OMC: You started out at WISN as a news reporter, back when those existed on radio?

JW: I did news for a while, then I became news director. Then WISN decided going to rival WTMJ's news show in the morning, so we put on a four-hour news show. I worked on that and I actually thought it was a pretty good show. We were breaking news. We were actively reporting news instead of just writing stories out of the paper.

After that fell apart, they didn't know quite what to do with the morning show. They had Don Imus on for a while, and I was hacking out two-minute newscasts on the morning show and on Belling's afternoon show.

Then they decided to pair me with Bob Dolan and do a lighter show.

OMC: What did you think about that?

JW: I was concerned about that, because all of my credibility was in news. I had some feelers out with other stations in town and some TV stations and I worried that this was going to shoot all my news credibility. But, I figured "What the hell?" Let's do it. It lasted for eight years.

OMC: How long did it take you guys to gel?

JW: We were just thrown together. It took three or four months before we clicked. It took six months before we figured out what the show was going to be. Management, in typical fashion, said "Now, we want a light-hearted, funny show, but with a news edge. We want you to be serious, but not too serious." They didn't know what they wanted. Ultimately, you have to decide which way you want to go. One thing I learned from watching other guys do the job is that you develop the personalities. That's what people respond to.

OMC: How did that show end?

JW: We both sort of got tired of it. There is only so much nonsense you can do day after day. After eight years, you run out of stories. That's why I admire people like Bob and Brian (from 102.9 The Hog) and Dave and Carole (from 96.5 WKLH). We were out of topics. It wasn't fun any more. We decided when our contract was over, we'd go. Bob asked to get out of the contract early, because he wanted to do his travel show for TV.

I had six months left in the contract. At that point, we had moved to middays. So I said "Look, there are six months left in the contract. The one thing I hadn't done yet was serious talk. Let me try it. If it works out, great. If it doesn't, you can get somebody else."

OMC: Apparently, it worked.

JW: From day one, it started to take off. That surprised me a little. I figured it was going to go one way or another. The question is "Are people ready for serious topics early in the morning?" I thought the answer was probably "No." But, the ratings are as good as anything we had on Weber and Dolan. I'm a year and a half into it and I still enjoy it.

OMC: Doing a morning show in this market, where so many other shows have been around for more than a decade, has got to be tough.

JW: It is. I hope that WISN has finally learned the lesson. Because we power up and power down, because we're an AM station against Bob and Brian and all the other shows. They have to learn that a 4-share or a 5-share (in the ratings) is a really good number up against an FM station.

OMC: One of the things you do that some other hosts don't is mix in some lighter topics. When you do that, do you ever get criticized or feel like you are somehow shirking a duty?

JW: I try to mix it up, because it's in the morning and I used to do a really light show. I get some complaints when I do that, because the audience has been reprogrammed to expect the more serious stuff.

OMC: The conservative talk audience is fiercely loyal. You hear about people who listen to a station they like all day long.

JW: That's true. I was a big consumer of talk radio before I was doing it, but I'd get burned out on any one show. I'd listen to Rush for six months and I'd need a Rush break. I'd go away for a while and come back. A lot of people in the audience will do that, but a lot of people listen wall to wall. I have an uncle who literally does not watch TV. All he does is listen to talk radio. Unfortunately, he never gets a ratings diary, so he's not helping me.

OMC: I imagine that when people find out what you do for a living the two most common questions are: When do you sleep? And, what is Mark Belling like?

JW: Those are the two.

OMC: So, when do you sleep?

JW: Most people don't realize that I get up at 11 o'clock at night to put in six hours of prep for a four-hour show.

OMC: Is it easier to do a lighter show or a hard-news show?

JW: What I'm doing now is a lot harder. First of all, I had a partner. We could come up with topics without really working too hard. With lighter topics, you're just talking off the top of your head. You're trying to be funny and witty, but it's so spontaneous there isn't a lot of prep you can do. It was easier. You didn't have to defend a position, you could just throw out a topic, kick it around and have some fun. There was nothing controversial. There was nothing you needed to defend.

I don't know how other guys set up their shows, but for me it's like cramming for an exam every day. It's six hours of cramming to do a four-hour show.

OMC: Why is that?

JW: I have to know that I've got enough material, that I've got a handle on that material and that I can defend my position if someone calls up and argues with me.

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Recent Talkbacks ...

Posted by Reader on Aug. 26, 2008 at 11:20 a.m. (report)

"One of the reasons I find myself talking less about local news is because of that. There is less in the paper. " Jay, why rely on the paper for your topics? Old school, man.

Posted by patrickm1964 on Aug. 21, 2008 at 9:36 a.m. (report)

It's evident that Mr. Weber prepares well for his show and constructs a well reasoned argument before going on the air. That being said, I find his show less appealing than others because he comes across too frequently as a bitter and frustrated voice...that's just not what I'm looking for while I'm driving (the only time I listen to talk radio). Belling probably prepares less than Weber, but he comes across as more entertaining than bitter when he's discussing negative topics. Both come across as know-it-alls (a necessity for talk radio hosts), but Weber does so in a manner that makes him seem like the angry old man on the corner who yells at the neighborhood kids for walking on his lawn. That's just not appealing.

Posted by LegallyBlonde on Aug. 21, 2008 at 8:32 a.m. (report)

Mr. Weber was my 8th grade basketball coach. He used to make us do the Miken Drill. I liked him a lot, except when we were doing the Miken Drill. Sometimes, when he would shout directions from the bench, I thought I was listening to the radio. By the time I realized it was Coach Weber, the other team had stolen the ball, and was en route to yet another victory.