Erich “Mancow” Muller has about a month of broadcasts on WLS-AM under his belt, and by all accounts, the reviews have been mixed at best. There was no lack of skepticism when it was announced that WLS would be replacing the popular Jerry Agar with Muller. After all, this is the same Muller who had spent the better part of the last decade trying to make a name for himself as a shock jock, complete with distasteful stunts, goofy sidekicks, and a bizarre sense of humor. WLS was going to hammock that act between the veteran team of Don Wade & Roma and the legendary Rush Limbaugh on a station that’s built its reputation as a credible, intelligent talk station.

The first thing that’s noticeable as you listen to Muller on WLS is how much better suited Pat Cassidy is to the format than Muller is. Cassidy brings a wealth of experience as a journalist from his days at WBBM-AM and WMAQ-AM. He not only grasps the depth of issues, but he also has a much better command of the details than Muller does. There are too many occasions when Muller struggles to remember simple details, like the names of the principals in a story or their relationships to each other. Cassidy often acts as a safety valve for Muller, bailing him out when it’s clear that he’s lost in a topic.

Muller also seems to lack basic discipline when it comes to talking about nearly anything. His attention span is minuscule, as he jumps from topic to topic, without much concern for nuance or genuine discussion. Again, it’s the staid and steady presence of Pat Cassidy that often seems to lend the show any credibility. In a recent show, Muller was whipping around from topic to topic, at one point ostensibly talking about Barack Obama’s decision to send his daughters to private school in DC. As he tried to work up his disgust at this decision, out of nowhere, he brings a guest into the show by introducing him simply as, “Wayne Allen Root — the libertarian.” There was no set-up as to why he was a relevant guest or what expertise he brought to the topic. Rather, it appeared that his inclusion in the discussion was dictated only by his personal relationship with Muller.

Muller’s show moves at a breakneck pace, with very little context or explanation. And then there’s Muller himself. It’s not clear if he truly believes any of what he’s saying or if he’s just trying to emulate what he thinks a conservative talk radio host is supposed to sound like. You’re hard-pressed to find much original thought or intellectual curiosity from Muller. His apparent lack of authenticity is maddening at times.

It’s not clear who WLS thinks Muller appeals to. The core right-leaning, traditional talk audience likely sees through his act. When you’ve got Limbaugh and Hannity on the same station, it’s hard to sell Mancow as the off-brand. At the same time, the audience that followed Muller at Q101 have either matured out of his gimmick or are left wondering when the strippers are going to show up.

In the end, it’s clear that Mancow’s presence on WLS is something of an arranged marriage. The persistent rumor is that Muller and his syndicator, Talk Radio Network, struck some kind of revenue sharing deal with WLS. This arrangement allows WLS to dump the salary of Jerry Agar, pay Muller nothing, while splitting any revenue generated from the program.

We’ll soon get an early indication of how well this experiment has done from an Aribtron perspective, as a new batch of PPM data is due next week.

Listen to the first moments of Mancow on WLS here:

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And hear Mancow talk with Rush Limbaugh here:

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