In our ongoing effort to find a place for poor Pat Cassidy, we may have an idea that would make the best use of Pat’s talents and would be amenable to corporate parent Citadel. Just last week, WABC-AM in New York — owned by Citadel — announced that the Imus in the Morning program would be expanding. The line-up at WABC is undergoing some re-shuffling, and when the dust settled, the 5-6am slot needed to be filled. Imus’ show already ran from 6-9am, so the decision was made to turn the first hour of the show into a standalone but complimentary hour-long newscast, hosted by Imus sidekick and newsman Charles McCord. The newly dubbed “Imus in the Morning New Hour” will compete with the Big Apple’s all-news competitors WCBS-AM and WINS-AM.

From the NY Daily News:

While an hour sounds like a lot of time compared to the couple of minutes into which McCord usually condenses the news, he says this won’t be a PBS kind of show with long reports.

“I think folks want to hear what’s going on in a concise manner when they wake up,” he says. “We’ll have the major stories, sports, traffic reports, business. Listeners will know what to expect.”

What’s most intriguing about this situation is that a similar scenario would be almost ideal for WLS-AM. Pat Cassidy joined WLS this past summer under the guise that he would be hosting a talk show. That has never materialized, and increasingly, it doesn’t look like it’s going to happen. Mancow is locked into the 9-11a slot, and while he’s done well with Cassidy at times, the pairing doesn’t appear to have a long-term future. WLS just re-signed Don Wade & Roma to another contract — a contract that will take Don Wade to his 70th birthday. From all accounts, Don has no interest in sharing his stage with Cassidy.

However, it’s clear that the Wades aren’t as spry and eager as they used to be. There are some days when they literally phone in the show from their condo in Miami, and then there are some days when it just sounds like they’re phoning it in. Their PPM numbers have been strong, but it’s clear that that the feistiness once associated with Don Wade has ebbed mightily as he’s aged.

Perhaps WLS management would see an opportnunity to ease the burden on its morning show as the team enters its final lap. Might it make sense to scale back the Don Wade & Roma show to a three-hour gabfest, running from 6-9am? That would allow Pat Cassidy to slide back into a familiar role as he could then anchor an hourlong newscast, competing directly with his former colleagues at WBBM-AM. It would accentuate Pat’s greatest strength while at the same time decreasing Don Wade & Roma’s exposure to their biggest liability. Pat could then anchor the news for the duration of the broadcast.

Clearly, the model for this is WABC and Imus. But the biggest impediment may be Don Wade’s ego. After all, the reports we’ve heard are that Wade vetoed Cassidy’s involvement in morning drive when he was hired in August. Could Don Wade see the value in shrinking his role in order to bolster the station? In the long run, would Don Wade be stronger and more focused if he only had three hours to fill rather than four? Could Pat Cassidy find satisfaction in returning to a role he spent so many years perfecting? These are the kinds of questions that WLS GM Mike Fowler and PD Kipper McGee should be considering as the station moves forward. We’ll be expecting a check for our consulting services.