Posted by chicagomedia.org on April 30, 2008 at 10:58:04:
Two months after being ordered by his Citadel Broadcasting bosses to carry out cutbacks described by staffers as a "bloodbath" in response to a weak corporate financial performance, John Gallagher has resigned as president and general manager of talk station WLS-AM 890.
Mike Fowler, who earlier this year assumed Gallagher's duties as boss of oldies sister station WZZN-FM 94.7, now will also replace Gallagher atop WLS at least on an interim basis.
Neither Gallagher nor Mitch Dolan, who oversees Citadel's owned-and-operated stations, responded to calls for comment.
"John is one of the most diligent and decent men I've ever worked with and put in clearly a difficult situation when Citadel did their restructuring," said Roe Conn, WLS's afternoon star. "I cannot imagine what that's like to have to lay off that many people, and I saw he was personally affected by it. Finding a guy with a soul is a unique opportunity in American business today. I will miss him."
Gallagher joined WLS in late 2004 and served more than 20 years with ABC Radio, which Citadel acquired last year.
WLS-AM dipped a bit in the past quarter, according to Arbitron ratings released Monday, going from a 3.5 rating to a 3.1 among listeners 12 and older. WZZN-FM improved its 2.3 to a 3.0
"John just decided it was time to move on," said Fowler, who began his career in sales in 1977 at WZZN predecessor WDAI.
Fowler said he doesn't believe there will be corporate pressure to air Don Imus' syndicated show in Chicago and, although it wouldn't surprise him to hear from a former employee or two, he doesn't plan on making major weekday changes in the near future.
"As soon as Mancow finds out I've taken over WLS as well, that's a phone call he's going to shoot in here right away," said Fowler, who talks to Muller every few weeks.