Posted by chicagomedia.org on March 18, 2009 at 11:57:45:
For Jonathon Brandmeier, keeping staff is music to his ears
Johnny B. signs one-year contract extension at WLUP-FM 97.9
Phil Rosenthal | Chicago Tribune Media
March 18, 2009
To keep Chicago radio mainstay Jonathon Brandmeier as its morning star, Emmis Communications' WLUP-FM 97.9 had to keep him happy.
To keep him happy, the station had to keep Brandmeier's staff.
Now Brandmeier has signed a one-year extension, which includes assurances those who help him with his "showgram" will remain aboard, and the Loop still has the man who has helped define it for 17 of the last 26 years. So everybody's happy, except those who hoped to perhaps pry Johnny B. loose.
"For what I do and what I bring to the party, I think I was paid accordingly," Brandmeier said. "I don't think money with us was ever an issue. It was the other things around it, different things about the show. I wanted to make sure my staff was safe and content. And we went from there. Money was discussed up front, and then we moved on. . . . Surround me with the best people and take care of them, so we can do the best possible job."
The renewal, negotiated for Brandmeier by John Malevitis, is noteworthy beyond keeping one of Chicago's biggest radio stars from jumping to, say, Chicago Tribune parent Tribune Co.'s WGN-AM 720.
It also runs counter to a recent trend that's seen some of this market's biggest, best-paid voices either cut loose or unable to reach new deals in response to the economic downturn and the new math it's forced upon traditional media.
"It's about results," said Emmis Chicago boss Marv Nyren, who brought Brandmeier back to local airwaves in 2005 after a more than 4-year absence and back to the station that had been his home from 1983 to 1997. "If X person had been delivering the results [a station] wanted, [that station] would have done more to keep them. The easy part from our standpoint is that Jon has and will continue to deliver the results."
In January, according to Arbitron, Brandmeier's program ranked 9th in average-quarter-hour listenership among those ages 25 to 54, 10th among those 18 to 49, and 14th overall.
"Let's say it was the opposite," Brandmeier said. "Let's say the show was underperforming. . . . They would have made an insulting offer -- as people thought they did -- and I would have said I can't take it, and I would have been gone. . . . They went out of their way to not insult me. I was very happy with this."
No one will talk specific figures. No one ever does on the record, which allows guesses to pass for fact. What is known is Emmis wanted a multiyear deal, and Brandmeier took only a one-year extension.
"Listen," Brandmeier said, "I'm confident in my ability. I'm confident in the show's ability. And I'm confident the economy will turn around."
Earlier this month, parent Emmis cut its workforce by 7.5 percent and cut pay for remaining staff not under contract by 5 percent.
"That's broadcasting in 2009, but if you have a flagship, you have to keep it," Brandmeier said. "That's just for now. Sooner or later, I believe, people will realize they have to have talent in these places."
In the meantime, the Loop still has Johnny B, and Johnny B still has newsman Kent Voss, producer Guy Bauer, audio producer Vince Argento and the others.
"Johnny's in a position in his life where I don't think he has to do anything he doesn't want to do," Nyren said. "He doesn't do anything unless he believes it's right for the Jonathon Brandmeier and Loop brands."