Late last year, 1130 WISN announced it was tabbing Dan O’Donnell to step into the shoes vacated by longtime host Mark Belling in afternoons at the iHeartMedia Milwaukee news/talk station.
The appointment of Dan O’Donnell to afternoons marks a new path for WISN. Belling had been hosting at the station since his replacement was eight years old. This marks a shift from the Baby Boomer generation in afternoon drive to the Gen X and millennial generation more in line with the key 25-54 demographic.
“We’re kind of seeing that sort of transition, I think, for the next generation,” O’Donnell noted of a string of retirement and changes in the Milwaukee media landscape in recent years. “We had a bunch of legends in the past couple of years call it a career … All those guys and gals are retiring, and now I’m part of this next generation where it’s like the millennials, older millennials.
“I’m the oldest millennial — I was born in 1981 — so I’m right on the cusp of Gen X and millennial. I think we’re technically called Xennials, but we’re kind of taking over and sort of filling that gap. So it’s a unique challenge in Milwaukee because everybody has been such a part of people’s lives for so long.”
When asked what the Gen X or millennial news/talk radio sound meant to O’Donnell, he made a logical comparison.
“What I try to do is much less monologuing or giving my opinions. I mean, it is an opinion-based show, obviously, but what I try to do is provide deeper dives into the data and provide the facts. I was, in another lifetime, trained as a lawyer. And I went to law school thinking I was going to be an attorney. I was like, ‘I’ll do broadcasting until I get fired.’ Just assuming I would get fired like everybody does. Well, I guess I didn’t get fired,” he said with a laugh. “But I try to approach my show like an attorney. I’m sort of building a case for whatever it is that I’m trying to argue for and just provide the best, most logical argument that I can find.”
Mark Belling was an institution at 1130 WISN. Not only was he ingrained in the fabric of the iHeartMedia Milwaukee news/talk station, he was a staple in the Milwaukee community. And O’Donnell admitted he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t intimidated by taking over the timeslot.
“Absolutely. There has to be, right? You think you’re never going to measure up,” he shared. “What’s the old saying? You never want to be the guy that follows the legend. You want to be the guy who follows the guy who followed the legend. He’s way better, by comparison. But iHeart here in Milwaukee really understood that. So getting me on when Mark was taking time off really helped. And I’ve been doing a show on WISN for almost a decade … But yeah, just in terms of, ‘Oh my gosh, am I going to be accepted by people who have made Mark Belling a part of their day, a part of their routine?’
“My good friend, Jeff Wagner, who retired as a longtime host at WTMJ in Milwaukee, had quite possibly the greatest quote I’ve ever heard, and it was ‘People may recognize you from TV, but they know you from radio.’ And it’s true because you give a little piece of your soul … People kind of get to know you, and when they’ve known somebody for 35 years, it is difficult to be the new guy.
“But what’s really helped is that I’m really, in many respects, not this new guy, just a middle-aged guy who they’ve heard on a part-time basis for the past few years, and now we are full-time,” he concluded.
Dan O’Donnell had previously hosted mid-mornings at the station, and filled in for Belling during his more lengthy sabbaticals in past years. But on January 2nd, O’Donnell took over the afternoon drive role and shared that it couldn’t have gotten off to a better start.
“It’s been awesome, and it’s been a lot of fun,” said O’Donnell. “I feel like I have more time to research topics, to reach out to sources, to do investigative reporting, this stuff that I like to do that is just very difficult when your show starts at 9 AM. And I get a million tips at exactly like 8:30 AM and then I’m like, ‘Ok, I’ve got 20 minutes here.’ So it’s been great.”
He added that having the familiarity with not only the station and market, but Belling’s existing audience was a big help in assimilating him into the daypart.
“It was incredibly,” he shared. “I couldn’t imagine coming in cold from another market, especially Milwaukee. Milwaukee is very unique in that it’s not like a Phoenix or a Miami where people are coming there because of the weather and the excitement and all of that.
“This is obviously not a diss at Milwaukee, that’s my home. That’s the only place I want to be. I love it, but it’s a place where people spent their entire lives. We are born here. We start here. And if we come here, we have a tendency to stay here … The people are awesome. But also, I believe it was Belling himself who said it takes you 10 years before anybody in this town even knows who you are. There’s just such a summit with radio hosts and our TV news anchors stay here for 30 years.”
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Garrett Searight is Barrett Media’s News Editor, which includes writing bi-weekly industry features and a weekly column. He has previously served as Program Director and Afternoon Co-Host on 93.1 The Fan in Lima, OH, and is the radio play-by-play voice of Northern Michigan University hockey. Reach out to him at Garrett@BarrettMedia.com.
