Feder: When it comes to keeping faith with listeners, Salem Media's Jeff Reisman has The Answer
No one would say running a station like WIND 560-AM is a breeze, but Jeff Reisman makes it look easy.
From studios and offices in Elk Grove Village, Reisman calls the shots for the conservative news/talk station known as "AM 560 The Answer" as well as WYLL 1160-AM, the Christian talk and teaching station also owned by Salem Media Group.
Reisman, 55, grew up in Northbrook, where he and his wife still live with their three children - all of whom attended Glenbrook North High School, as did their dad.
With degrees from Bradley University and Drake University, Reisman toiled in numerous advertising sales positions for Pioneer Press, CBS Radio and Bonneville International before he found his calling at Salem Media Group.
Starting as general sales manager of WIND in 2004, Reisman rose to director of sales and then general manager of the Chicago cluster. In 2017 he was promoted to operational vice president for Salem's radio division, overseeing stations in Chicago, Boston and Philadelphia.
Now in his 18th year with Salem Media Group, Reisman reflected on the uniqueness of his stations, the challenges of competing in the market without subscribing to ratings, and his lifelong love of Chicago radio:
Q. I know WIND's slogan is "AM 560 The Answer." But I've always wanted to ask you: What is the question?
A. Every day, there are many questions that our listeners have that they want answered. We want to be the place they come to get those answers. What's happening in Ukraine? What's the weather going to be next week? What's the deal with Mayor Lightfoot? Where's traffic backed up today? We know that we have an information-seeking audience. Our listeners want to know what's happening, what it means, and why it's important. Our mission is to answer those questions every single day.
Q. How would you describe the format of WIND to someone who's never listened?
A. Our tagline is "news, opinion, insight," and I think that provides a framework for what we do. We're going to provide listeners with the latest information, but in this day and age, you can get news from a lot of places. If all you want is news headlines recycled every 20 minutes, AM 560 is not your station. What you can't get from other stations is informed opinion and deep insight. Our hosts and their guests go beyond a headline or a social media post and seek to unpack the latest news to help listeners make sense of it. It's easy to be overwhelmed by so many voices on social media who have no connection to their followers. Our local and national hosts are on the air, every single day, explaining and defending their positions, in a long-form format.
And many of our hosts have deep ties to Chicago. Dan Proft - born and raised here, went to college and law school here, and has been involved in media and politics for decades. Amy Jacobson - born and raised here, spent years on reporting on NBC 5 Chicago. Shaun Thompson - born and raised here, spent years working as a trader and real estate investor before he got into radio. And our nationally syndicated midday host, Charlie Kirk, grew up in Chicagoland. He's 28 years old, and he grew up listening to AM 560. Now, he's become a conservative media superstar, and he's on the station.
• Read the full interview, and more Chicago media news, at robertfeder.com.