Tom Langmyer

Tom Langmyer (Thomas E. Langmyer), is an American broadcasting executive, author and current Vice President and General Manager of the Tribune Company'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 College in Pennsylvania 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 WBEN/WBEN-FM and WJYE-FM and at WJJL-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-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-AM. In 1986, he left Buffalo for Syracuse, NY, where he served as operations director of WSYR and WYYY-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. Langmyer’s broadcasting and management experience also consists of consulting both music and news/talk radio stations around the country, including New York’s WNEW-AM. He has been honored for his work in management and broadcasting. Radio & Records, the industry’s newspaper, listed him as a nominee for the nation's Top News/Talk programmer in 2001 and 2002. Radio Ink 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 the Tribune Company 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, bringing back the historic "Noon Show," instituting formatics and thematic sound, hiring new managers, adding news series, demanding a more aggressive news approach, adding the slogan "The Voice of Chicago" and in 2008, taking the Chicago Blackhawks play-by-play rights away from CBS's WSCR-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 and Northwestern University Wildcats football and mens basketball broadcasts.

Community and Business Involvement

Active in the community, Langmyer has served on the Board of Directors of the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce, Gilda’s Club, the Neediest Kids Fund, a fund of McCormick Foundation, the RCGA (St. Louis Regional Chamber and Growth Association), Urban League of Greater St. Louis, Boy Scouts-St. Louis Council and Forest Park (St. Louis) Forever. He served as Honorary Chairman of the Catholic Charities Christmas Appeal for the Archdiocese of Saint Louis and was honored with the "Good Samaritan Award" in 2004. He is also active in the Illinois Broadcasters Association, Missouri Association of Broadcasters and a member of the Buffalo Broadcast Pioneers.

Other Interests

Langmyer is a licensed pilot and a member of several flying organizations. He is also an author, writing in 2008, a book covering the history of Lake Erie and each of the towns and cities that surround the lake. He was also active in the St. Louis ice hockey community, as the local director of Hockey North America, an adult league with over 200 players. Langmyer was captain of his team, the Stingers, where he played defense. He continues to play hockey in Chicago.

Additional Notes

*In April 1985, as an airborne traffic reporter for WGR, Langmyer survived an emergency landing in Buffalo's Delaware Park. The Cessna 210 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 College, in October of 2007.
*He is known as driven and tough, yet a personable and fair leader.
*Langmyer is outspoken in his disdain for most talent agents, refusing to work with them and stating that he doesn't like the wedge they create. Langmyer prefers one-on-one relationships with talent and claims he will pay more to those who work directly with him.
*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.
*He is known to drive around the country listening to radio stations and calling air talent directly, sometimes hiring them that way.
*Langmyer lives in Glenview, Illinois, which is a northern suburb of Chicago. He is married with two children.

References

"Gedunk" (Grove City College Alumni Magazine), Focus on Media and Publishing, Fall 2007: http://www.clingcomm.com/images/GeDUNK_Media.pdf

"St. Louis Business Journal", KMOX Broadcaster Wyatt's husband charged with her murder: http://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/stories/2003/02/17/daily32.html

"Grove City College Alumni News", Alumni honored for achievements at Homecoming: http://www.gcc.edu/Alumni_honored_for_achievements_at_Homecoming.php

"Inside Radio", Tom's Terrific Triumphs: http://ftp.media.radcity.net/ZMST/insideradio/interviews/Langmyerarticle05-30.pdf

"Radio Ink", Langmyer: WGN Is A 'Real Radio Station': http://www.radioink.com/HeadlineEntry.asp?hid=139302&pt=todaysnews

"KMOX Radio Website", Our Staff - Carol Daniel: http://www.kmox.com/pages/6782.php