Posted by WGN Insider on May 23, 2009 at 12:00:03:
Many people have been asking how Garry Meier did in his first month at WGN. Unfortunately, they show some sad numbers out of the gate for him, but great numbers for the Cubs afternoon games, averaging out for decent afternoon numbers for WGN. Here are the stats:
For All Persons, ages 25-54, on the days of Monday - Friday, between the hours of 1:00pm-4:00pm:
April Total:
3.4 share / 11th place
When the Cubs play a day game:
7.4 share / 1st place
Garry Meier's show when Cubs play late PM or night game:
1.2 share / 28th place
Garry Meier with no Cubs game that day:
0.8 share / 31st place
I'm a fan of Garry's and have been since High School. I am sure that he will find his way at WGN and reclaim his audience. It hasn't happened just yet. I blame a large part of that on WGN's insistence on interrupting his show with constant news, traffic, weather & other updates seemingly every few minutes. It does not allow for the show to have any rhythm and gives people too many reasons to turn away. I also think that John Williams' morning show would be better liked & accepted if he were allowed more than a few seconds per segment to speak.
Perhaps moving Garry Meier to to Kathy & Judy's slot, which I hear was the original idea for Garry anyway, would be a better move for WGN. He can have less interruptions and more flow. It is also the same time slot he had at WCKG, where his show was hilarious and building a great following.