WLS Radio’s new boss aims to ‘restore the luster’
Michael Damsky
Thirty years ago today, Michael Damsky began his radio career as a sales account executive at the former WFYR. As ambitious as he may have been, he never imagined he’d someday become president and general manager of WLS-AM/FM (890/94.7), one of the most fabled institutions in Chicago broadcasting.
“I grew up listening to WLS-AM and Dick Biondi, as everybody did, and I really got turned on to progressive music from the old WLS-FM of the late ’60s,” said Damsky, 60, who succeeded Michael Fowler as boss of the two Citadel Broadcasting stations Friday. “So to be sitting in this office is really unbelievable.” Damsky, who most recently was vice president and director of sales at WLS, previously spent 24 years at CBS Radio adult rock WXRT-FM (93.1), where he rose through the sales ranks to become vice president and general manager. He also played a key role in the launch of CBS sports/talk WSCR-AM (670).
At the news/talk AM and oldies FM, Damsky faces some critical challenges at a time when the stations’ parent company is under the pressure of bankruptcy protection. First and foremost among his goals is to revitalize the program department on the AM side. Hinting at major moves to come, Damsky said:
“My top priority is make sure WLS is being programmed to best showcase the talent that we have. We have great individual shows, but now we need to maximize their value and restore the luster of the WLS brand.”
Damsky won’t talk about specifics for now, but in separate meetings this week with his station’s top personalities — including Don and Roma Wade, Mancow Muller and Roe Conn — he left no doubt that he respects their contributions and values their input. Among other things, he didn’t rule out a comeback for news anchor Ron Magers as a regular contributor to Conn’s afternoon show, now co-hosted by Cisco Cotto.
Still uncertain is the long-term future of Pat Cassidy, who has been co-hosting middays with Muller on WLS-AM since last year. Cassidy is believed to be weighing a standing offer to return to CBS Radio all-news WBBM-AM (780), where he previously anchored mornings with Felicia Middlebrooks.
On the FM side, Damsky and program director Michael LaCrosse are narrowing the list of candidates to replace Brant Miller, whose contract was not renewed as morning personality earlier this month. Given Damsky’s personal history, it’s a cinch that Biondi is safe as the nighttime star of the “True Oldies” station — which is very good news indeed.
Elsewhere on the media beat:
- CLTV will air live coverage this morning of the funeral of Carlos Hernandez Gomez, the political reporter for the Tribune Co.-owned cable news channel (and former Chicago Public Radio staffer), who died Sunday after a yearlong battle with cancer. He was 36. The Mass, which will be said in Latin, will start at 11 a.m. at St. John Cantius Catholic Church, 825 N. Carpenter St. (I can’t recall a live television broadcast of a funeral for a Chicago media personality since Irv Kupcinet in 2003 and, before that, Harry Caray in 1998. Randy Salerno’s funeral in 2008 was streamed online.)
- Although scheduled to spend only one hour on the ground in Haiti, Ben Bradley laid claim to being the sole Chicago television newsman to file from the site of the catastrophic earthquake Wednesday. The enterprising reporter for ABC-owned WLS-Channel 7 flew in and out on a United Airlines flight carrying relief workers and emergency aid. The return flight to Chicago brought back evacuees from Port-au-Prince.
- Hanke Gratteau, veteran Chicago journalist and former managing editor of the Tribune, has been named vice president of public affairs for the Ounce of Prevention Fund, an early childhood education organization. “We are excited to welcome Ms. Gratteau to the Ounce at a time when interest in early childhood initiatives is growing,” Harriet Meyer, president of the advocacy group, said in a statement. “She will play a critical role in helping us communicate about early learning issues both in Illinois and nationally.” Gratteau most recently was executive director of the John Howard Association of Illinois, a sentencing and corrections reform advocacy group. She also served on Gov. Pat Quinn’s Illinois Reform Commission.
blogs.vocalo.org
Bob Collins’ funeral was given both TV & Radio coverage on WGN in February of 2000.
I attended Bob Collins’ funeral and did write about WGN Radio’s coverage at the time, but did not recall it also being on television. Nor could I find any reference to it when I checked Wednesday. If that was the case, as BAV recalls, then I stand corrected. So that makes three — Harry Caray in 1998, Bob Collins in 2000, and Irv Kupcinet in 2003. Can anyone verify whether Jack Brickhouse’s funeral in 1998 was also televised?
what about me?
i’ll be on wgn radio noon-3 p.m. sunday to talk about, among other things, the collective narcissism of the media, which think that the deaths of their own somehow are more worthy of coverage than say, the death of a teacher or a fireman.
i will be using as an example the coverage of the death of jack brickhouse, which i think bill weir anchored on channel nine. or maybe that was tom brokaw. no, wait. brokaw vamped for hours on the death of the “liberal lion” (very tough words for brokaw to say) of the senate, whose seat was audaciously pilfered by a republican just the other day. don’t those massachusettsians have any respect for the legacy of what nbc deems worthy of coverage?
anyway, i always enjoyed the extensive obituaries in the newspapers of linotype operators who just so happened to have worked for those newspapers. it’s fascinating what is defined as news. perhaps this can be a topic for the resurrected ron magers to talk about with roe conn. cisco, i believe there’s a nice pot belly’s restaurant in the building that you can go to while that discussion is going on.
anyway, i may do a remote broadcast on the subject from the jack brickhouse statue, which is about 100 feet from the wgn studios. it all depends on how long an extension cord i can find.
as for this post, i certainly hope wls brings back the luster. to that end i would just play old tapes of art roberts counting down the top songs on the silver dollar survey. i would have my transistor radio right next to my pillow and try to stay awake ’til “eight days a week” came on.
Collins, Caray and Brickhouse all had live television coverage on Channel 9 and WGN Radio of their funerals. Caraty and Collins at Holy Name Cathedral; Brickhouse at the Episcopal Cathedral of Chicago. The 10th Annioverdayr of Collins untimely death will be this Febraury 8th. My how we miss him. I often wonder what his take would have been on the world today.
More importantly, how would Collins’ relationship have been with Kevin Metheny? It’s all speculative of course, but I can’t believe Uncle Bobby would’ve been able to maintain the huge numbers. Spike got out when the gettin’ was still good.
I think Uncle Bobby would have done all of us a favor and somehow neutralized Pig Vomit.
As for WLS, I certainly hope the new regime there considers the Goddess Of Good Mornings, Melissa Forman, as the replacement of Brant Miller. I’m guessing Ms. Forman would actually make the trip to State and Randolph for her show, which would conveniently make her available for any face time on Channel 7. What a treat it would be for Chicagoland to be able to hear AND see the semi-lovely Ms. Forman again.
I miss her as much as I miss The King B and Cory Dietz and I hope she returns to WLS in some or many capacities.
i could never understand why uncle bobby’s hayseed,cornpone schtick dominated the local airwaves. btw bruce, if you spent as much time on your blog as you do here, we might get an eagerly anticipated episode of news without hd makeup
wls in the 60’s………art “this has been a work of art” roberts, dex “card the crewcut” card, ron riley vs clark weber (hey riley, say something bad about weber) i remember those days like yesterday, growing up in oak forest in the mid 60’s
paul sullivan and hanke gratteau got their start in the business as leg creatures for mike royko, who else of note worked for royko?
why is there so much effort being put into AM radio? It seems like a dying medium, along with newspapers and FM radio. I’m personally a fan of AM radio, but I go for the more obscure stations like WRMN, WPNA, WSQR, WJJG, WYLL, WVON, WNTD, WCPT. It seems like these stations don’t pump tons of money into them and it turns out they are entertaining as hell… and you get a wide variety of opinions and views (unlike the biggies).
I’m 46 and when I tell people about shows on AM radio they look at you with blank stares. I recently bought an MP3 player and I was looking for one that included a radio….they only sell ‘em with FM. I guess the bottom line for WLS is that they better find some low cost programming for the AM station and the idea of running old tapes of shows from the 60’s and 70’s actually sounds appealing to me and would probably get me to listen on occasion…and not to ruin ron magers big comeback…maybe he could introduce the tapes.
Mr Damsky, you want to make WLS-AM relevant again? How about live and local. Dump the canned satellite “shows” and bring talk show host to discuss the issues from a local perspective. When WLS-AM was a music station, people listened because the DJ’s talked about local things. In order to make money, you have to spend money. WLS-FM? Return to the days when commercial breaks were limited to 3-4 minutes. If I were an advertiser, I wouldnt want my commercial in the middle of a 6-7 minute cluster of commercials. And get rid of the canned, satellite oldies shows. There is 50+ years of oldies music to choose from. Play it. I doubt that you’ll make any change.
Bruce: Spot on. Something must be in the water as I agree with you again.
Katie: I have the worse feeling for the “semi-lovely” Ms. Forman, as you put it — ambivalence. She is background noise and nothing more. However, your Cory Deitz comment floored me. I didn’t think anyone remembered that guy on the former WFYR. I liked him, wonder what happened to him. Don’t know if I put him in the same sentence as King B. But I bet you wouldn’t put King B in the same sentence with Tommy Edwards.
Cory wrote an excellent book detailing his experiences in the radio industry. A great read and invaluable to any young aspiring radio personality. Though, to be honest, given what the industry has become, I can’t imagine why anyone would have those aspirations today. And I say that with sadness, not cynicism.
If anyone had the balls to bring back the WSDM format (do you remember Smack Dab in the Middle?), I would turn off my satellite radio and return to FM. What a terrific concept that died a lonely death back in, what, the late 70’s when WLUP was born? Unfortunately, those historic call letters now belong to a station in . . . Brazil, Indiana? What a shame.
Let’s bring back the “station with the girls!”
While we’re at it, how about the All Night Meister Brau Showcase? WLS could certainly do worse. Actually, they do already. But c’mon now. Retro is in, isn’t it? Bruce Bruce Bruce, get with me on this, buddy!
I figure if we’re successful with these two projects, Chicago media will not only cover our funerals live, we’ll get a procession down State Street with flag-draped coffins and horses with their saddles on backward. Or their stirrups upside down.
Whatever.
Godspeed, Carlos. You were a nice guy.
I’ve completely stopped listening to WLs and have switched to WGN. I tuned in on weekend nights to listen to Nate Clay and became a loyal listener of the Jay Marvin Show in 1994. I didn’t make the complete switch to WGN until Mancow and Cassidy joined WLS. I thought Jerry Agar was bad, but Mancow is worse.
Yeah, WSDM! Great music and those lovely female voices emanating from the speakers. Didn’t get any better for a male teen in the mid-70s ;-)
As for goatzee’s question: “why is there so much effort being put into AM radio?” It’s called Streaming. Internet radio is breathing new life into many of these stations. Not only do you have the ability to listen at work (where no AM signal dare to penetrate), but you also get a near-CD quality stereo signal to boot. iPhone apps like Shoutcast and AOL Radio also let users listen to their favorite shows while on the go (gotta have my Boers and Bernstein “Who You Crappin’?” on Thursdays, even if I’m walking the dog).
To stream most stations on your iPhone, the app “ooTunes” can’t be beat.
Hey, cue ball!
Yeah, both of you. Poop-for-brains Damsky and highly overrated bottom Feder.
This is just great. The moron evidently thinks Gene Taylor and Marty Greenberg sat at the same desk behind which he now plops his clueless butt. Hey, Mike, did you wipe off the knife after you pulled it out of Fowler’s back? Or just drop it straight in da Chicago Rivurr?
How do you know a radio general manager is lying? His lips are moving?
This is it? This is what you have left? This is your best effort?
Oy
Just clip coupons and spare us the collossal disappointment of checking in to see if a once supposedly great pitcher has still lost his fast ball. You’ve obviously pulled up lame.
What about tapes of the “Best of Steve and Garry”? I remember how they got switched from FM to AM and bitched about it. But they did some of their best work, especially harassing that silly John Gehron when he ran the stations and kept suspending them for saying funny things about old Uncle Lar’ and about Don Wade. Remember when Lujack threatened to fight them on the air? Or when Steve and Garry were moved to mid mornings and had to play a certain number of minutes of music because Lujack took their afternoon show? Ah, Chicago radio from the glory days. Tapes of their shows would be better than Roe and Cisco and certainly better than Rush Limb or Sean Hannity speaking evil about President Obama.
jccraig stated
“Internet radio is breathing new life into many of these stations.”
cool man….and what are those “many” stations?
Want to do something with that WLS-FM? Put Johnny B in the mornings and Steve Dahl and the afternoons. Then take Mancow from the AM and put him in mid-days. Then play Grateful Dead music and other Jam bands at night. Need a new PD? – I’m available.
If WLS-AM is smart… get rid of MANCOW. I feel sorry for Pat Cassidy who is stuck with the Cow. Muller makes the show sound contrived and phony.
How is the guy going to revitalize WLS-AM? Certainly not with more live and local. When that place had more money, the “economics” weren’t in their favor to keep Jerry Agar for late evenings AND have Mancow/Cassidy according to Kipper McGee (quote from Chicago Radio Spotlight). The place is going down the toilet. Don Wade & Roma are bad, but not nearly as bad as what Roe’s show turned into. And for some reason, even though its “Roe & Cisco” I’ve heard Cisco talk about “your show” and “The Roe Conn Show” when talking about the show in the present tense.
Oh, and Ben Bradley’s trip was just a crass and cynical stunt.
Will someone please Give Bruce Wolf a Job.
As a previous commenter stated- Don and Roma are really bad radio.
I only pop in during commercial breaks from sports talk.
Ron Magers was the only thing worth looking forward to on my drive home each day. Give this guy his own show.
Better yet- go out and get Johnny B and put Ron with him.
Yep.
I personally can’t listen to the Roe and Cisco show. I knew there was going to be a big increase in religious talk as soon as I found he was returning to WLS. BORING!!!! And Roe has really boosted this annoying habit of screaming everything now. I’m sick of Roe (and Cisco) people.
goatzee wrote:
“cool man….and what are those “many” stations?”
Here’s a for instance: Just today, Lazare writes that WSCR (The Score) is now the top-ranked station in Chicago among males aged 25-54. Much of this increase can be attributed to streaming; this also makes their programming available to listeners worldwide. It’s not uncommon to hear callers to their shows from all over the country. Listeners via streaming are easily tracked, by numbers and by location (and also by media player). This is just one example, but by being listed in apps like iTunes, Shoutcast, AOL Radio, etc. stations give themselves the ability to increase their listener-ship exponentially.
WOW! What an incredible idea for the FM!! Johnny B mornings…Mancow (alone) in the mid days and Steve Dahl afternoons. I would LOVE this because I’m bored to tears with the Wade and Roma show (what the hell IS Healthy Trinity anyway…they MUST own a piece of that company).
I agree with the Roe Conn comment about his screaming escalating. And that stupid “Roe Report” with his demeaning close referring to listeners as “people.” WLS AM has jumped the shark and there MAY be no bringing it back..
…but kill me..I love to listen to Blago and the electronics show before it on Sundays!
To goodoldnumbernine…
I belive that Rick Kogan was also a leg man for Royko…
Now and Then Talk Radio is on it’s way to Chicago radio. It’s only a matter of time before Chicago radio stations get tired of chasing each other by copying each others format. Time to be creative…time to go where the money is, unless of course you are NPR.
After 42 years “on-the-air”, this is my first “Blog”. Denny Farrell and I have a show developed that we feel is right for Chicago.
No one can refute the huge number of baby boomers available to the terrestrial radio audience, and what that means in terms of advertising dollars.
The 18-25 market has everything to entertain themselves today other than radio. The 18-25 year old could care less about radio – but the 35 + market will feel right at home with “Now and Then Talk Radio”, and even contribute to it’s format. It’s where the listener is the star. Everyone has a story, and our show is the platform to hear it.
Our program concept is designed to be an oasis for listeners and revitalize the direction of terrestrial radio.
Radio to us is more than a job, it’s a “passion”.
Even for two veteran broadcasters, we can come up with a good idea …. every …………..
“Now and Then” !
Imagine my surprise to come across this thread – and still be remembered by some folks in my favorite city.
In case anyone is interested in my book, it’s still at Amazon.com. “The Cash Cage”. You can download a free chapter at http://www.thecashcage.com
After Chicago, I went to St. Louis, Cleveland, Richmond, and have been in Little Rock since 1998 with my partner, Jay Hamilton.
Thanks…
Bruce Wolf and Dan Proft are great on WLS in the am. Don Wade is still good when discussing serious subjects and political subjects but Bruce Wolf has it all. Please keep giving us more of Bruce Wolf partnered with Dan Proft! Sorry to say this but the Don Wade show has lost it’s punch.