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Media Notebook (February 21, 2008)

Collected and Edited by Rick Kaempfer





Highlights and links to the big stories in the news this week about the media. This column appears twice a week at MEDIA NOTEBOOK


NBC Reprimands Employee Who Used Osama Picture In Place of Obama
(Associated Press) NBC News said Tuesday it has reprimanded the employee responsible for mistakenly flashing a picture of Osama bin Laden on MSNBC as Chris Matthews talked about Barack Obama. 'This mistake was inexcusable,' MSNBC spokesman Jeremy Gaines said. It happened during the opening of "Hardball" Monday evening. Matthews was previewing a story on the controversy over Obama's use of another politician's words, and a picture of bin Laden briefly flashed on the screen beside him with the headline "Words About Words." The Obama campaign immediately called NBC to complain, and Matthews apologized on the air a few minutes later.


Huffington Post enters top tier
(NY Observer) John Koblin writes: "In the spring of 2005, when asked about Arianna Huffington’s plan to launch a news-aggregating blog to compete with the Drudge Report, Matthew Drudge did not seem too impressed. 'I don’t think that need is there,' he told The Observer. 'I think I fill that need.' And while he allowed that Ms. Huffington had 'tons of charm and humor,' he questioned whether she and her coterie of boldface names had the stamina to compete. 'This isn’t a dinner party, darling,' he said. 'This is the beast! This is the Internet beast, which is all-consuming, as anyone knows who works in this business.' It took a while, and surely the brighter prospects on the left side of the aisle have changed things since Mr. Drudge was acting as the steam vent for a country fed up with the Clinton White House. But, nearly three years into its existence, Huffingtonpost.com is getting there, with unique visitors logging on at three times the rate they did just six months ago."


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High Court Ponders Review of FCC Profanity Decision
(Radio Online) The FCC will learn on Friday, February 29 whether or not the U.S. Supreme Court will review a lower court's decision that the Commission failed to justify its indecency regulations. A ruling by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals said the agency's profanity findings against Fox and others were "arbitrary and capricious." A vote of at least four justices is required to ensure the high court's review.


FCC sets comments date for Localism rulemaking
(Radio Ink) The FCC's Report on Broadcast Localism and notice of proposed rulemaking on rules changes to enhance broadcast localism and diversity appeared in the Federal Register on February 13, opening a 30-day window for public comments. Comments are due at the FCC on March 14, and reply comments are due April 14. The FCC adopted the report and NPRM at its open meeting on December 18 and released the full report and notice on January 24. The commission is looking for comment on whether it should return to its pre-1987 requirement that a station's main studio be within its community of license, and, on the programming side, on whether the FCC should take steps to address voicetracking, including possibly limiting voicetracking or requiring that it be disclosed. It's also asking for input on whether stations should be required to provide information on how much local music they play and how they compile their playlists.


Today is deadline for paying FCC fine for NYPD Blue episode
(Broadcasting & Cable) The Federal Communications Commission gave about 40 ABC affiliates until today to pay their fine -- $27,500 apiece -- for airing a bare behind in an episode of NYPD Blue, but it canceled the fines for about one-dozen stations initially cited. In the process, the FCC reaffirmed its commitment to indecency regulation, saying that the "broadcast media continue to have a uniquely pervasive presence” in American life and remain "uniquely accessible to children." The FCC late Tuesday issued its forfeiture order, rejecting an appeal from the majority of affiliates but canceling the fines for Northeast Kansas Broadcast Service's KTKA-TV; KFBB for KFBB-TV; Louisiana Television Broadcasting for WBRZ-TV; WXOW-WQOW Television for WXOW-TV; KMBC Hearst-Argyle Television for KMBC-TV; KHBS Hearst-Argyle Television for KHOG-TV; and Forum Communications for WDAY-TV.





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Will Oscar Show Grab Big Ratings?
(Variety) Rick Kissell writes: "Over the years, the Academy Awards telecast has proved to be a durable ratings performer -- second only to the Super Bowl among annual events. Last year's kudocast, in which Martin Scorsese's The Departed was crowned best pic, averaged 40.17 million viewers, up from the previous year (38.94 million), in which Crash was the big winner. The 2007 Oscarcast was the 2006-07 TV season's most-watched entertainment telecast, outdrawing even the highest-rated episodes of American Idol. But a ceremony whose top nominees will be No Country for Old Men and There Will Be Blood is a far cry from the 1998 Oscarcast, when the Titanic phenomenon reeled in more than 55 million TV viewers."


The Clinton's Beef with the Media
(Washington Post) Eugene Robinson writes: "Are the news media being beastly to Hillary Clinton? Are political reporters and commentators -- as Bill Clinton suggested but didn't quite come out and say in a radio interview Tuesday -- basically in the tank for Barack Obama? 'The political press has avowedly played a role in this election. I've never seen this before,' the former president said. 'They've been active participants in this election. . . . But I don't want to talk about the press. I want to talk about the people. That's what's wrong with this election, people trying to take this election away from the people.' Somewhere in there, if I'm not mistaken, he acknowledged that journalists are people, too, so I guess I should be thankful for that. And I should note that throughout the interview with Washington's WMAL, Bill Clinton was back in loose-cannon mode."


Mad Money, Bad Blood
(Columbia Journalism Review) Dean Starkman writes: "Last summer, Barron’s published a tough story on Jim Cramer, concluding that the manic and popular star of CNBC’s Mad Money program did not, for all his bluster to the contrary, beat the broader market with his stock picks. While the story didn’t make much of a splash at the time, it sparked a quiet but surprisingly fierce feud between the two business-news organizations, one that seems out of proportion to the story that caused it. Within days of publication, for instance, CNBC officials told Barron’s reporters who had appeared as on-air guests for years that their presence was no longer desired. Ed Finn, Barron’s editor and president, says no one told him so, but he believes CNBC banished his reporters from on-air appearances in response to the disputed August 20 piece, “Shorting Cramer” by senior editor Bill Alpert."


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Montel employee gets fired for having a brain aneurysm
(New York Magazine) Last March, Erin Primmer, 35, had been a producer on The Montel Williams Show for two years. She was making $110K a year and was generally healthy until all of a sudden, on March 29, 2007, smack in the middle of Montel's show on "Survivor Stories: Ripped From the Headlines," she had a brain aneurysm, collapsed on the floor, and was rushed to the hospital. Fortunately for Erin, it wasn't the kind of brain aneurysm that kills you — but it was the kind of brain aneurysm that kills your career. According to the lawsuit she is filing against CBS, when Erin returned to work, she was told that her contract wouldn't be renewed, that they needed someone physically “at the top of their game,” and “capable of handling the pressure” and that the next year was going to be “worse.” It was in fact worse: Montel's show was canceled two weeks ago. And a good thing, too, because Erin's lawyers are saying she was improperly dismissed, and their PR firm, Rubenstein and Associates, are out for blood.

NAB wants National-Only rule for satellite radio
(Radio Ink) Saying a combined XM Satellite Radio and Sirius Satellite Radio may well have "different needs and incentives for the use of terrestrial repeaters" than they do as separate companies -- including "a heightened desire to offer locally oriented programming, including local advertising" -- the NAB is asking the FCC to adopt final repeater rules that block the satcasters from offering local content on their repeater networks.
(Rick's note: Remember, the same guys that want to stop satellite radio from claiming their local turf is helping satellite radio by accepting their advertising. Do you think they'll ever figure out that short-term greediness is causing all of their problems?)




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Anderson Cooper asks Sanjay Gupta: "What do steroids do to a man's bits and pieces?"
(Huffington Post) The full video is at the link.



An Interview with Ken Sumka
(Chicago Radio Spotlight) This past weekend on Chicago Radio Spotlight I spoke with WXRT's Ken Sumka. Ken talks about WXRT's impending move to new digs, plus his job as the airborne traffic reporter for WBBM-AM. Coming this weekend? WIND's John Calhoun.

Suburban Man: The Worst Part

By Rick Kaempfer




When other men find out I’m a stay at home dad, I usually see a certain look in their eyes. It’s not exactly pity, but it’s a close relative. I can see the wheels spinning in their heads, wondering how they would do in the same situation. After a few moments of uncomfortable silence, I usually get the same question.

“What’s the worst part?” they ask.

I have a stock answer to that question, and it always surprises them.

“Crafts.”

They think I’m joking. They don’t understand the magnitude of the problem, but it’s something I face every single day. I don’t care if it sounds benign and harmless. It’s the bane of my existence. I hate crafts.

I mean it. I really, really, really hate crafts.

If you’re the parent of young children, you know what I’m talking about. You have to do crafts all the time. It starts during the first “mom and tot” class at the park district. As soon as you walk in the door, the teacher hands you (not the kid) some construction paper, crayons, scissors, and three cotton balls.

“Today we’re making snowmen!”

It gets more and more involved as they get older.

I have three boys. In pre-school we created a lifetime supply of paper ghosts, goblins, thanksgiving turkeys, snowmen and snowflakes. In Kindergarten we made countless leaves, Indians, Valentine hearts, shamrocks, and mother’s day cards; not to mention many, many more snowmen and snowflakes.

When did it stop? It hasn’t.

First grade, second grade, third grade, fourth grade. Crafts, crafts, crafts, crafts. Is it time for the science fair? Great! Load up on supplies and start cutting, drawing, painting, pasting and creating. Get some markers, paint brushes, construction paper, cardboard, scissors, glue, silly putty, Play-doh and yarn.

“Dad,” my oldest son said. “This year let’s make an exploding volcano for the science fair.”

“Oh don’t worry, pal,” I said. “I can almost guarantee you an exploding volcano.”

Religious Education is no escape from crafts, either. Every year at Easter time, you can bet we’ll be making a cross.

“Shouldn’t we be allowed to resurrect last year’s cross?” I asked.

The teacher’s incredulous glare let me know it wasn’t an option.

“What?” I said. “It’s thematically appropriate.”

If it’s a new day, it’s a new craft. Here’s a big blob of clay and some shellac. Make a duck. Here’s a pinecone and a jar of peanut butter. Make a lure for squirrels. Here’s a stick, a leaf, a blade of grass, a jar of Elmer’s glue and a tongue depressor. Make Benjamin Franklin discovering electricity.

“Make it yourself,” I think to myself. “I’ll happily pay $20.”

Oh…how…I…hate…crafts.

(Exhale)

There, I feel better. Sometimes you just need to vent.

Now if you’ll kindly excuse me, I’m looking for a shoe box, a carrot, three jelly beans, a baggie full of mini M&Ms and a quarter. My son and I have to make a diorama of George Washington crossing the Delaware.




This also appeared on my blog at NWI Parent, "Father Knows Nothing." If you haven't yet checked out "Father Knows Nothing," Click here to check it out.

Monday Musings

Every Monday stop by for jokes, links to stories you might have missed, amusing photos and video, and more. Contributions and suggestions are welcome and encouraged. Click on the "Email Me" link on the right to contribute.



Joke of the Week: Contributed by "S", in honor of this past weekend's Valentine's Day


How to say 'I love you' in 25 languages.

English
I Love You

Spanish
Te Amo

French
Je T'aime

German
lch Liebe Dich

Japanese
Ai Shite Imasu

Italian
Ti Amo

Chinese
Wo Ai Ni

Swedish
Jag Alskar

Alabama
Arkansas
Oklahoma
Texas
North Carolina
South Carolina
Georgia
Tennessee
Mississippi
Louisiana
Virginia
West Virginia
Kentucky
Parts of Florida
Nice Ass, Get in the truck


Stories you might have missed

1. Blow up doll stands in for groom
(Ladies, I know what you're thinking...the perfect man.)

2. First Submarine Car to be unveiled
(Yawn. These people have obviously never seen a James Bond movie.)

3. NBC apologizes for Jane Fonda using the "C" word on the Today Show.
(The bleeped clip is available at this link. I found the unbleeped version on YouTube too, but it didn't feel right to post it here.)

4. Johnny Knoxville nearly loses his balls in stunt mishap
(This was bound to happen sooner or later...)

5. Something fishy in NY: In 80 districts Obama got zero votes
(How many votes did Pat Buchanan get?)




Video of the week:



"Yes We Can"


BONUS VIDEO: John McCain's Answer Video





Picture of the week: Contributed by "L". Happy President's Day from the Washington Monument.

















Reader Response

Regarding "Just One Bad Century"

"Hi. I just ran across your website while messing around on youtube. I am a 56 year old Cub fan who went to his first game in 1957.Cubs vs Cards,Glen Hobbie vs Vinegar Bend Myzel. Cubs won that day. Ernie even homered. I'd like to leave you with two memories if I may but before I do, all the best to you on your website.

Firstly, not enough respect is shown to the late,great announcer,Jack Quinlan. Jack along with Lou Boudreau made a horrible team, the Cubs of the 50s and early 60s interesting. I learned how to keep score listening to Jack. If a rookie came up for the first time, Jack would spell out the rookie's name so you would know how to pronounce it. I remember hearing, S-t-a-r-g-e-l-l the first time Willie played against the Cubs.Of course there was the infamous pantihose commercial that Jack and Lou laughed their way through. I used to turn off the tv and listen to the radio call. Jack Quinlan in my opinion, was far superior to Jack Brickhouse.

This is a true story. Opening Day 1982. The first Opening Day for the Tribune owned Cubs. It was cold and it snowed a couple of days before. The ground crew went out the day before with shovels and worked late cleaning up the field. I was waiting in line to use the men's room. Because it was just before Easter, this guy in front of me was dressed as Bugs Bunny. Not to be upstaged, because of the cold temperatures another guy was dressed as Santa Claus. I guess both of these guys were fully krauesened (sorry for mispelling,Old Style guys) Any way, I guess Bugs really had to "go" so he did, right in the coat pocket of Santa's coat. Needless to say a fight broke out with the fans cheering on the combatants.What great theatre, the ushers and the off duty police in the yellow windbreakers carted them of to Town Hall Station.

Any way all the best."
--H

Rick responds: Thanks for the great stories. I will be featuring some Jack Quinlan audio in March.


Regarding "Chicago Radio Spotlight"

"Thanks for "chicago radio spotlight." I've learned lots about local radio
personalities since you've been doing it. While I enjoyed many of your interviews, I particularly enjoyed the one with Scott Childers and am looking forward to his forthcoming book. There have been books about WLS before, the one by Stew Salowitz comes to mind, but I've often thought it would be great if someone could write a history or collection of interviews about WCFL in its heyday as a rock and roll radio station. Again, many thanks for writing these stories."
--J

Regarding Suburban Man: "I got a little verklempt."

"I just read your piece about not being able to hear your father's voice anymore. It never works when I try either. It has to flow. It has to be a situation that just brings them to the surface and suddenly you hear them. Plain as if they just said something to you. Maybe you just need to put yourself in some situations or places where you were a son, not a father. Then again, a lot of what they did to us comes out in how we treat the next generation. There's a Greek saying that roughly translates to 'your eyes should be 4,' meaning be vigilant. It was always said to my sister before she went down to Rush Street and New Town. OR the "gin mills" as my father always said."
--C




Happy President's Day! Only 337 days until we get a new one.

Chicago Radio Spotlight: Ken Sumka

Ken Sumka is the afternoon airborne reporter for WBBM-Newsradio 780 and a weekend/overnight jock at WXRT (93.1 FM).




COMPLETE RADIO-OGRAPHY

1984-1988: WGHS 88.5 FM "The Castle That Rocks" Glenbard West HS. Glen Ellyn, IL Sadly they shut it down circa 1989. I was a disc jockey all four years and Music Director in 1986 (A helluva year for great music)

1988-1993: KRUI 89.7 FM Iowa City The Student-run FM station of the University of Iowa. I was a jock, news anchor, did some play-by-play for Iowa Baseball, Administrative Director circa 1990. On 11/1/91, a gunman opened fire at serveral buildings on campus, killing five, severely maiming one and killing himself. Our news staff (including me) happened to be on duty and we ended up covering the tragedy for worldwide media outlets, including CNN, BBC, Reuters, AP, UPI and also WBBM-AM, WLS-AM and WGN-AM in Chicago.

Summer 1991: Interned at WYSY-FM, Aurora, IL (Y108: "Doin' it in the burbs") in the Production Department

Fall 1991-1993: KQCR-FM "Q103" Cedar Rapids, IA Weekend and overnight jock Hot A/C. Used airname Kenny Summers. Played Paula Abdul and Michael Bolton.

January 1993-January 1994: WCBR-FM 92.7, Arlington Heights, IL "The Bear" Afternoon Drive (1:30-6PM) Hired and fired on the same day, one year apart.

January 1994-Present: WXRT-FM, Chicago, IL Weekends and overnights. Sunday-Tuesday: Overnights, Saturday 7PM-11PM.

May 1998-September, 2001--March 2003-Present: Shadow Broadcast Services, Chicago, IL Started out as fill-in then full-time afternoon airborne reporter for WMAQ-AM from 1998 until MAQ became The Score, then was full-time Afternoon Reporter for WBBM-AM from then until 9/11/01, when airborne operation ceased for awhile. During this time, I also did fill-in work in the chopper for WGN TV and radio, WMAQ-TV and WBBM TV and Radio. I also was an in-studio traffic reporter/editor at Shadow for WGN, WBBM, WGCI, WAIT and a News Anchor for WMRO. Then in March of 2003, I came back to Shadow as full-time afternoon airborne reporter again for WBBM-AM.


Rick: The big news this week is that WXRT will be moving from their long-time home at 4949 W. Belmont. As someone who has worked there since 1994, you must have some feelings on the subject. How did you react when you heard the news?

Ken: My first reaction--other than surprise that Michael Damsky was gone--was, "now I'm going to have to pay for parking". We have a really nice, secure lot at 4949 and it's free. And there's a vibe at that building that comes from being away from downtown. There are some unknowns that cause a little worry-like what sort of consolidation might happen with us sharing a space and personnel at NBC Tower. There's always some fear with change and the first thing you think about are the negatives, but I'm sure there are going to be some positive things to come out of it as well. I bet the view's terrific.

Rick: I know you worked at a great little suburban station (The Bear) before you started at XRT. How did you get your foot in the door at WXRT? They have on-air job openings about once a decade, don't they?


Ken: The Bear was a cool place to work, I still keep in touch with a lot of those people. (Photo: Ken with Chris Mars at WCBR) That seems about right though, once a decade at XRT a job becomes available. I was friendly with Marc Alghini, who back then was a record rep for Mute Records and he had amazing Cubs season tickets and he'd take a few of us WCBR jocks out to games. I knew that his wife at the time (Angela Strachan) was a weekend/overnight jock at XRT, so when Marc told me he was being transferred to New York, I asked him if he and his wife could put in a good word for me. They did, Norm called me and the rest is history. Things came full-circle two years ago when Marc returned to the Chicago area and is now a jock at XRT and produces Lin's show and also produces a lot of our remote broadcasts.

Rick: I don't know if other jocks (of a certain age) will admit this, but as a former jock with no current ties to any station, I think I can. WXRT is like a dream destination for music jocks. Having been beaten down by liner cards and tight music lists, we think that it must be different at XRT. Are we right, or does the reality not quite live up to the ideal, especially in this post 1996 corporate owned world?

Ken: I don't know of another commercial station in the country (in market #3 no less!) where the jocks actually pick their own music as they go. We do. When I get to the station to do my shift, it's pretty much a blank slate music-wise. WXRT shaped what I listened to musically, so it's cool to be able to play a small part in introducing someone else to music as well. I've had opportunities to go elsewhere and make more dough but it would've been at the expense of the freedom to choose my music. It also would mean not working with some of the most talented and knowledgeable people in the business. Working at XRT is like going to graduate school for radio and popular music, I figure that at 14 years, I already have the Masters Degree and I'm working on my PhD now. That said, I bet even A-Rod probably has some complaints about his job, so it's not perfect everyday.

Rick: I'm guessing you're a music lover. Let me ask you this. What are some of the songs on your iPod that might surprise your WXRT listeners? Any guilty pleasures?

Ken: Oh jeez, where to begin? I'm a drummer, so I grew up with Rush, so I have all their stuff from about 1976-1986. The David Lee Roth-era Van Halen were huge in my youth, so the self-titled debut through 1984 are all represented, I paid a ton of money for tickets to the Arpil 3rd Van Halen show at Allstate Arena and I cannot wait for that show. I'm a sucker for a good pop song too, so you would also find Madonna, (Early) Michael Jackson, Kylie Minogue, Robbie Williams, stuff like that. I also really dug Britney's single last year "Gimme More", too bad she couldn't hold it together long enough to promote the album, it got good reviews, it could've been the comeback she needed. I've also been throwing a lot of classical/orchestral music onto my iPod lately and the other day the "Summer" movement from Vivaldi's Four Seasons came on and I cranked it.

Rick: In addition to being a music jock, you've been working at Shadow for many years as an airborne reporter. I talked to Bart Shore a few weeks ago and he sent me some incredible pictures from his time in the copter, but I'm guessing that it isn't always so serene up there. Do you ever worry for your safety?

Ken: Oddly enough, the time it will take to answer this question represents the cumulative time I've feared for my life while airborne. I've been through some pretty heavy duty crap with regards to weather and wind but I was never worried for my life, I don't get airsick, I just get headaches. One of our pilots overshot the runway at Hobart Airport and we ended up in some trees at the end of the runway but nobody got hurt and the plane was fine. I've also been up in the chopper on a day when winds were gusting at 45-50 mph, which was a drag. I've been flying for decade, so it takes a lot to scare me.

Rick: How did you get involved on the airborne side of the business?

Ken: I was covering the XRT Rock-n-Roll Fireworks and we were using the Shadow Airplane. As a courtesy, I called Rick Sirovatka afterwards to thank him for letting us use the plane. We got to talking and the subject of working as an airborne reporter came up. I am quite familiar with pretty much the whole Chicagoland area and that coupled with my broadcast experience and love of aviation made it a perfect fit. I trained in the plane for a hour and was doing live reports on WMAQ that afternoon.

Rick: Take me through the typical afternoon at BBM. Once you get up in the air who is making the calls for where to go and what to look for, and do you generally have a regular route?

Ken: We take off at 3:30PM out of DuPage Airport in a Cessna 172. As soon as we're airborne, I call the editor's desk via two-way radio and see what's happening. If it's just standard stuff, we follow a normal route which is primarily the tollways and N/W Indiana. However, when all the Ryan construction was going on, our editors didn't have the traffic flow data they normally get from pavement sensors, so the Dan Ryan became a part of our regular route during that project. In the afternoon we also have two other choppers in the air, so we all coordinate with each other so we don't double up on coverage. And since Kris Habermehl does TV and radio, sometimes he might pass off the radio stuff to me if he gets busy and vice versa, sometimes I'm the first one on a scene and I'll cover it until he can get there with a camera, especially if it's something more visual (for TV), like a fire or a nasty accident. It's funny because of the nature of my job being at the airport and not at Shadow HQ downtown, there are people with whom I work everyday that I've never met face-to-face.

Rick: I know you're a local boy (Glen Ellyn). Who were some of your radio heroes growing up?

Ken: I was a big Larry Lujack fan early on, especially Animal Stories. I also listened to a lot of WGN, Cubs games and Wally Phillips and Bob Collins. Then it was Steve Dahl (and Garry), I still like Steve, he's still great, Garry too. I met Steve once and he said he knew me from my work at XRT and said I did a great job, that meant a lot to me. I was hoping that brief Steve/Garry reunion a few years ago was going to be permanent but at least they are on better terms now, it was sad when they weren't speaking to each other.

On the rock radio side, I used to listen to The Loop and WMET, so I liked Stroud, Skafish and those guys. I was heartbroken when WMET went off the air, so my uncle turned me on to WXRT and I was hooked. Then, all the old XRT jocks became my heroes, I wanted to be one of them someday. (Photo: Ken with Johnny Mars, Marty Lennartz, and Lin Brehmer.) The joke and reality is, all those people are still at XRT, so I work with all my old heroes, then my old favorite at the Loop, Bobby Skafish came aboard for awhile. I am proud to call all of them friends and colleagues.

Rick: Talk about finally breaking into your home town radio market. I know you started out at The Bear, which was an alternative rock station at the time, after you did a hot A/C show in Iowa. What was that experience like?

Ken: Doing Hot A/C was fun but definitely not what I wanted to do for a living. I know and respect people who can do any format because they love radio first and music is secondary but that's not me. The Bear was an amazing opportunity for me, I was doing afternoon drive in (Suburban) Chicago at age 22. I learned a lot. I did interviews every day, one day it was an author, the next a comedian and the next a musician or band, sometimes more than one in a day. Some amazing interview subjects too: Frank Black, Chris Mars (former Replacements drummer), Widespread Panic played an hour of live material three feet in front of me and didn't want to leave. I also interviewed The Straight Dope's Cecil Adams and Studs Terkel. Good times. Then I got fired at the Bear on a Friday and that Monday I had an interview with Norm at WXRT and was employed at my dream station. It felt good to pick up my last paycheck at The Bear wearing an XRT shirt. WXRT has been great. I've fielded countless calls on the request line from old acquaintances and classmates, which is great. That's why I use my real name, it's great to re-connect with people. I do miss the interviews though, that's probably the one regret I have about working overnights, no in-studio guests (Photo: Ken with Cheap Trick).


Rick: If you could chart your dream career course, where do you go from here?

Ken: Well, we all know about the dearth of full-time openings at XRT but that would be the ideal, to have a full-time, prime time shift at XRT. Or on the Shadow side if something managerial came up, that would be a great road to explore. If there was a radio-related role for me that didn't involve putting 100 miles a day on my car and gave me more time to spend with my family, that would be the dream career course.