Things Men Want

Thanks to "MS" for sending these to me...

Fox News

Their ratings are still strong, and their revenue is still strong, but according to this piece in the New York Times, the median age of their viewers is now over 65 years old. This is the way the NYT describes the audience...

Just how old is its audience? It is impossible to be precise because Nielsen stops giving an exact figure for median age once it passes 65. But for six of the last eight years, Fox News has had a median age of 65-plus and the number of viewers in the 25-54 year old group has been falling consistently, down five years in a row in prime time, from an average of 557,000 viewers five years ago to 379,000 this year. That has occurred even though Fox’s overall audience in prime time is up this year, to 2.02 million from 1.89 million three years ago.

Of course, if you're a Fox News viewer, you just pshaw, and say "liberal media" when you hear that this story was in the New York Times.

Sellers and not Buyers

As we watch the Cubs trading away their stars and acquiring prospects in return, it occurs to me that I haven't seen them do this in nearly 40 years. They have been buyers for the past forty years, and it hasn't worked. (Like this stupid trade, which they made on this day in 1986.)

The last time they were sellers was the early 70s when they traded away some of their all-time greats like Williams, Santo, and Jenkins. They got a young 2B named Manny Trillo back for Williams, plus some bullpen help (Bob Locker & Darold Knowles). They got a future all-star catcher (Steve Swisher), and a reliable starting pitcher (Steve Stone) for Ron Santo. And they got a future batting champion and a replacement for Ron Santo (Bill Madlock) in return for Fergie Jenkins.

Not a bad haul if you consider that Williams and Santo each only played one more season. If Madlock had simply been paid instead of shipped off after asking more money, the Jenkins trade would have been a good one too (even though Fergie won another 100+ games in the American League).

Keep in mind that Theo and Jed don't have nearly as much to trade, and they still seem to be picking up some good prospects. I'm cautiously optimistic that they're on the right track.

FC Bayern Youth Cup

This is the reason I've been so difficult to reach over the past week or two: The FC Bayern Youth Cup at Green White

It was a great experience, a difficult challenge, and a ton of work, but it was also a huge success.

I need a vacation.

Clear Channel Imports Morning Show

Robert Feder has all the details on his facebook page.

Here's the money quote: Despite promises that Clear Channel Chicago would launch a local morning show on its newly branded 93.9 MY FM, that doesn't appear to be the case. Paul "Cubby" Bryant, who hosts mornings on Clear Channel's WKTU-FM in New York and also is heard on WMIA-FM in Miami, is expected to add WLIT 93.9 FM to his syndication lineup, sources said Sunday.

Of course it won't be the first syndicated morning show on the former Lite-FM. They've made that mistake multiple times.

I thought the most interesting part of Feder's post was this final paragraph...

For weeks now, Chicago radio veterans Eddie Volkman and Joe "Jobo" Colborn were rumored to be headed for mornings on 93.9 MY FM. On July 10, Volkman posted a photo on his Facebook page of the duo taken at Clear Channel studios. "Today's meeting could NOT have gone better!" he wrote. "Watch out, Chicago! Damn, I'm stoked."

Sounds like E&J got a bit blindsided. I hate this business sometimes. I really do.

Mick's 70th Birthday

On Friday, July 26th, Mick Jagger is turning 70 years old. If you're looking for a place to celebrate it, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame & Museum is currently presenting Rolling Stones: 50 Years of Satisfaction, their first ever major exhibition capturing the band's legendary career spanning more than 50 years.

Get a preview here.

In Chicago we've had a few memorable moments with Mick and the boys over the years. I wrote about a few of those for Just One Bad Century.

Dealing with Trolls

Every now and then I'll get asked why I don't allow comments on my blogs. There's a one-word answer for that: Trolls

If you want to know what a troll is, simply read the comments section of any article on any newspaper website or blog, or read this piece: The Top 12 Signs You're Dealing with Trolls

Father Knows Nothing

My latest Father Knows Nothing column is called "Baby Boomers" and it's about a certain piece of mail I received this week.

You can read it here.

Nate Silver joins ESPN

Everyone's favorite statistical nerd, Nate Silver of the New York Times "538" blog, is going back to his sports roots. He became famous by analyzing baseball statistics for the website/magazine Baseball Prospectus. Now he's taking his skills to ESPN.

From the New York Times article...

At ESPN, Mr. Silver is expected to have a wide-ranging portfolio. Along with his writing and number-crunching, he will most likely be a regular contributor to “Olbermann,” the late-night ESPN2 talk show hosted by Keith Olbermann that will have its debut at the end of August. In political years, he will also have a role at ABC News, which is owned by Disney.

Sounds like an interesting match. Looking forward to it. I'm a big fan.

Rolling Stone Buy-Back

This is how one Boston radio station is dealing with the conroversial new Boston Bomber cover story. From this morning's RAMP Newsletter...

By now you are painfully aware of Rolling Stone's controversial new cover featuring that "rock star" photo of the Boston Marathon bomber (we're not going to use his name). Needless to say, many people living in the Boston area are particularly incensed over the cover -- and while the ideas of boycotts and/or ill-conceived notions of mass-burnings have been floated, we are fans of the clean and classy solution conceived by Greater Media's WBOS (Radio 92.9)/Boston, which this Friday will be conducting a buy-back (more accurately, a "trade-back") of that August 1 Rolling Stone issue, in exchange for a pair of concert tickets. It's important to note that this offer is open to current Rolling Stone subscribers only -- "We do not want to encourage people to buy copies in order to 'sell them' to us," says a notice on the WBOS Facebook page. All issues containing a valid subscription label and brought into the WBOS studios this Friday between 9am-5pm will be boxed up and mailed back to Rolling Stone.

CTFD Parenting Technique

Finally a parenting technique I can wholeheartedly endorse.

It's called: CTFD

(Tongue, of course, is planted firmly in cheek by the author of the piece)

Tinker To Evers To Chance

On this day in 1910 the poem that immortalized three Cubs infielders was printed in the newspaper for the first time.

Details at Cubs 365.

George Noory

Looks like we'll have spooky overnight radio to listen to while driving across the country for at least a few more years. From today's RAMP newsletter...

Premiere Networks has inked an exclusive long-term contract extension with George Noory, the longtime host of the awesome Coast to Coast AM, the most-listened-to overnight radio program in North America. "By renewing my deal with Premiere Networks, I'll be around when astronauts land on Mars," said Noory. "I want to thank Premiere and Clear Channel Media and Entertainment for having the confidence in me and our amazing team to take Coast to Coast AM into the future. I look forward to many more years of bringing riveting programs during the late-night hours to our millions of listeners around the world."

Rare White Album

Uh oh. Looks like the kids won't be going to college after Daddy bids on this incredible artifact from Beatles history.

Windy City Reviews reviews "Recalled to Life"

Chicago's own Windy City Reviews has this to say about the Eckhartz Press novel "Recalled to Life" (by Dan Burns)...

"Burns deftly outlines the challenges in caring for an elderly parent. He deals sensitively with the trials of aging, particularly in dealing with failing physical strength and the frustrations of memory loss...Burns writes with great empathy for all the characters...Overall this is a touching Chicago story about intergenerational bonds, and the love that keeps a family together despite the challenges of life."

The full review is here.

The book is available here.

Jenny McCarthy Joins "The View"

The New York Times has the details.

It's a great hire. She's got a great personality for this format.

I've met her a few times over the years. My favorite story about her is when we tried to get her to record a promo for Landecker's show. At the time the slogan of our music format was "The Greatest Hits of All Time". She said it a few times, recognized what that phrase sounded like coming out of her mouth, and thought we were trying to set her up. Say it to yourself a few times, and you might get the idea.

Just for the record, we didn't do it on purpose at all, but it was funny.

The Chicago Baseball Happiness Scale

The RedEye has created something they call the Chicago Baseball Happiness Scale.

As you might imagine, both teams are not doing well this year.

I developed something similar about five years ago, although I didn't come up with a number. I came up with a logo...

Greetings from FC Bayern

I got this photo e-mailed to me from Bayern Munich. It's recovering Bayern Munich player (and German National Team player) Bastian Schweinsteiger wishing us well in the FC Bayern Cup taking place at the Green White Soccer fields in Mt. Prospect/Des Plaines this weekend. In case you don't know, Schweinsteiger is one of the biggest soccer stars in the world, and FC Bayern just won the European Champions League.

Then, this morning, FC Bayern posted the same picture on their facebook page and advertised the event to their facebook audience of 7,000,000+ along with a special e-mail address created strictly for our event...my e-mail address. I'll be dealing with an exploding e-mail box the rest of the week, but it's nice to see that some people in this country recognize the significance of this.

Asiana Airlines Considers Legal Action Against KTVU, NTSB

The full story is here, but the gist of it is that a television station in San Francisco broadcast the names of the pilots...but it wasn't their real names. The names were obviously jokes provided by pranksters.

It is not clear how KTVU originally got the names. The NTSB admitted Friday night to confirming the false names, saying a summer intern “acted outside the scope of his authority.”

What were the names? "Sum Ting Wong” and “Wi Tu Lo.”

I know it's supposed to be tragedy plus time equals comedy, and perhaps the time portion of that equation hadn't yet been fulfilled, but I have to admit I laughed out loud when I read the names. I have suitably punished myself for that inappropriate reaction.

John Landecker at the Beverly Arts Center (Photos & Commentary)

On the eve of his double knee-replacement surgery, John Records Landecker appeared before a full house at the Beverly Arts Center to discuss his book "Records Truly Is My Middle Name" yesterday. The facilitator of the event, Penny Golden--host of Author Afternoon at the Beverly Arts Center, interviewed John (and me) about his life, his career, and his writing process.

After the interview, the audience engaged in a lively Q&A session with John.

Thanks so much to everyone who came out, and of course, to Penny Golden who once again proved she's the best in the business at interviewing authors. (Eckhartz Press author Dan Burns will be appearing there in a few months too).