, is owned by Tribune Co.
(Phil Rosenthal, Chicago Tribune)