Greg Jarrett Hired from KGO to Take Over Mornings; Williams to Mid-Days

In what can only be described as an abosolute shock, WGN-AM morning man John Williams, who assumed that role just six months ago, will be demoted to mid-days and former KGO-AM host Greg Jarrett will be taking over the morning drive slot. Jarrett was recently laid-off at the Citadel-owned San Francisco talker.

Rosenthal has the full report here.

Williams took over the morning gig after Spike O’Dell retired late last year. The speculation had long been that Steve Cochran would ascend to the morning drive slot but was passed over in favor of Williams. Since taking over the shift, Williams has struggled with the formatics and has often lacked the edge that new PD Kevin Metheny has been searching for on the station. In some ways, this move comes as no surprise, as Metheny has looked for ways to put his mark on the station since arriving earlier this year. He also has booted Kathy & Judy out of the mid-day shift and shuffled the weekend line-up, bringing over conservative talker Jerry Agar from WLS.

Jarrett brings a wealth of experience, both from KGO and from Portland’s KEWS-AM. No part of his resumé, however, features a Chicago mailing address. In many ways, Jarrett harkens back to what WGN is allegedly trying to get away from — staid, safe, and predictable radio. He brings a newsman’s touch to his work, which will undoubtedly fit in well on WGN.

The move is puzzling in some respects. The mantra for WGN under Metheny’s regime has been an edgier more relevant approach to programming. This departure from the decades-old “happy talk” model that WGN has become known for was, in large part, an effort to attract younger listeners, who have never been a staple of the audience. Since the arrival of Arbitron’s PPM audience measurement service, WGN has seen a noticeable slide, especially versus WLS.

It’s also interesting to note that if Jarrett is exactly the kind of personality Metheny had in mind for morning drive, it’s too bad that he wasn’t able to pry Pat Cassidy away from the debacle that has become the Mancow & Cassidy show on WLS. Cassidy brings many of the same news instincts that Jarrett is known for but also has a genuine Chicago pedigree.

This clearly appears to be a demotion for Williams who didn’t have the chops for morning drive, especially under the programming scheme being promoted by Metheny. He’s fortunate to have landed back in mid-days; although, he’s probably wondering if that destination had more to do with guaranteed contracts than confidence in his ability.

This leaves some unanswered questions for the likes of Bob Sirrott, who just turned down a chance to anchor the 10pm news on WMAQ-TV Ch. 5. Sirrott’s one-hour noon show on WGN was his remaining gig in town. Some thought that he might be angling to take over the 9a-12noon slot and hold court for four hours each day on WGN. That situation does not seem to be in the cards.