Report: One Way Around The 'No Compete'

The creative return of "The Big Unit"

From Tim Cuprisin, on milwaukee.com

Bill Michaels

Bill "The Big Unit" Michaels had to take a creative route to get back on the air so quickly in Milwaukee, thanks to a "no compete" clause in his contract with his former employer, 620 AM WTMJ.

He created his own network and syndicated "The Bill Michaels Show," which launches Aug. 1 on 1250 AM WSSP and two other Wisconsin stations.

"I've been assured by three different legal teams that we are free and clear to do this," Michaels tells me.

But he wouldn't be surprised if there's a legal challenge.

That's not entering into his thinking much right now, as he prepares for a show that will fill WSSP's 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. mid-day slot, and play in afternoon drive time on Green Bay's 1440 AM WNFL and Sheboygan's 1330 AM WHBL.

Leaving WTMJ when his contract wasn't renewed back in April – the contract formally ended in May – is a quick turnaround for the creation of a radio network. But Michaels doesn't see it that way.

"It's quick for everybody else but me," he says, joking that "it's like giving birth to an attorney, for me. I was hoping that we could do it in just two weeks, and then just go."

And he's ready to go, understanding that without the guaranteed audience that the state's biggest radio station brings, he's got to do this on his own.

"Now, it's real. You're gonna find out what you got. It's no longer one button (around the state). If they really enjoyed you the first time around, they gotta search around the dial to find you.

'I'm the brand. There is nothing to fall back on"

Still, he says, "I'm not scared, I'm more excited," Michaels tells me. "I cannot wait to take the first call. It can't get here soon enough."

He's hoping to pick up additional markets – places like Madison, Stevens Point and Wausau – in the coming months.

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