Last week, 700 WLW morning host Mike McConnell revealed he would retire from the iHeartMedia Cincinnati news/talk station.
Today marks his final show with the heritage brand, and he says now is simply the right time to make the decision to step away.
“I’m leaving because I’m gonna turn 70 in May and it’ll be 50 years to the month that I’ve done this for a living,” said McConnell. “So that’s a nice round number.”
McConnell admitted the response from his audience has been overwhelming.
“The final week was really different, just with the number of congratulations and emails you get from people and people who have been listening for 30 years,” he shared. “It’s just interesting, people bringing up times of their life or something on the show that helped them through a tough time. I’m just surprised how many there are. You figure that’s happening out there somewhere, but it’s been a little bit overwhelming.”
Mike McConnell didn’t have a “farewell tour” of sorts. He simply made the announcement last week that he was coming up on his final days hosting the daypart. That doesn’t mean that he didn’t have some prodding from his 700 WLW colleagues to give more advance notice than what he did.
“We tape a Christmas special and Bill Cunningham who I work with wanted to me in the Christmas special to announce I was leaving in April. I said ‘I’m not doing that,'” he said with a chuckle. “I don’t need four months of ‘Why are you leaving?’ and this and that.”
Some radio hosts announce their retirements, and then you hear them on a smaller market station, hosting a podcast, or doing fill-in work at their old stomping grounds. Mike McConnell feels confident that won’t be him.
“I think (Friday) is it. People have said if there’s something I wanna comment on, feel free to call the show … I don’t really see that happening. And if people ask if I’m gonna fill in, I say no, because you really have to — the way I do it — you have to be into it all the way. I’m not gonna do that. I like being on top of the news and all that, but I’m not gonna prep to the point where I’m ready to do a talk show. So I’m not feeling it.”
Former FOX Sports and Cincinnati Reds broadcaster Thom Brennaman has been tabbed to replace Mike McConnell in morning drive on 700 WLW. McConnell said he believes his replacement is as set up for success as one can be.
“It’s fantastic that he wants to do it,” McConnell said of Brennaman. “It’s great that he’s been in town. I mentioned to him today, because when I went to Chicago, I realized it’s a lot easier to live the market than learn it when you get there. You get there and there are well know people you know nothing about and you try to find out as much about their background as you can.
“But he spent so much time in Cincinnati. He knows the roads, he knows the government, he knows the people. So it makes it easier for him than it would be for somebody coming from out of town. He’s got the foundation to do well, and Lord knows he’s done enough quality broadcasting in his life. I think I’ll do a fantastic job.”
When asked if there was anything he wanted to accomplish or avoid in his final show, Mike McConnell had a quick answer.
“Yeah, I want to avoid choking up,” he said with a hearty laugh. “I wanna make a point to thank the audience and probably thank some sponsors. I thought about that, that’s not something people do. I have one sponsor I think that’s been with me since the late ’80s. So you can give them a give them a thank you, too, because they’re important. But I’m hoping to keep it short and to have a group of people in the room to make some noise and keep it from getting too emotional. Keep it positive, keep it up, keep it fun.”
He joked that he will staff the room with “clowns” to make the situation easier, after getting emotional making his original announcement.
“I announced it last week right before I went on the air. I knew what I was gonna say but as soon as I started talking, it got emotional and I kind of cut it short. It wasn’t the greatest retirement speech of all time, it was probably only a minute and a half. I just wanted to take a break and collect myself.”
Mike McConnell shared that he plan to travel more in retirement, hoping to spend some time visiting Australia and New Zealand, which he couldn’t do while helming a morning show. He’ll also hope to spend more time at his place in Canada in the summer.
Overall, he couldn’t have spoken higher of his colleagues and time at 700 WLW.
“It’s been a great place to work. It’s been a great job. You have a job where you go to work every day, no one tells you what to do for decades at a time. They trusted what you’re doing and you go do it and you go home. And, overwhelmingly, you tend to win. What’s more rewarding than that?”
Barrett Media produces daily content on the music, news, and sports media industries. To stay updated, sign up for our newsletters and get the latest information delivered straight to your inbox.
Garrett Searight is Barrett Media’s News Editor, which includes writing daily news stories, features, and opinion columns. He joined Barrett Media in 2022 after a decade leading several radio brands in several formats, as well as a 5-year stint working in local television. In addition to his work with Barrett Media, he is a radio and TV play-by-play broadcaster. Reach out to him at Garrett@BarrettMedia.com.
