Believe it or not, it's been a whole calendar year since Jonathon Brandmeier signed on to much fanfare & publicity as morning man at 720 WGN Radio. Although Johnny B. appears to be getting more & more comfortable since reuniting with longtime newsman/bluesman Buzz Kilman a few weeks ago, the ratings are a different story.

Since giving the Tribune-owned news/talk, Cubs, Blackhawks & Northwestern football/basketball outlet an initial upswing in the coveted 25 to 54 age bracket considered the most attractive for advertisers, Brandmeier's morning "Showgram" on WGN Radio hasn't been the ratings boost he or station management had hoped.

According to TimeoutChicago.com's Rob Feder, Johnny B.'s "Showgram" currently is tied for 25th place in Arbitron's Portable People Meter survey with a 1.6 share. Yeah, 25th place...It's a far cry from when Johnny B. started 1 year ago at 'GN. On the day Brandmeier debuted, WGN Radio ranked 16th with a 2.6 share among adults ages 25-54. Needless to say, Johnny B. isn't the ratings draw he was back in the late '80s & early '90s at The LOOP when that station was under different management.

So what has gone wrong for Brandmeier at WGN? Johnny B.'s fast paced, frenetic style that worked in the late '80s & early '90s hasn't connected with WGN Radio's current audience. It's a far cry from when Wally Phillips & the late Bob Collins generated huge ratings for the radio station.

As for what might happen, who knows? Brandmeier didn't necessarily sign a long-term contract at WGN Radio for starters, while WGN's parent company Tribune Company is likely seeking a new owner for the radio station as Tribune emerges from bankruptcy. It remains to be heard how long Brandmeier will be "on the loose" at "The Voice of Chicago".

Wally Phillips went off the air 25 years ago, so I don't think his listeners were offput by Johnny B's arrival.

It is sort of a mystery why guys who were popular 20-30 years ago can't attract any kind of ratings.

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Reality is your friend, not your enemy. -- Seacrest

When guys like Wally Phillips, Bob Collins & Spike O'Dell (remember him?) all did morning drive at WGN Radio, they were at the very top of the ratings.

As for Jonathon Brandmeier, he had ratings trouble when 97.9 The LOOP, then under Emmis management, brought him back a few years ago. This was right after Brandmeier was let go when his Los Angeles station traded in classic rock for the jockless "JACK FM" format.

Buzz is back on? Might have to check that out.

Maybe even get myself a Ladybug Alarm Clock if I'm lucky.

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You know me like that.

He is a much better listen when he doesn't have to pretend that Steve Dahl's music is good.

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Good people drink good beer - Hunter S. Thompson

<º)))><

Waiting for the time when I can finally say
That this has all been wonderful, but now I'm on my way

Right on, Chus.

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You know me like that.

He's much better pretending Johnny B's music is good.

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Reality is your friend, not your enemy. -- Seacrest

Its not a bad listen, but even when I try to listen to Garry it is still a much older crowd that calls in...they have to be somewhat representative of the audience? It's not just the once in a while crazy old lady, it's almost every call.

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"That's what the internet is for. Slandering others anonymously." Banky
“Been that way since one monkey looked at the sun and told the other monkey ‘He said for you to give me your fuckin’ share.’”

The show blows. I think its funny they bring on Johnny b to get us young 50 year old hipsters. Trotting out Kilman just shows bmeir hasn't had an original idea in 30 years. Does he stool do answering machine Olympics? How about the shove it line? And I used to love his act way back when. But I also loved Miami vice.

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You cannot make me care about the WNBA.

Don't you think that Garry Meier is better than Steve Cochran?

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To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

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Garry Meier has grown on me and is a good fallback when sports talk sucks. Johnny B is brutal though.

I'm also a fan of Garry Meier. It's a good listen. Haven't heard Johnny B but might check it out with Buzz.

I still think Brandmeier is too constrained by the format that they are trying to run there with all the news updates and Orrin Samuelson market reports, etc. He can't run with things for more than ten minutes. I will say they are a lot better with letting him get going on stuff now than they were when the show started, and they'll let him have free reign when he gets Gov Quinn or some big name guest in studio, but when you tune in and you don't hear his voice for 10 minutes at a time due to commercials, traffic, farming, market, news, and weather reports, it doesn't really work.

Meier is my fill-in when the sports talk is boring (or in commercial.) I like him a lot more now than I did ten years ago, for what that's worth.

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"All crowds boycotting football games shouldn't care who sings or takes a knee because they aren't watching." - Nas

You'd be better than Steve Cochran, who's birth mother put him up for adoption again.

The Garry Meier show is great. Johnny B's show is terrible.

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CSFMB 2014 Nascar Pick 'em Champion

We don’t have a trillion-dollar debt because we haven’t taxed enough; we have a trillion-dollar debt because we spend too much. — Ronald Reagan

You remember that, huh, Sini? I thought George Bush the First got off a great line that never got enough credit: "When Bill Clinton plays his taxophone the American people will be singin' the blues!"

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Don't take it personally.

Sorry for invoking cliche, but +1 for me across the board. It's just a delight with Buzz now back, and today's show from the Brat Stop really brings back memories from many, many years past.

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Power is always in the hands of the masses of men. What oppresses the masses is their own ignorance, their own short-sighted selfishness.
- Henry George

I like Johnny on 'GN. Not great, but better than any other morning show right now on regular radio.

I also switch over to Garry when B&B get excruciating, but I wish Garry would stop yelling like he's deaf or something...unless he IS...

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Not a mult.

He's yelling so the eldery farmers who listen to WGN could hear him.

I noticed that too. WTF?

I like Garry, but like him better as a wise-ass sidekick.

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Reality is your friend, not your enemy. -- Seacrest

He cannot do Aunt Marsha type bits anymore because those are the people listening to the show.

I thought he sucked at WGN when I first listened. I went back to it about a month ago and liked it. It's still no better than third on my morning listening dial.

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

I really did like Garry with Roe for quite awhile

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If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice.

Anybody notice how pissy & short tempered Brandmeier has been lately? I know his mother died over the holidays and since he has returned it has been uneasy to listen to at times. Could it also be that they changed his show times from 5:30 - 9:00 to 6 - 10?

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"This is Chicago, my friend. Anything can happen."

That's why I thought it was a good idea to give Spike's timeslot to John Williams. He was so vanilla that he could quarterback all the reporting without sacrificing his interesting longform thoughts, because what interesting longform thoughts?

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Yes, I have noticed that once he gets going on something with a guest or whatever, he has to go to a break for news, traffic, etc. and then has to spend another couple of minutes explaining where he left off 10-12 minutes ago. I like JB as a nice break from M&H sometimes but he is not the same these days.

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"This is Chicago, my friend. Anything can happen."

Anybody hear Johnny B's rant on Frank Thomas this morning? The story goes that Johnny B was at Gibson's on Saturday night with a bunch of people and noticed Frank Thomas holding court at another table. Evidently, Thomas was on Brandmeier's NBC 5 show a couple of months back on his Big Hurt Beer promo tour. Johnny says they had a great time on the show and Frank was a real good guy cutting up with everybody and all had a great time. Brandmeier says he went up to Thomas' table and said; "Hi, Frank! It's Johnny B, just wanted to stop by and say hello." According to Brandmeier, Thomas gave him that "Who are you and why are you bothering me?" look. Brandmeier just walked away and returned to his party. Brandmeier was pounding on Thomas all morning today - skits, insults, etc. Those are basically the hi lites, I missed some here and there so if anyone has any other info or clarifications please post them I would like to hear it.

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"This is Chicago, my friend. Anything can happen."

Wow,reading through this thread,I'm surprised how many guys on here listen to Garry Meir. Garry read one of my jokes on the air about a year ago,so I know he has good taste. I love Garry and nobody on the radio has ever made me laugh harder except maybe Boers & Bernstein. I would listen to him everyday except the poor guy has to go to break every 5 minutes. WGN needs to space their shit out a lot better. I don't need traffic and news and weather every 7 minutes each. It's killing his show and probably Brandmeirs,too. People driving in their cars are flipping WGN off because of it.

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favrefan said:"Chris Coghlan isn't gonna pay your rent, Jimmy."

Johnny B's morning show on WGN is a trainwreck, & he's getting killed in the ratings. I never thought that Garry Meir could be the lead guy on a major station, but Garrys show is really good.

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CSFMB 2014 Nascar Pick 'em Champion

We don’t have a trillion-dollar debt because we haven’t taxed enough; we have a trillion-dollar debt because we spend too much. — Ronald Reagan

I gave Brandmeier a shot when he made his comeback

Absolute garbage. Worst radio Id ever heard.

Made Mully and Hanley look like Stern in his prime by comparison


Garry is alright, but nothing I could listen to long term.

I still like Roe