How popular is the World Cup?

ESPN's Live stream of the USA-Germany match crashed during the game.

From Variety:

An ESPN rep said the sports programmer was “investigating some limited issues due to unprecedented demand.” WatchESPN viewership for the first half of the USA-Germany match peaked at more than 1.4 million concurrent viewers. During the match, WatchESPN peaked at 1.7 million concurrent users — a record for the service

Obama's Brilliant Diversion Plan

The Colbert Report
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Dan Burns at the Beverly Arts Center

If you're on the southside tonight, here's an evening you might enjoy...

~An Evening with Dan Burns at the Beverly Arts Center, 2407 W 111th St, Chicago, IL, June 26th, 7pm
Dan Burns will be questioned by the BAC’s gifted interviewer Penny Golden, will take questions and discuss his book with the attendees book-club-style, and will sign and sell copies of his Eckhartz Press novel “Recalled to Life”.

Feel Free To Copy and Use

Loyalty Divided

I'm going for the USA, but I won't be upset with a tie...



(Oh, and by the way, no calls on Thursday please)

Supreme Court Kills "Aero"

"Aero" was a start up company with investors like Barry Diller, who tried to offer network programming on the web. The networks sued, and it went all the way to the Supreme Court. Today the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the networks. From CNBC.com...

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that online TV service Aereo, backed by media mogul Barry Diller, violates copyright law by using tiny antennas to provide subscribers with broadcast network content via the Internet. On a 6-3 vote, the court handed a victory to the four major TV broadcasters and cast Aereo's immediate future into doubt.

Most Watched Soccer Game in US TV History

How big were the ratings for the USA-Portugal game this weekend? 18.2 million people watched. That makes it the most watched soccer game in US television history.

Guilty and Not Guilty

The verdict finally came in for the phone hacking Rupert Murdoch confidantes in England.

One of them, former News of the World editor Andy Coulson was found guilty. Another one, the incredibly guilty-seeming former News of the World editor Rebekkah Brooks was found not guilty.

I followed this trial pretty closely and I really thought it would go the other way.

America's Newest Golfer

I took my 11-year-old son Sean out golfing for the first time yesterday. He was part of my foursome at the Green White golf outing. Sean loved it--turns out he's a natural. We probably used five or six of his shots (it was a scramble), including a few drives. He also kept track of the number of times he out-hit his dad, which sadly, happened quite a few times. But as soon as it was over, he was ready to hit the sack.

WIND Cuts the Mike of Joe Walsh

Who knew America's most abrasive politician would say something on the radio that would get him in trouble? What were the odds? From Radio Online today...

Former Republican congressman Joe Walsh has been suspended from his two-hour show on Salem's WIND-AM (AM560 The Answer)/Chicago reports Politico's Jonathan Topaz. The suspension came down during a discussion about the Washington Redskins' team name, when he repeatedly attempted to use racial slurs on air to make a point about the Redskins name controversy. During the discussion, he wrote on Twitter that the station repeatedly cut his sound as he used the slurs. "And here comes to the General Manager," Walsh tweeted, after noting that the station kept muting his sound. "It appears I can say Redskins, which is supposedly offensive, but when I say other words, commercial." Walsh appeared to be protesting his ability to use the term "Redskins," but not other racially sensitive terms. "Just got kicked off the air until further notice," he later posted on Twitter. "Tried to have honest discussion about racist terms and management censored my language."

Eddie & Jobo to WLS FM?

From this morning's RAMP Newsletter...

Are Chicago morning radio vets Eddie and Jobo being romanced by Cumulus Classic Hits WLS-FM? That's the word from Chicago media maven Robert Feder, who reports the guys have had several meaningful conversations with Cumulus about a possible return. Eddie Volkmann and Joe Colborn (a.k.a. Bohannon) are best known for their nearly two decades of service on CBS Radio's WBBM (B96) until November of 2008. In March of 2011 they were rehired by CBS to do mornings on Classic Hits WJMK (104.3 K-Hits), but that venture ended in December of 2012, and the guys have been on the radio beach since then. Both gentlemen have suddenly become very chatty on Facebook about their supposed imminent return, with Colborn going as far as to post this giddy message, "So, Eddie and I have an INCREDIBLE offer on the table to return to Chicago Radio…I mean INCREDIBLE. I'm wrestling with this decision 24/7." Cumulus SVP Jan Jeffries wouldn't comment on all the speculation.

Of course one of the reasons Jeffries can't comment on the speculation is that WLS-FM has a current morning host. His name is Brant Miller.