Posted by chicagomedia.org on June 16, 2009 at 13:22:13:
In Reply to: Am I the only one looking forward to the new WGN morning show? posted by Annoyed on June 16, 2009 at 13:04:42:
WGN-AM 720 moves John Williams to midmornings, brings in Greg Jarrett for morning drive
Phil Rosenthal | Tribune Media
June 16, 2009
Seeking better engagement with listeners, WGN-AM 720 has called off its morning-drive marriage to John Williams after just six months. He might have been the best man, but it turns out he wasn't the answer.
Replacing Williams as the station's new 5-to-9 a.m. host beginning Monday will be Greg Jarrett. Until caught in a cost-cutting purge in January, Jarrett had been an afternoon co-host at San Francisco's KGO-AM, which, like WGN, is a news/talk station with a long history and decidedly local bent.
And Williams, who in December took over a WGN morning show that had only had three hosts since 1965, moves to replace Kathy O'Malley and Judy Markey, whose 9 a.m.-to-noon program WGN pulled off the air last month after 20 years.
Although Williams will provide fans of "The Girlfriends" a familiar voice in a more flexible format for his brand of talk than WGN's morning-drive format did, WGN traditionally has been slow to make changes. So the idea that he would be pulled from the morning show so soon after predecessor Spike O'Dell's retirement is a shock.
Even more stunning is the selection of an outsider to assume the slot long owned by Wally Phillips, Bob Collins and O'Dell. WGN traditionally has either introduced its marquee hosts in lower-profile posts or recruited them from other local outlets.
WGN's thinking is that Jarrett brings a newsman's sensibility both to his work and to his life. "He's long had a fascination with Chicago and he has the wherewithal to go to school on a place and learn it," WGN Program Director Kevin Metheny said.
Jarrett's style and approach are anything but a radical departure for WGN despite talk of late about shaking up the station, a notion the string of opinionated hosts in what seemed to be on-air tryouts hardly dispelled.
But Jarrett, who was not among those who auditioned, is not looking to pick fights on the air. Though news will be just part of his focus on the program, he intends to work closely with his newscaster and engage newsmakers and those who cover them to expand on the biggest stories of the morning. He also benefits from retaining Jim Wiser, the respected Chicago broadcast veteran who produced the morning show for both O'Dell and Williams.
"I want people who listen to us to be the best-informed people on the planet," Jarrett said. "I've developed so many sources over the last 39 years that I think I have the ability to bring some insight into a story that is happening. Whether it's [Iranian President Mahmoud] Ahmadinejad or something local or something national, I have people that I know that can shed light.
"I can help people try to make up their own minds because they're informed rather than try to sway them. But that's not all there is to it. I would love to be able to have a segment on Fridays in which I have a chef come on. ... I would love to be able to play my harmonica with Willie Nelson, as I have in the past, when he drops by."
In his staff memo Monday announcing the moves, Metheny described Jarrett's new morning show as "an information- and services-intensive morning broadcast with emphasis on usable news and information, leveraging the substantial resources of Tribune Co. newsgathering assets." WGN parent Tribune Co. also owns the Chicago Tribune.
Metheny, who landed at WGN the week Williams took over for O'Dell, said he was "not at all dissatisfied with what John was doing."
"He's in a position to add new listeners" in midmornings, Metheny said. "We're engaged in an imperialistic exercise in making the audience larger. I know there's a sense of change on the minds of many, but it's not about changing the audience. It's about growing the audience."
Metheny said he hopes that with Jarrett, 56, "we can advance swiftly with an even more information-intensive broadcast that's even more differentiated from [ CBS Radio's all-news AM outlet] WBBM because they do what they do quite well."
Jarrett, who is not to be confused with Fox News Channel anchor Gregg Jarrett, was caught in a wave of layoffs at Citadel Broadcasting's KGO earlier this year. He has reported from Iraq, Africa, Jonestown, Bosnia, Hurricane Katrina and Air Force One.
"I've always wanted to work in Chicago, and there are unbelievable opportunities here at WGN," Jarrett said. "If we can come up with a good, in-depth, information-based morning show that is still fun and fast-paced, then I think [ Arbitron's Portable People Meter ratings] can work very well for us -- better than for WBBM. ... If we give them the information but still give them a feeling of comfort and friendship, I think they'll be more prone to give us a longer listen and maybe tell their friends about it."