Tom Langmyer
Encyclopedia
Tribune Company
The Tribune Company is a large American multimedia corporation based in Chicago, Illinois. It is the nation's second-largest newspaper publisher, with ten daily newspapers and commuter tabloids including Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, Hartford Courant, Orlando Sentinel, South Florida...
's WGN Radio in Chicago, IL.
Early life
He was born in Buffalo, NY, graduated from Sweet Home High School in Amherst, NY in 1979, and earned a BA in Communication from Grove City CollegeGrove City College
Grove City College is a Christian liberal arts college in Grove City, Pennsylvania, about north of Pittsburgh. According to the College Bulletin, its stated three-fold mission is to provide an excellent education at an affordable price in a thoroughly Christian environment...
in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
in 1983.
Broadcasting career
His interest in broadcasting began at a young age. At 14, he was first heard on-air on a small radio station in Linesville, PA, the town where his grandmother lived. During high school and throughout college, Langmyer worked in on-air roles and other capacities in his hometown at WBENWBEN (AM)
WBEN is an AM and FM radio station serving the Niagara, Buffalo and Western New York area, broadcasting on 930 AM and, as of April 5, 2011, simulcasting on sister station WLKK at 107.7 FM. It previously simulcasted between 1946 and 1960 on 102.5 FM as WBEN-FM. Both stations retained the WBEN...
/WBEN-FM
WTSS
-History:The station now known as WTSS actually began as early as 1934 as W8XH, an ultra-shortwave radio station operating as a sister outlet to The Buffalo Evening News and AM station WBEN and broadcasting at a wavelength of 5 meters , predating the country's first FM station by three years. The...
and WJYE
WJYE
WJYE is located in the Buffalo, New York area and broadcasts at 96.1 FM. Its transmitter is located in Buffalo.WJYE signed on in 1966 . It currently is owned by Townsquare Media. The station runs a soft rock/adult contemporary format and has had this format since 1988, having previously been a...
-FM and at WJJL
WJJL
WJJL is a radio station broadcasting a 1950s music format. Licensed to Niagara Falls, New York, USA, the station serves the Buffalo area. The station is currently owned by M. J. Phillips Communications, Inc., Debtor in Possession. WJJL went on the air in December 1947, and it serves Western...
-AM in Niagara Falls, NY and at stations in Grove City, PA and Youngstown, OH. He also served as general manager of his college's station, WSAJ. During and after college, he worked at WGR
WGR
WGR, or WGR Sports Radio 550, is an all sports radio station in Buffalo, New York that broadcasts on 550 AM. It is the flagship station of the Buffalo Sabres and the Buffalo Bandits, and is currently the only full-time sports talk station in the city of Buffalo. Its studios are located in Amherst,...
-AM/FM in Buffalo, ultimately becoming the station’s program manager and airborne traffic pilot and reporter. He also worked on the air in Pittsburgh, PA at WTAE. In 1986, he left Buffalo for Syracuse, NY, where he served as operations director of WSYR
WSYR (AM)
WSYR is a 5,000 watt radio station licensed to Syracuse, New York. Owned and operated by Clear Channel Communications, it broadcasts a talk radio format under the moniker "Newsradio 106.9 WSYR." It was previously billed as "Newsradio 570 WSYR" until it became a simulcast with WPHR-FM in January...
and WYYY
WYYY
WYYY is a Lite Adult Contemporary formatted radio station licensed to Syracuse, New York. The Clear Channel Communications outlet broadcasts at 94.5 MHz with an ERP of 100 kW.-History:...
-FM for six years.
Langmyer moved to St. Louis, MO in 1992, to become program director of KMOX-AM and was later promoted to operations director in 2000 and VP/General Manager in 2003. He also served as National Vice President of News/Talk Programming for KMOX’s parent company, CBS Radio
CBS Radio
CBS Radio, Inc., formerly known as Infinity Broadcasting Corporation, is one of the largest owners and operators of radio stations in the United States, third behind main rival Clear Channel Communications and Cumulus Media. CBS Radio owns around 130 radio stations across the country...
. Langmyer’s broadcasting and management experience also consists of consulting both music and news/talk radio stations around the country, including New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
’s WNEW-AM. He has been honored for his work in management and broadcasting. Radio & Records
Radio & Records
Radio & Records was a trade publication providing news and airplay information for the radio and music industries. It originally started out as an independent trade from 1973 to 2006 until VNU Media took over in 2006, up until its final issue in 2009.-History:The company was founded in 1973 and...
, the industry’s newspaper, listed him as a nominee for the nation's Top News/Talk programmer in 2001 and 2002, and he was named General Manager of the Year in 2009. Radio Ink
Radio Ink
Radio Ink is a radio broadcasting industry trade magazine owned by Streamline Publishing. Radio Ink serves the management community of the radio industry in the United States and in 43 Countries worldwide...
Magazine named him one of America’s Top 10 programmers in 2000, 2001 and 2002. In 2003, the publication named him one of the Top 10 corporate programming executives and in 2006 and 2007, listed him as one of America's Top Radio General Managers.
In 2005, he joined Tribune Company
Tribune Company
The Tribune Company is a large American multimedia corporation based in Chicago, Illinois. It is the nation's second-largest newspaper publisher, with ten daily newspapers and commuter tabloids including Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, Hartford Courant, Orlando Sentinel, South Florida...
as VP/General Manager of WGN Radio. During his time at WGN, he has made numerous changes to Chicago's top-rated radio station, including changing the host line-up, instituting formatics and thematic sound, hiring new directors and managers, adding news series, demanding a more aggressive news approach, adding the slogan "The Voice of Chicago" and in 2008, taking the Chicago Blackhawks
Chicago Blackhawks
The Chicago Blackhawks are a professional ice hockey team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League . They have won four Stanley Cup championships since their founding in 1926, most recently coming in 2009-10...
play-by-play rights away from CBS's WSCR
WSCR
WSCR is a sports radio station in the Chicago, Illinois radio market. The station is owned by CBS Radio and transmits on 670 kHz on the AM dial. Its transmitter is located just off Army Trail Road in Bloomingdale, which is a western suburb of Chicago. It is known as "The Score," and has been on...
-AM. He also removed what little syndicated programming that was on the station, making it live and local, 24-hours a day, 7-days a week. The station also serves as the flagship for the Chicago Cubs
Chicago Cubs
The Chicago Cubs are a professional baseball team located in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's National League. They are one of two Major League clubs based in Chicago . The Cubs are also one of the two remaining charter members of the National...
and Northwestern University
Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....
Wildcats football and mens basketball broadcasts.
Community and Business Involvement
Active in the community, Langmyer serves on the Board of Directors of the Chicagoland Chamber of CommerceChicagoland Chamber of Commerce
The Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce is a non-profit organization promoting business in the Chicago metropolitan area of the United States. The Chamber is a voice at local, state and national levels for approximately 2,600 member companies and their 1.3 million employees...
, the Illinois Broadcasters Association and the Neediest Kids Fund, a fund of the McCormick Foundation
McCormick Foundation
McCormick Foundation is a Chicago-based nonprofit charitable trust established in 1955, upon the death of "Colonel" Robert R. McCormick. it had more than US$1 billion in assets.-History:...
. He serves on the Radio Advertising Bureau/National Association of Broadcasters
National Association of Broadcasters
The National Association of Broadcasters is a trade association, workers union, and lobby group representing the interests of for-profit, over-the-air radio and television broadcasters in the United States...
steering committee, which directs conference programming at the NAB's Annual Radio Show. He has served on the Board of Directors of Gilda’s Club, the RCGA (St. Louis Regional Chamber and Growth Association
Regional Chamber and Growth Association
The St. Louis Regional Chamber and Growth Association is the chamber of commerce and primary economic development agency for Metropolitan St. Louis, Missouri....
), Urban League of Greater St. Louis, Boy Scouts of America
Boy Scouts of America
The Boy Scouts of America is one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with over 4.5 million youth members in its age-related divisions...
-St. Louis Council and Forest Park (St. Louis)
Forest Park (St. Louis)
Forest Park is a public park located in western part of the city of St. Louis, Missouri. It is a prominent civic center and covers . The park, which opened in 1876 more than a decade after its proposal, has hosted several significant events, including the Louisiana Purchase Exposition of 1904 and...
Forever. He served as Honorary Chairman of the Catholic Charities
Catholic Charities
Catholic Charities is a network of charities whose aim is "to provide service to people in need, to advocate for justice in social structures, and to call the entire church and other people of good will to do the same." It is one of the largest charities in the United States...
Christmas Appeal for the Archdiocese of Saint Louis and was honored with the "Good Samaritan Award" in 2004. He is active in the Radio Hall of Fame
Radio Hall of Fame
The National Radio Hall of Fame is a project of the Museum of Broadcast Communications.Although no physical building currently exists to house it, the National Radio Hall of Fame is a project of Bruce DuMont, CEO of the currently homeless Museum of Broadcast Communications, and is purported to be a...
and is a member of the Buffalo Broadcasters Association.
Great Lakes Author
Langmyer's book, Lake Erie: History and Views was published in 2010. The 312-page hardcover book was written to educate readers on the history of Lake ErieLake Erie
Lake Erie is the fourth largest lake of the five Great Lakes in North America, and the tenth largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also has the shortest average water residence time. It is bounded on the north by the...
and the surrounding region. The account combines narration, factual summaries, historic photographs, engravings, maps, and antique postcards from Langmyer's collection as well as current photographs. Starting with the creation of Lake Erie during the Ice Age
Ice age
An ice age or, more precisely, glacial age, is a generic geological period of long-term reduction in the temperature of the Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental ice sheets, polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers...
, the story describes the lake's discovery by Europeans, the battles for its control, how people settled and developed the region around the lake, and how the population grew along its shores. The "Circle of Cities and Towns" group of chapters is most comprehensive, covering the history of most municipalities around the lake. The reader is also taken behind the scenes aboard a 1,000-foot lakeboat, the Walter J. McCarthy Jr., on a journey up the Great Lakes
Great Lakes
The Great Lakes are a collection of freshwater lakes located in northeastern North America, on the Canada – United States border. Consisting of Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario, they form the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth by total surface, coming in second by volume...
.
Additional Notes
- In April 1985, as an airborne traffic reporter for WGR, Langmyer survived an emergency landing in Buffalo's Delaware Park. The Cessna 210Cessna 210The Cessna 210 Centurion is a six-seat, high-performance, retractable-gear single-engine general aviation aircraft which was first flown in January 1957 and produced by Cessna until 1985.-Design and development:...
was removed from the park in pieces. - In February 2003, while General Manager of KMOX, Langmyer was called to the Twin Oaks, MO home of murdered KMOX morning host Nan Wyatt to identify her body after she was shot multiple times by her husband.
- Langmyer was honored with the Jack Kennedy Alumni Achievement Award from his Alma Mater, Grove City CollegeGrove City CollegeGrove City College is a Christian liberal arts college in Grove City, Pennsylvania, about north of Pittsburgh. According to the College Bulletin, its stated three-fold mission is to provide an excellent education at an affordable price in a thoroughly Christian environment...
, in October 2007. - On September 20, 2007, Langmyer testified before the FCC in a hearing on cross-ownership. In a successful effort to defend Tribune's grandfathered ownership WGN Radio and TV along with the newspaper, he stated: "WGN Radio's 24/7 news coverage is strengthened and expanded by our unique position within Tribune Co. ... our relationship with the Chicago Tribune allows us to share newsgathering resources that literally bring the world to our listeners," Langmyer said. "Our news desks are in regular contact, making the station stronger than it could be on its own and helping us use the broadcast medium -- which is both free and universal -- to greater advantage." After citing some of WGN's long-running community-service initiatives, Langmyer said, "If WGN were sold because an FCC rule required it, WGN would most likely end up no longer being a standalone station, instead falling into the hands of a multistation conglomerate. It would be programmed out of a distant headquarters office and would likely lose its distinctiveness, local identity, and historic appeal. Is this good for the public? We don't think so, and we can't imagine the government would think so, either." The Tribune Co. had a grandfathered exemption from the newspaper-broadcast cross-ownership rules in Chicago, but when the company went private—shareholders overwhelmingly approved the deal in 2007—the exemption might not have carried over to the new ownership.
- Langmyer worked with Tribune Company's CIO, Lee AbramsLee AbramsLee Abrams is an American media executive who has held a number of posts for large and influential companies, and is generally credited with developing the "Album Oriented Rock" format employed by hundreds of radio stations across the country.-Career:...
, on the nationally televised food program, "Sky Dives." Abrams and Langmyer flew in Abrams' small plane to towns across the USA in search of unique local specialty foods and eating establishments. Abrams was host of this WGN America television program. Langmyer was co-pilot and partnered on writing and producing. - Langmyer lives in Glenview, IllinoisGlenview, Cook County, IllinoisGlenview is a suburban village located approximately north of downtown Chicago in Cook County, Illinois. As of the 2000 census, the village population was 41,847...
, which is a northern suburb of Chicago. He is married with two children.