Our WGN Debut

Saturday May 2nd, 2009 - Chicago, IL

Jerry’s Kidders made their debut on WGN radio this morning to little fanfare, and that’s exactly how we wanted it. We slid in the back door and it was all over with before anyone knew it. We didn’t get any complaint calls and nobody at the station yelled at us. Victory!

We didn’t embarrass ourselves but nobody expected that. We’ve been a team for over a year now and we’ve developed a nice on air chemistry between us but nobody knows it at WGN…yet. This was Jerry Agar’s first day on the air there and I was more happy for him than anyone else. This could end up being a great opportunity for him and he deserves it.

It was very flattering to have him ask us to be on his very first show. That shows a trust level as high as it gets. Had we gone in there and blown it he would have been the one the program director yelled at, not us. Jerry’s the one with his neck on the line and we wanted to justify his trust in us by not making any waves. This is a whole new situation for us all.

WLS was an ideal fit for Jerry in my opinion. He sounded great on that station and he is a perfect fit for their demographic. WGN is a whole different ballgame. Literally. They’re the flagship station of the Cubs and Blackhawks so a lot of their programming is chopped up between sports broadcasts. Jerry will be doing weekends and it will affect him as well.

The good thing is a lot of people listen to the radio on weekends. It’s on in the garage or in the car while running errands and sometimes people don’t even realize they’re listening but they totally are. Jerry will have an opportunity to reach a whole new crop of listeners.

That means The Kidders will too. We need to be on our game and know we’re reaching a much more mainstream audience than ever before. Cub fans listen from all over and I’m sure we’ll get some fans we never would have gotten at WLS. We’ll get some haters too.

Comedy is SO subjective. It’s all in the eyes and ears of the audience and since nobody can see us on the radio we’ll have to rely on our words. We need to relax and be funny in a non aggressive way. We don’t need to be wimps but we don’t need to push that line like I’ve been known to do in the past. Not here. Not now. This is a different scenario for us.

I’ve been on rock stations and country stations in my radio experience and they’re both a different animal. I’ve learned to adapt to each format and I went in knowing it would be different. I was right. This is also a different scenario, even from WLS. This is big time.

The major leagues are what every baseball player aspires to but there’s a big difference between playing for the Kansas City Royals and the Yankees. WGN is the Yankees. It’s a legendary blowtorch that has been THE ratings monster in Chicago for several decades.

That’s pretty amazing and none of us take it lightly. This is a fantastic opportunity to be heard by a major audience that has never heard us before. It’s up to us to deliver a product THEY like, not go in there and waste air time. There’s a lot riding on this for everybody.