Salukis in Business — Matt McCann
B.S. ‘81 — Radio and Television; President— McCann Long-Term Care Insurance Services
If you’re like many SIU Alumni, you have most likely listened to Matt McCann whether you know it or not. Though he’s currently the Presdient of McCann Long Term Care Insurance Services, and a nationally known expert on long-term health-care planning, McCann was an FM-DJ and eventually, program director, for WCIL AM and FM from 1979 to 1986.
McCann’s love of radio began in Darien, IL, where he grew up listening to legendary top 40 station WLS, Chicago. While in high school, he joined the school’s radio station, WHSD (88.5 FM) and quickly became the station’s student station manager. He also landed a weekend on-air job at WKDC (AM) in Elmhurst, and by the time his senior year started, he added WAUR (FM), Aurora, to his resume.
So it was natural that McCann chose to earn his degree at SIU Carbondale, which still maintains a nationally top-ranked Radio and Television Department. McCann worked for WCIL-FM as a DJ while studying for his undergraduate degree and upon graduation was hired as program director for the AM station, while DJ’ing for CIL-Fm in the evening.
“At one time during my time there, WCIL-FM had almost a 60 percent audience share, so we were an extremely popular station,” McCann said.
McCann also said that he was responsible for bringing the Cubs radio network to Southern Illinois.
“At that time, almost half the students at SIU Carbondale were from the northern part of the state, and the Cubs had become fairly big on cable on the super stations at that time, so it just made sense,” McCann said.
McCann also said that the education he got at SIU Carbondale helped him in ways he planned for, and in ways he never thought it would.
“Like Warren Buffet, I believe that the ability to be able to speak to other people is what separates you from everyone else, and the Radio-TV program certainly gave me a foundation in communication. But what really surprised me is how often something from my general classes has relevance for me,” McCann said.
For instance, who would have thought that the genetics he studied in Biology would affect his career?
“And yet my current career is heavily impacted by medical advances, and genetics are currently at the forefront of those,” McCann said.
McCann left southern Illinois after a few years at WCIL for a job as program director for WLRW in Champaign, IL, where he helped them to dominate the top 40 market.
Then, in 1991, soon after his son, Joe, was born, McCann moved to Des Moines, IA as the program director for KRNQ, and in 1993, headed south to San Antonio, Texas where he was named program director of country KDIL. There he took over programing at co-owned KKYX (AM), and saw KDIL through a format change from country to KCJZ smooth jazz.
In January 1996, ABC hired McCann at WLS-FM in Chicago, and he returned to his musical origins to help them change their format to KICKS Country as the mid-day air-personality and music director for the station.
When ABC changed formats again, McCann moved WUSN, Chicago and later to WUBT, Chicago. It was at WUBT where McCann was teamed up with legendary Chicago radio personality Larry Lujack.
“Larry had been in retirement for years, but they were able to convince him to come back by allowing him to do a remote show from a remote studio in his home in New Mexico, while I worked out of the station in Chicago. And it’s a credit to our relationship that not many people knew we were in different studios,” McCann said.
But around the time ABC was making all those major changes, McCann’s mother became ill, and ended up in a nursing home near Chicago.
“As I cared for her, and the radio work available to me in the Chicago area became more part-time, I answered an ad in local paper and began selling Long Term Care Insurance part time to make up the difference, and the rest, as they say, is history,” McCann said.
McCann didn’t leave radio completely — he did some weekend work at suburban stations like WERV, Aurora and WJTW, Joliet — but his long-term care business took off and he quickly established himself at a nationally known expert and speaker on long-term care issues.
“As I watched my mother struggle with the long term impacts of her illness, for which she was unprepared, it woke me up to the need for planning for advanced care. As I tell my clients, you don’t start planning for retirement a few months before you retire. The same goes for long term care,” McCann said.
McCann said that while our longevity as a society is increasing due to medical advances, and that longevity has increased the need for extended care.
“People assume that health insurance or Medicare and your Medicare supplement, will pay for it. But that is not the case. If you are wealthy, you could go through hundreds of thousands of dollars to as much as a million or more in care costs and it would hurt. And if you’re of more modest means, that would be your entire life savings,” McCann said.
McCann said people need to plan for the financial costs and burdens of aging in the same way that they approach saving for retirement.
Extended illnesses, accidents, or the impact of aging all present a drain on someone’s resources, and unfortunately, for many people the question becomes, not “what if you don’t die,” but : “what if you don’t recover enough to care for yourself?”
“So what I do is help people plan so they can safeguard their assets and have options for quality care. I work online and I market to the entire country. It’s much more relaxed that way, and lets people make appointments according to their schedule,” McCann said.
McCann says the average age of his clients is 53, but it’s easier to qualify for better insurance the younger you are, so he’s seeing a lot of people in their late 40s with young families trying to do the right thing and get things squared away for their kids.
McCann is also a nationally known speaker on long-term care issues and is sought after by media for his expertise. He is recognized as one of the top insurance agents in the country in long-term care and has thousands of clients.
He is a two-time winner of the coveted Golden Harvest Award for outstanding public service in long-term care, and a six time winner of the Illinois Broadcasters’ Association Silver Dome Award.
McCann and his wife, Kim, live in Darien, where he admits to watching a lot of Bears Football and Cubs Baseball, and of being proud of his son, Joe, who following college, started a very successful career with Audi and is now a sales manager at a major Audi dealership.
“Salukis in Business” celebrates the our Saluki Alumni who have taken the risk to go into business for themselves.
If you’d like to be the focus of this weekly feature, or nominate someone you think we should feature, please email us at alumni-socialmedia@alumni.siu.edu.
