Bart Winkler Faces The Unknown After 1250 AM The Fan Demise

It’s the camaraderie with the callers that Bart Winkler already misses the most. The mornings where Notebook Mike, Mike the Painter, John in Franklin, Carl on the Southside and so many other callers would both vent and celebrate about the local sports teams in Milwaukee. Those are the days that made sports radio truly special for Winkler.

But that abruptly ended on Tuesday of last week when WSSP 1250 AM The Fan in Milwaukee stopped all local broadcasting and flipped to CBS national programming. The Bart Winkler Show was no longer on the air. For the first time in five years, Winkler wasn’t hosting morning drive. 

“I’ve been on the morning show as a host for five years and I’ve done it with a lot of different co-hosts and producers,” said Winkler. “ I think what I’ve realized this week is the one constant besides me, has been the interaction. I think what I’ve heard the most, is people that not only felt they don’t have a show to listen to, but they’re trying to find a show they feel as part of.

“Whether that was calling in, I’ve heard from a lot of people that called in and miss that opportunity. I’ve heard from people that never called in but wanted to say something. I’ve heard from people that said, I knew I’d miss you in the morning, but I didn’t realize how much I miss the regular callers.”

That approach by Winker in the mornings was the same approach WSSP carried when the station launched in 2005. It was about interaction with the listeners. A place for the callers to vent on post game shows or even the morning after a tough loss. 

“I put my spin on it, which was I don’t think there’s such a thing as a bad caller,” Winkler said. “It’s up to the host to try to get the most out of each person that calls. If you’re going to be somebody that picks up the phone and calls a radio station in 2022, when there’s a hundred different ways to get in touch and get your voice heard, you’re calling in for a reason. There’s something interesting with everyone that picks up the phone. I always thought it was my job to flesh that out. I felt like the callers were my perennial co-hosts.”

Winkler didn’t lean solely on the callers to bring passion to the show. He provided enough for everyone. At the same time, he loved the marriage between his own passion for the local teams, mixed in with all the callers that had their own passionate opinions. 

“What I always tried to bring to the show, is for better or worse, I’m a real fan of these sports teams,” Winkler said. “I grew up in the state, I love every team and it hurts me when they lose. I can’t tell you how many times after Packers games I said I’m never going to watch football again.

“I was able to portray that on the air and sometimes you think you’re performing, and you dial it up a little bit because you’re trying to be entertaining, but when I was having a fit about the Brewers, or when I would be irate about Aaron Rodgers being in the news, I maybe dialed it up one degree. At the same time I’m having an emotional breakdown on the air, I’m also making sure I’m making it entertaining and not insane. I don’t feel like I could have been any more authentic.”

Winkler can look back and say he was completely authentic and proud of the product he put on the air, but at the same time, he also looks forward and believes he has so much more to give. 

“I always tried to say that whenever my last show would be, I don’t want to feel like I left anything on the table,” Winkler said. “If I’ve done my last show, I’m very satisfied with the shows that I’ve had, content I’ve put out, the bonds that I’ve made, I feel like I have so much more to give, If those opportunities present themselves. My wife asked me, if you work a 9-5 everyday and have to wear pants, will that crush your soul? I said, yes. I can find that and look back and be proud and tell my son I used to be on sports radio, I just feel like it would be a waste of my potential if I don’t keep doing this.”

During this uncertain time, the positive and uplifting responses from listeners to Winkler have been incredibly appreciated. It may not make the situation easier, but the gratitude towards his every day efforts on the show can bring about a sense of pride to what the show was able to accomplish. But as much as listeners are thanking Winkler for everything he did for them, it should be noted the listeners also provided a lot of happiness for Winkler, as well. 

“I always make fun of hosts that say, ‘we’re kind of like the bar, we’re just sitting here and you can come up and talk to us,” said Winkler. “But that’s exactly what it was. We really had a sense of community and that’s what I’m going to miss the most.”

So now the big question: What’s next for Winkler? Much of that is to be decided, but he knows two things: He wants to get back into sports radio and he wants to do it in Wisconsin. The thought process of moving outside the state doesn’t exist for him. His family is firmly rooted in Milwaukee. He’s enjoyed doing some spot-duty for CBS Sports Radio nationally and hopes for more opportunities there in the future, but his hopes are that he can continue the dream every weekday talking Bucks, Brewers, Packers and everything else in Wisconsin.

The journey into sports radio has been a wild one for Winkler. His initial dream was to be a sports guy on TV. And then his director at a TV station in Lacrosse, WI, told him that he didn’t see him as a sports guy. So he left TV and chased radio. There was a time in 2014 when he was a part-time producer at WSSP, but also a DJ at a music station in Fond du Lac, about an hour away from Milwaukee.

Then there was the time he was promoted to the morning show in 2016. And then a co-host during that same slot with Chuck Freimund in 2017. And then Covid cuts in 2020 left him hosting solo. And now, WSSP flipping to national programming, leaving him off the air. 

Winkler has dealt with uncertainty before in the business and he’ll likely overcome it again. Regardless of the outcome, he’s proud of what he built. Whether it’s the deep relationships with the callers, or even the time he pre-planned the Bucks championship parade route with the team down 0-2 to the Suns, there’s so much more to give for Winker on the air.

“I think we had something special here,” Winkler said. “There’s a lot of people that can do sports radio if they get the opportunity, but I don’t think there’s anyone else that would have done it the way that I did it. And I’m happy with how I did it.”

“I was a complete unknown to the market and I want to thank Tom Parker for taking a risk on me, and Mitch Rosen and Steve ‘Sparky’ Fifer for allowing me to continue to grow. I always tried to bring out the best in callers but everyone I worked with consistently, from Mike Wickett and Chuck Freimund to Ryan Horvat, Tobi Altizer, Sam Schmitz, Paul Imig, Ramie Makhlouf, and Tim Shea, thank them for helping bring out the best in me.”

Tyler McComas

Tyler McComas is a columnist for BSM and a sports radio talk show host in Norman, OK where he hosts afternoon drive for SportsTalk 1400. You can find him on Twitter @Tyler_McComas or you can email him at TylerMcComas08@yahoo.com.