Giants like WTMJ and WISN dwarf it, but WMCS occupies a unique niche in Milwaukee’s AM radio marketplace. It’s a pipeline for information to and from the city’s black community – more than one-third of the city’s population. And until his sudden departure in late winter, popular afternoon talk host Eric Von was the station’s most important voice.
“If you wanted to reach people in City Hall, you didn’t go to Mark Belling,” says one political insider. Or Charlie Sykes. “You went to Eric Von. At City Hall, they had his show turned on all afternoon.”
So when Von quit rather than accepting what he calls a non-negotiable pay cut (as first reported in The Mil in May), worry rippled through the central city.
“It happened so suddenly, it caught everybody off guard,” says Mikel Holt, associate publisher of the Milwaukee Community Journal, who calls Von “one of the most influential talk show hosts from a black perspective.”
Besides Von, WMCS 1290 also handed walking papers to Cassandra McShepherd, who hosted a motivational lifestyle show, and Chris Levy, production director for the station. “I didn’t really see this coming,” Levy tells Pressroom. McShepherd echoes that, saying her show was “yanked with no explanation.”
The polished Von’s hallmark was his nuanced take on subjects. Craig Peterson, CEO of the public relations firm Zigman Joseph Stephenson, recalls when he represented local tavern owners and others who battled Mayor Tom Barrett’s plan to subsidize the Pabst City entertainment complex. “Eric’s show was the only place to have an actual discussion on an issue,” Peterson says. “He’d bring in Rocky Marcoux” – Barrett’s city development director – “and me. And we’d go toe-to-toe.” He credits Von’s exposure with helping to turn the debate against Barrett’s plan, which the Common Council voted down.
Arbitron ranks MCS around No. 18 in the market with about 1 percent of the radio audience. That’s still well ahead of the only other black AM station, WNOV 860, now owned by an out-of-town company (via a transaction that’s now in court). And NOV’s only local talk program – the often-incendiary “Word Warriors” show featuring former alderman Mike McGee Sr. was canceled more than a year ago. (In contrast to MCS, at last count, Sykes’ WTMJ 620 commanded around 8.5 percent of the market and ranked first, while Belling’s WISN 1130 was third with about 7 percent.)
Across the board, radio advertising is suffering along with the rest of the media. Cash-strapped marketers are rethinking their strategies as one-time listeners switch to online stations or their iPods for entertainment. MCS is one of three stations in the Milwaukee Radio Alliance, owned by Green Bay Packers legend Willie Davis and his business partners. Alliance general manager Bill Hurwitz says he regrets losing Von and his colleagues, but economics demanded it. “I did not want Eric to leave. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out the way he or I wanted.”
Von fears the station is reducing its commitment to issue-oriented radio just to make a quick buck. “I run into people all the time who tell me it’s not the same, they’re not listening. My question now is, who talks to the black community? Who speaks for the black community?”
Joel McNally and Cassandra Cassandra remain as hosts of the station’s “Morning Magazine,” and Von’s old slot has been taken up by Earl Ingram, a retired blue-collar worker who has long filled in at the station. He earned his chops by calling Sykes and Belling on their shows and challenging them on the air. Ingram, 54, pays deference to Von, but also points out that in contrast to the Washington, D.C., native, “I have lived in this city my entire life.” Holt says installing Ingram helped reassure many in the audience that the station would stay the course. And others commend Ingram’s strong local on-air focus.
Hurwitz says Davis and his partners remain dedicated to serving the community. Revenues may be down, but “we are not in the same predicament” as the big national media chains that are bulging with debt and own virtually all of the station’s much-larger competitors. “We’re a Main Street company, not a Wall Street company. We have no debt.” And no plans to sell the station, he adds.
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Nine more people took buyouts at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel in May – the third round of staff cuts, bringing the total number who have left the paper to about 55. This time, the departed were mainly behind-the-scenes people, such as copy editors, graphic designers and clerical staff. To further cut costs, the paper has merged the day and night copy desks with the design desk. Across the country, copy editors – the industry’s quality inspectors, if you will – are getting cut back.
The Newspaper Guild also agreed to a 6.6 percent wage cut to avoid involuntary layoffs. But the deal – and the protection from further layoffs – lasts only until Sept. 30.
