Brandmeier’s Back – on TV

If you tuned in to WMAQ-TV’s digital 5.2 Chicago Non-stop channel this past Friday night, you were in for a pleasant surprise (or maybe not, depending on your point of view.)

Former WLUP-FM (The Loop) morning personality Jonathan Brandmeier quietly returned to television Friday night with the soft launch of Brandmeier, a new weekly half-hour series featuring Johnny B taking on the week’s headlines. The series is expected to air until December, and if successful, could be a permanent fixture.

News of this story first broke Thursday at Chicagoland Radio and Media.

This is Brandmeier’s first regular television feature since the ill-fated syndicated series Johnny B. On The Loose, (a T Dog Media TV Hall Of Shame member) which came and went in 1991 after only a few weeks on the air. After a long absence from the tube, Brandmeier returned in late 2008 with two half-hour specials called Almost Live… with Jonathan Brandmeier.

Brandmeier is scheduled to air four times every Friday night at 7 p.m., 10 p.m., and midnight on Chicago Non-Stop and at 1:05 a.m. (early Saturday) on WMAQ, after Last Call With Carson Daly.

Currently, Brandmeier isn’t being heard on local radio – he held two stints with WLUP – a successful run from 1982-97 and another from 2005-09. In 2009, WLUP removed Brandmeier from the air with three months left on his contract, marking an end of an era. However, rumors are swirling that Brandmeier may be coming off the beach and heading back behind the microphone soon, so stay tuned.