Pat Miller Returns, but only Pat Miller

Today is the day that Pat Miller returns to the WOWO 1190 (and now on 92.-3fm) in his familiar 3 to 6 pm time slot. 

Hooray. 

Mr. Miller is a true Fort Wayne treasure, and his return to the airwaves, from which he was once banished, is cause for celebration. It is also a moment for us to reflect. 

While Mr. Miller represents a specific political viewpoint, no one can fault him for always treating his listeners, callers and advertisers with anything but respect. His ability to talk about the local community is remarkable. One only has to go back a year and recall his broadcasts about Aliahana Lemmon and how that story affected the community. There is no doubt that Mr. Miller's heart was in his work those days, and his questions, frustrations, and grief mirrored what most of Fort Wayne was feeling at the time. 

While we all celebrate, we also must remember those who will not be returning to their jobs at WOWO and the other Federated Media properties. The backlash of Mr. Miller's removal, his replacement by a hate-filled, megalomaniac, bent on destroying WOWO, as well as the resulting advertiser and listener fallout, cost at least 12 employees their jobs. 

While no one will shed a tear for Gregg 'hacksaw' Henson and the empty-suited idiots who hired him, the others who are not returning deserve to be remembered. Steve Brelsford, a dedicated and gifted production person of 34 years lost his job through no actions of his own. The skilled Zack Skyler, who toiled at the WMEE microphone doing mornings, afternoons and anything else his bosses asked was also let go. There are others, who's names you won't recognize, they, too need to be remembered. 

So, as we celebrate Mr. Miller's return, for more than a few, it's a hollow victory at best. 

Lessons Learned The Hard Way

Pat Miller is returning to his former perch, 3-6pm, afternoons on WOWO 1190 (and now on 92-3 fm) in January, closing a chapter in what has been called the greatest radio meltdown in Fort Wayne history. 

Kudo's to Fort Wayne's legendary blogger, AWB for digging out this story. You can find his work at http://www.angrywhiteboy.org/2012/11/28/breaking-pat-miller-to-return-to-the-air-on-wowo/

Now, if you are waiting for the Maven to gloat, you are in for a giant disappointment. While Mr. Miller's return is to be celebrated by his many fans and supporters, the damage to WOWO has been done, both in terms of financial loss and tarnished image and credibility. Mr. Miller will work hard, as he always does and will treat his callers and listeners with respect, compassion and tolerance. The true test of Pat Miller's successful return, however, will be the return of his loyal advertisers. Those were the businesses who's ad dollars seemed to evaporate after WOWO's failed Operations Manager Gregg Hacksaw Henson kicked Mr. Miller to the curb, took over his time slot and verbally urinated on WOWO's loyal audience. The Maven is sure that Mr. Miller is up for the challenge and we wish him well. 

Kudos to South Bend's Casey Hendrickson who has managed to keep WOWO afternoons afloat during this long and painful saga. Casey is very talented and would make a worthy fill-in for Mr. Miller's absences and should be considered for another slot on WOWO, as well. The Maven will sleep a little better at night knowing that Gary Snyder will never come back.

And while many will celebrate the triumphant return of Pat Miller, one must also take a moment to mourn the twelve WOWO/FedMed employees who lost their jobs either directly or indirectly as a result of Gregg Henson's malfeasance, and gross negligence in taking an iconic Fort Wayne radio station and reducing it to what many have called a laughing stock of the radio dial. 

Many dedicated people are working hard to 'right the ship' and their efforts are being seen and appreciated. The only question ..... is it too little, too late? 

Too Much Time On Their Hands

After firing 12 employees recently, one would think that the remaining workers at the Federated Media stations would be rather busy little bees. Guess not. Seems that four FedMed employees are able to take time from their busy broadcast day to enjoy the time-wasting activity of responding to snarky and cryptic Tweets from the Maven. 

During the rein of Gregg 'hacksaw' Henson, Fed Med employees were forbidden from responding to any public criticism, preferring to let management handle those issues, if at all. For all his warts and foibles, Henson had it right. His point was to never stoop to respond to any criticism, because it just might be coming from your biggest competitor, a cranky advertiser....or some high school kid with too much time on his hands and a bad acne problem. That policy has either changed, or the management at Federated Media has totally no idea what their overworked, and marginally paid, employees are doing on company time. 

One more thing, what the hell is a 'Heather Cruise"? Never heard of her. With the 100,000 listeners she claims, she should be a household name.....as easily recognizable as Preparation H. 

WOWO/FedMed's Big Hatchet Job

The unceremonious dumping of Gregg Henson and his assistant, Brian whats-his-name, was not unexpected. FedMed needed someone to blame for killing what little credibility the iconic WOWO once had. At this point, the Maven was sure the bleeding would stop and attention would be turned to WOWO's turd of a newsroom with all it's warts and foibles. A quick fix there would begin to repair the damage to both audience and advertisers. The announcement of Mr. Zimmerman taking the programming reins was also welcomed by current and former FedMed staffers. The road to recovery was clear.

Not so fast. On Monday, according to a reputable local blogger, social media, media reports and our own insider(s) on Maples Road, 12 Federated Media employees were escorted off the property with only what they could carry in a cardboard box. Among the casualties were Chief Operating Officer Mark DePrez, highly regarded WMEE mid day talent Zack Skyler and Production Wizard Steve Brelsford. Other casualties included DePrez's wife who reportedly held some sort of sales position, assorted other sales people and some part timers. A News~Sentinel story reports that WOWO/FedMed has no plans to fill the vacant positions.

What does all this mean? Are some of these dismissals the direct result of the hiring and firing of Gregg Henson? Probably not. Are some of these firings the result to poor hiring decisions and the resulting fall out? Maybe. The Maven believes that the folks in Elkhart who call the shots are tired of losing money running radio stations that, according to many industry analysts, no one will be listening to in 20 years. This may be Federated Media/Pathfinder Communicaitons/Fallen Timbers/Talking Stick, etc's one and only chance to preserve some of Grandpa Jack Dille's fortune for the current generation to spend foolishly. What we're seeing may be a purging of "excess" costs (generated by those 12 poor souls tossed over the side), and a further pruning of expenses in an effort to make the financials look even more attractive to a large radio ownership group(s).

While many people in Fort Wayne like to bitch and moan about the present state of local radio, just wait until the likes of WOWO, K105, the Bear and others are swallowed up by a large corporate operator who will pipe in programming from a far away central location with advertising sales handled via a call center backed up by a corporate website. That's how it works these days, and one has to assume, local radio's days are numbered in Fort Wayne. It's just a matter of time.  

WOWO Gets A Woody!

Well, the antagonistic, in-your-face angle didn't work, so now WOWO tries again. 

According to the industry-respected Allaccess.com, WOWO's new Operations Manager is Bill "Woody" Zimmerman, replacing the recently bounced Gregg ‘Hacksaw’ Henson. According to the Allaccess.com story, "Market Manager Jim Allgeier said, "Woody's sense of urgency, organizational skills, attention to detail and work ethic make him uniquely qualified to take on the complex job of programming a News/Talk station." The article goes on to mention that Mr. Zimmerman is a local, and has held numerous positions within Federated Media so he should be accustomed to dealing with the quirks and expectations of the company and the attached executive egos that come with the territory.

A couple of ex-FedMed employees are viewing this development in a very positive way, telling the Maven that if anyone can help rescue the damaged credibility and reputation of this iconic media institution, Woody is the guy. The Maven will wait and see.

The first thing Mr. Zimmerman can do is to clean up the newsroom operation. It’s an embarrassment and has done just as much to trash the WOWO good name as Mr. Henson did while threatening listeners by name on the air. The news writing is sophomoric, childish, and at times, inaccurate and confused. The presentation sounds like high school kids trying to be cute.

Woody has his work cut out for him and we wish him well, it's a tall order. The Maven hopes that the “sense of urgency” is real, and not just another positioning statement. WOWO could use the help, not more slogans and fixes.