MEDIA NOTEBOOK
A curation of news items about the media from this past week, with a particular emphasis on Chicago
(By Rick Kaempfer)
RADIO/PODCASTS
*Chicago
Radio Ratings
=The February radio ratings are out and WLIT continues to dominate. They now have a
five-month streak at the top of the ratings. There are a few other interesting
notes here. Kiss-FM (103.5) took the biggest one month drop (from 4.3 to 2.7)
and fell out of the top ten. The biggest one-month gain went to WSHE (1.6 to
2.1). In the sports-radio wars, the Score outpaced ESPN Radio (1.7 to 1.0). Here
are the top ten overall…
WLIT
(8.0)
WDRV
(5.7)
WXRT
(5.1)
WBBM-AM/WCFS-FM
(4.8)
WVAZ
(4.2)
WOJO
(4.0)
WBEZ
(3.7)
WTMX
(3.7)
WUSN
(3.5)
WGN (3.2)
*iHeartMedia
Cost Cutting
=It
seems to be happening everywhere in the media, including iHeartMedia. Although
to be fair, at least they aren’t cutting employees yet. It reminds me of my
days at CBS radio when we had to get special approval from the bosses to use
the nice stationery. This is the money shot from the staff e-mail from CEO Bob
Pittman and COO Rich Bressler: “Our goal is to do
everything we can to get through this difficult economic time while protecting
our employee base as much as possible. Therefore, we'll be implementing the
following necessary cost savings:
• Temporarily suspending the 401(k) match starting in your next
pay period and for future months until the advertising marketplace improves.
Please note that any contributions made so far in this year will not be affected.
• We will only be backfilling mission critical roles.
• Stopping or reducing all discretionary spending, including non-essential T&E, overtime, outside vendor spend, temporary contractors, etc."
*Alpha
Media Consolidates
=A
few weeks ago I reported that Alpha Media (owner of several suburban stations)
made a series of staff cuts. It wasn’t revealed until this week exactly how
that would shake out. They are now rebranding as a Star Superstation. WXLC
becomes Star 102.3. WSSR is Star 96.7. WZSR is Star 105.5. All three will have
the same morning show (Joe Cicero and Tina Bree), the same afternoon
show (Eddie Volkman and Hannah B), and the same evening and overnight
shows (Erik Zachary & John Tesh). The only timeslot they will differ
is middays. All three stations are going after the same audience. This is the
way Regional VP Brian Foster said it in a press release: “everything is geared towards a busy suburban mom and
getting her through her day.”
(I previously interviewed Joe Cicero in 2017 and Eddie Volkman in 2009)
=Also announced this week, Leah Anderson, who will be one of the midday personalities (at Star 102.3) will also return to co-host mornings with Tom Kief at WIIL in Union Grove Wisconsin. She replaces Stino Cirigliano, who was one of the staff cuts announced a few weeks ago.
*John Williams Op-Ed in Tribune
=The headline gives away the content: Telling Jokes on WGN Radio was a chance to share laughter during the pandemic. The piece is essentially a history of the speed jokes segment he does every morning at 10:38am. It puts me in a good mood every time I hear it. (By the way, Williams has now told over 4500 jokes, according to this piece)
*Texas Rep Ronny Jackson Introduces Act to Defund NPR
=He calls it the No Partisan Radio and Partisan Broadcasting Services (or NPR and PBS, get it?) Act. Inside Radio has the story. It has no chance of passing both houses.
*Stan Lawrence Retires
=Stan has been a part of the Chicago media landscape for decades, as a contributor to Steve & Garry’s show (at various different stations), as a co-host with the late Terry Armour at WCKG, as a contributor to Chicago Tonight on Channel 11, and as a co-host of the AM 1000 show Ebony & Ivory (with me). But throughout that time, he was also working as an engineer. This week, after 44 years, he officially retired. In true Stan Lawrence fashion, this is his new permanent out-of-office message on Outlook.
=I kid you not. This is the actual tape recorder and microphone Les used to record the infamous Lee Elia tape, and the original cassette tape too. Real live history, especially for Cub fans. Opening bid is $500.
*AI Voiceover
=Not thrilled by this development. From Radio Ink: Web-based traffic platform Radio Workflow is the latest to put artificial intelligence to work for radio sales and production with their new AI voiceover program, Voice My Ad. Within Voice My Ad’s first month more than one million words were voiced.
*The Loop Files
=This week’s trip to the Loop Files featured sportscaster Chuck Swirsky. It’s here, in case you missed it. Remember, I post a new one every Tuesday.
=On a totally unrelated-to-the-Loop note, Chuck Swirsky was also interviewed this week by the Canadian Broadcasting Company about his time in Toronto.
*Podcast
Corner
=From the everybody-has-a-podcast file, be sure to add Rosie O’Donnell.
=WBEZ's Curious City podcast this week is called When Disco ruled Chicago's dance scene.
=The
Destination Eat Drink podcast last week was all about Ireland and
featured yours truly live from Galway, Ireland doing a few Irish limericks. Before
you ask, yes I was totally sober.
=Just discovered this brand new podcast from local Chicago media mavens DJ Gil Golden (Kirk Fox) and DJ BK (Bill Kissinger). It's called "Best Song I Ever Wrote" and they ask artists to tell the story about their best songs. Their first guest is Bill G from Bishops Daredevil Stuntclub. The first episode is here.
*WJOL Mini-Reunion
=WJOL
in Joliet has given a start to many Chicago radio careers. A few of them
gathered this week to reminisce.
MEDIA
BIRTHDAYS/MILESTONES
*March 19, 1928—Amos & Andy debuts on network radio (NBC Blue Network/WMAQ Chicago)
=When
you hear it now, it’s shockingly racist. But when it debuted on NBC this week
in 1928 (live from Chicago), it was one of the most popular shows in the
country. The show began in 1926 as “Sam and Henry” on WGN
radio, which described it as a “colored comedy serial.” Blackface Minstrel
shows were the biggest Vaudeville draws, and this was the radio version of
that. When NBC wanted to air it nationwide, WGN refused to let them take the
name Sam & Henry along with them. The show was renamed Amos & Andy,
and within a year it was a nationwide six-night a week hit, airing at 7PM
Eastern time. It was rebroadcast on the West Coast in the same time slot; the
first show to ever rate that kind of importance. Chicago was suddenly the center
of the American media universe–and became home to dozens of national hit radio
shows. None of them, however, were as popular as the number one show in the
country, Amos & Andy.
*March
19, 1965—Jack Quinlan dies in car crash.
=Quinlan was the radio play-by-play man for the Cubs from 1955-1964, the first announcer to say the names Ron Santo, Billy Williams, Lou Brock and more. (He shared the booth with Lou Boudreau and Charlie Grimm). The car accident happened during spring training in 1965. Quinlan was only 38 years old.
*March
19, 1977—Final episode of The Mary Tyler Moore Show
=It
was the end of an era. Who could ever forget that last hug?
*March
19, 1989—Steve Dahl’s on-air vasectomy
=The
first-ever live on-air vasectomy aired on this day in 1989 on AM 1000. Dahl was
put under local anesthesia, and Garry Meier described the procedure on
the radio along with Steve’s doctor, while Steve begged everyone to stop laughing
while performing such a delicate task. Hard to describe how hilarious it was.
It appears on Steve & Garry’s Decade of Service.
*March
20--Mitch Michaels birthday
=Mitch
is a legendary rock jock in Chicago, with stints at virtually every rock station
including WXRT, Q-101, the Loop, WCKG, and the River. In 2017, he wrote a
memoir (with Ken Churilla) about his career called Doin the Cruise.
I interviewed Mitch in 2009 for Chicago Radio Spotlight, and then interviewed him again in 2015 for Illinois Entertainer. My publishing company Eckhartz
Press also published Mitch’s book.
*March 21, 1970—The Agony of Defeat
=The man who crashed on the ski jump
was named Vinko Bogataj. For the rest of the 70s, we would call him the
“Agony of Defeat” because of his starring role in the opening sequence of Wild
World of Sports.
*March 21, 1980—Who Shot J.R?
=On the season finale of Dallas, this
week in 1980, a mystery character shot J.R. Ewing. For the entire summer
America speculated who it was. It wasn’t revealed until November. Hard to
imagine a show capturing the attention of the entire nation like that these
days.
*March 21, 2006—Twitter is founded
=Twitter is such a big part of our world it’s hard to remember that it hasn’t been around that long. As
of this week, it’s only 17 years.
*March 22—Bob Costas birthday
=Costas is one of the most respected
names in sports broadcasting, host of 12 Olympics Games and winner of 28 Emmy
Awards. He’s also in the Baseball Hall of Fame (as a Ford Frick Award winner)
and was at the microphone for NBC calling Ryne Sandberg’s greatest game
in 1984. But before all of that great glory, Costas worked in Chicago as the
play-by-play man for the Chicago Bulls on WGN-TV during the 1979-1980 season.
(Photo: WGN-TV)
*March 24—Julie Unruh birthday
=Julie was a reporter/anchor at WGN-TV for twenty years. She signed off in 2021 to spend more time with her family.
*March 25—Didi Foley birthday
=You may have heard her on the air at the Mix and WSHE over the years, but for the past 15 years she has also been the Campus Services Manager for Waubonsee Community College in Aurora.
*March 25, 1954—Color TV
=Color TV is 69 years old this week. RCA unveiled the very first
one in 1954. It had a 12-inch screen and cost $1000.
TV/STREAMING
*Marquee to air unseen Cubs footage
=Jeff Agrest has the details in the Sun Times. Films of the Cubs and Wrigley Field dating from the 1920s to the late 50s will be revealed by Peabody Award winning producer George Roy (from HBO's "When it was a Game") in a series called "Cubs Flicks". Local voices will help narrate what we see, including former Cubs beat writers Bruce Miles and Fred Mitchell, and various other authors and writers. I'm one of them (as the author of "EveryCubEver"). Can't wait to see the finished product.
*Out of the Loop
=Chicago is, and always has been, a hotbed of comedy. Looking forward to this streaming special. (h/t to Rick Gieser, an associate producer of the project). It begins streaming on April 11 on Apple-TV and other streaming services.
*Doug Levy Out at Univision
=This was unexpected news. Levy
announced the news himself this week on his Facebook and LinkedIn pages this
week…
*Denver Reporter Stops Her Report from School Shooting Story to Hug Her Son
=She was reporting on the story, not knowing what had happened to her own son. He walked by while she was on the air, and...
Denver-based Fox News reporter @aacuna1 sees and embraces her son as he leaves East High school after today’s shooting. pic.twitter.com/jPt60YhhO6
— Kyle Clark (@KyleClark) March 22, 2023
Adam Sandler
gets the Mark Twain Prize
=The Mark Twain Prize is a
prestigious award given to humorists and comedians. This year the recipient is Adam
Sandler. The event already occurred, but CNN will air it this Sunday night.
*Star Studded
Week at the White House
=On Monday, the cast of the show Ted
Lasso spoke in the White House press room about mental illness. On Tuesday,
the National Medal of the Arts & National Humanities medals were handed out
by President Biden to the likes of Bruce Springsteen, Mindy Kaling,
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Gladys Knight, Amy Tan, and more.
*Massive cuts to
ESPN are being finalized
=It may not happen for a few more weeks, but ESPN has put out the word it definitely will happen, and can include anyone on the staff, except probably the MNF team (Jack Buck and Troy Aikman), Scott Van Pelt, or Stephen A Smith. More info here.
=One who is already gone is Executive VP Rob King. That news was reported by the New York Post.
*Cable News
Corner
=This Fox News/Dominion lawsuit story is living up to the hype as the biggest media scandal of all-time. The New York Times did a deep dive this week. So did The Guardian, and The Washington Post. It also sounds like the judge isn’t buying Fox News arguments, and now that a former Maria Bartiromo and Tucker Carlson producer has also sued Fox News for using her as a patsy, this story could get even more explosive. On the other hand, the New York Post reports that Rupert Murdoch got engaged again this week, so it’s good to see this scandal isn’t hurting his love life. Maybe his new wife can help him get to the courthouse, because a judge is leaning toward compelling him to testify in court.
=The dispute between Newsmax and DirecTV is over.
*Vice Media’s
Shane Smith in hot water
=Just so Fox News doesn’t feel alone,
Vice Media has its own scandal. Shane Smith is in the midst of it, now
that it has been reported that he made more $100 million from the financially
shaky media company. Semafor has more on this one.
SOCIAL/DIGITAL MEDIA
*Trump Returns
to Facebook & YouTube
=He was invited to return weeks ago,
but finally did it this week.
*Congress Wants Digital Ads to Follow
Same Disclaimer Rules as Radio
=It doesn’t seem fair that radio,
television, and print advertisements are forced by law to provide legal
disclaimers in their ads, but that digital ads are not required to do so. This
loophole has been particularly dangerous in the political world, where dark
money and misinformation flourish. Senator Amy Klobuchar is the chairman
of the Senate committee for Rules and Administration and is proposing new rules. “By ensuring online political advertisements meet the same
disclaimer requirements as television, radio, and print advertisements, this
legislation would bring much-needed transparency to our campaign finance system
and help prevent foreign interference in our elections.”
*Tik Tok’s plan
to stave off government intervention
=It’s simple, really. Flood DC with Influencers. It might be better than their CEO's testimony to Congress yesterday.
TikTok CEO is asked whether parent company ByteDance has spied on Americans at the direction of the Chinese Communist Party.
— Andrew Desiderio (@AndrewDesiderio) March 23, 2023
“I don’t think ‘spying’ is the right way to describe it,” Shou Chew responds.
Incredible.
As always, if you have any media story you’d like to share or think that I might be interested in sharing, drop me a line at rick@eckhartzpress.com or amishrick@yahoo.com. If you're in Chicago media and wondering why I didn't mention your birthday, it's probably because I don't know it. Drop me a line and let me know and I'll put you on my calendar.
If you're interested in some of my other projects from this week...
Minutia Men: Rick and Dave Confess
Minutia Men Celebrity Interview: Jazz Singer Kurt Elling
Minutia Men Celebrity Interview Classic: Carmen Fanzone
Free Kicks with Adam & Rick: Free Kicks Goes To England
Meet the Eckhartz Press Author: Donald G. Evans
From the Eckhartz Book Shelf: City U by Bob Boone
EveryCubEver: Mike Kelly
My latest novel: Back in the D.D.R
Windy City Reviews Back in the D.D.R.
Podcast Interview about Back in the D.D.R: Military Family Museum Podcast
