What do Spyro Gyra, Rick James, Goo Goo Dolls, Rob Gronkowski, and Tim Wenger have in common? They all emerged from the loving embrace of Buffalo, New York.
“Buffalo is a hidden gem of a city,” said Wenger, operations manager, and program director at Audacy Buffalo and NewsTalk Format VP for the company. Wenger oversees the NewsRadio 930 WBEN, WGR SportsRadio 550 and ESPN 1520 brands on air and online.
“It’s a very family-friendly city and an awesome place to raise a family,” Wenger said. He was born and raised in suburban Buffalo. “I had every opportunity to leave and go to a bigger market,” Wenger said. “The economy in Buffalo tends to remain in the middle while the costs elsewhere go high and low. Real estate is reasonable, and of course, the taxes are a bit of a problem.”
“Everything is 20 minutes away. There’s nowhere you can’t be 20 minutes.
No crazy or untoward traffic situations like you see in other parts of the country.”
Wenger calls Buffalo ‘the world’s largest living room.’ “Everybody has some connection to Buffalo. My mother, grandparents, grandkids. Some sort of connection wherever you seem to go.”
Tom Langmyer, CEO of Great Lakes Media Corp and veteran radio manager, spends time just up the street from Wenger. “He takes care of his dad but still lives in Milwaukee. Buffalo is the armpit of many jokes. A lot of cities in the rust-belt have that problem.”
His wife, Susie Rose, is a morning news anchor at WBEN.
“I went to school at SUNY Oswego (north of Syracuse). I majored in communications and meteorology. When I moved back home, I worked at WRVO in Oswego. It wasn’t long until I was banging on the door of WBEN.”
Wenger interned at WKBW-TV in Buffalo and recalled his intern supervisor contacted him after he was entrenched in a radio news career. “She was the assistant news director,” Wenger said. “They called me and said they needed some help reporting for about a year. Now, this was television. I didn’t enjoy it very much. Even if you don’t try to, the story on television seems to become part of you. On the radio, you just tell a story. It’s hard to manage people if you don’t understand what’s going on.”
Wenger said he was more of a glorified secretary than anything else when he began at WBEN working for the late Jim McLaughlin. “The program director would have described it as a distant hope I would get involved in news,” Wenger explained.
Then his now-wife, Susan, moved into the traffic copter, and Wenger took her job. Later, Susan moved on from the traffic copter, and of course, Wenger took that job. That’s when they got to know each other better.
“We’re not on the same time clock now, but were for many years,” Wenger said. “We co-anchored the same show. Most people look at me and say how can you work with your spouse? We always worked well together. She understands what I’m dealing with every day as she’s seen it first-hand. I don’t come home and get the cross-eye because she knows the type of things I deal with.”
As Operations Manager and Program Director at Audacy Buffalo, Tim oversees the NewsRadio 930 WBEN, WGR SportsRadio 550, and ESPN 1520 brands on-air and online. He also serves as the NewsTalk format VP for Audacy.
Today, he said it’s difficult to find people to fill news roles. The greatest success he’s had is cultivating local talent. “There aren’t a lot of people exiting college now saying, ‘I want to go into radio.’ There are a lot of 21-year-olds who don’t know what radio is.”
Wenger said his morning co-host came from a producing role.
“There are fewer jobs; newsrooms are smaller,” he said. “In general, there’s less commitment to local news. Odyssey has a great mall of radio stations that focus on local. There aren’t too many of those anymore. We’re local from five in the morning until ten at night.”
Wenger said on the talk side; that people tend to slant everything; politics, economy.
A month ago, it was all about the Tops supermarket shooting. There had been some talk about razing the store, but Wenger said it fizzled. “The mayor of Buffalo is firmly committed to reopening. It’s going to be an entirely different store. But it will still be traumatic for people who live in the community that have to go there. The tragedy must be overcome.”
Under the worst of times, Wenger said he had witnessed a neighborhood unite.
“I’ve seen a region come together. The mayor is concerned the city is segregated by his own admission. But says it’s improving. We all want to bring the community together.”
“I was at the Tops supermarket shooting. I remember my wife Susan asked the Mayor if he thought they would raze the store. The Mayor thought the question was being asked too soon. The plan is to reopen as quickly as possible. It’s a food desert out here. They need it in the community.”
The school in Uvalde being razed is something Wenger could get behind.
“That’s a different situation,” Wenger said. “That has to be removed.
I can understand being completely taken down. Removed from memory. Both share tragedy, but they’re different. The Buffalo shooter was clearly identified as racially motivated. That’s particularly concerning. For whatever sick reasons.”
Now, perhaps more than ever, journalists’ ethics are called into question. Wenger said he understands there are some reporters who show their bias from time to time. Some go after negative stories.”
Anything somebody doesn’t want to hear is fake news. “I do think it’s a shot from the hip reaction,” Wenger explained. “A reaction when something doesn’t fit in with their own agenda.”
It can delegitimize real news and reporting just because people don’t agree with them. “The reporters are just doing their job, telling you what happened.
Wire copy often goes out of its way to make statements against the former president,” Wenger said. “Networks will align with one side. I never thought I’d see the day. I used to enjoy CNN and the early days of FOX. You’d see a 60-minute newscast. The only place you’ll get a straight news hour is at 6:30.
When we do a political story, we hear both sides. It’s one of the biggest struggles I have, like serving two masters. We have some really talented local hosts. Many have opinions, but they’re surrounded by a news department that doesn’t.”
He said you’re fed content every time you turn on a television. “Everything is about January 6th. When I’m out at the store in line, nobody is talking about that. It’s my job to listen to what they’re talking about. I challenge our brand managers to reflect reality, put it into perspective. Ratings will follow if the engagement is real.”
Wall Street recently took a dive, and Wenger watched as all three networks were leading with coverage about Rudy Giuliani being drunk.
Wenger said you don’t have to be salacious to deliver the news and drive ratings. “One of our most highly rated stations, KMBZ in Kansas City, doesn’t do a lot of that, and ratings are going gangbusters. They talk about more interesting and nuanced things.”
He said most people are somewhere in between. They don’t want to be pulled into polars on either side.
“For me, these have been some of the most troubling times. Buffalo was very active covering BLM. The city was very active. A riot on a Saturday night was problematic for sure. It can take its toll emotionally. It does weigh on you. But I will tell you; I’ve been uplifted in Buffalo following the Jefferson Avenue shooting. I have seen hope. We have more in common than what divides.”
There’s a lot to talk about in Buffalo regarding gun issues, abortion, and the gamut. “I’ve told my hosts, producer, we have to talk about that. Most people have an opinion. Whether a 19-year-old should be able to buy an automatic rifle. On our shows, there’s no room for yelling. You’ve immediately disenfranchised half your audience and riled up the other half. We have to be aware of the tone of what we’re saying and be accepting of everyone’s opinions.”
Overall, Wenger said he’s happy with his life. “That’s probably the biggest reason I’m still in Buffalo. Also, because I’m too old to go anywhere else. I met my wife here, raised my family here. The job offers a lot of opportunity for change. Different career directions. I think if I were in a profession where you stayed in one spot, I would be bored. Since 2000, I’ve been with Audacy. Before that, it was Entercom. Both gave me a whole bunch of opportunities.”
Wenger’s entire career has been composed of welcome challenges. “I feel challenged all the time,” he said. “I’ve been a news guy, news director, flown in helicopters, run a sports station. And I’ve been able to do all that in one place. That’s satisfying. I know just about every community leader, political leader. They know they can reach out to me. Hopefully, I can affect positive change in the community. Grow roots and trust with community leaders.”
Now that his wife Susan is being inducted into the Buffalo broadcasters Hall of Fame, Wenger said he’ll have to rethink his role.
“From now on, I’ll just be referred to as the ‘First Man.’”
Jim Cryns writes features for Barrett News Media. He has spent time in radio as a reporter for WTMJ, and has served as an author and former writer for the Milwaukee Brewers. To touch base or pick up a copy of his new book: Talk To Me – Profiles on News Talkers and Media Leaders From Top 50 Markets, log on to Amazon or shoot Jim an email at jimcryns3_zhd@indeedemail.com.
