Media Notebook--1-20-23

MEDIA NOTEBOOK

A curation of news items about the media from this past week, with a particular emphasis on Chicago…

RADIO/PODCASTS

 

*John Kass Recovering from Health Scare

=Kass reported the news about his stroke and quadruple bypass on his WGN-Plus podcast The Chicago Way.  His voice sounds strong, but he remains hospitalized.

 

*Rick Gieser Running for Mayor of Carol Stream

=The Chicago radio veteran (and original member of The Score staff) is now the publicist for Zanies. That’s where he is holding his fundraiser  on February 5th for his Carol Stream mayoral campaign.   A who’s who of Chicago comedians will perform there, including Dwayne Kennedy and WCPT’s Patti Vasquez.

 

*Nick D Unveils New Podcast

=Nick Digilio has a new podcast on the Radio Misfits Podcast Network (in addition to his other show, The Nick D Show). It’s a podcast all about SNL. He calls it That Show Hasn’t Been Funny in Years, which is obviously a point of view he doesn’t share. You can listen to the latest episode here. 

 

*Dave Fogel’s Tribute to Dad

=WLS-FM morning man Dave Fogel’s father Jerry Fogel was a famous actor in the 1960s and 1970s (his imdb list is very impressive). This week would have been Jerry’s birthday, and Dave paid tribute to his dad on the show. Jerry passed away in 2019.  (When I interviewed Dave back in 2010, it was obvious how close he was to his “Pop”)

*The Loop Files

=This week’s trip into the Loop files is about the great Bobby Skafish, and includes a free excerpt from his book We Have Company about Bobby’s encounter with Jackson Browne.

*Jim Moran resigns from WLS

=Jim Moran has been doing fill-in work at WLS for years, but he announced this week that he is officially stepping away from the station. From his Facebook page: Working in radio, there was really only one radio station that I dreamed of working for, WLS-AM 890. About 20 years ago, I started a four-year run as the evening news anchor and morning/afternoon drive fill-in for the BIG 89. It was a dream come true. I eventually moved on and was lucky enough to return back in 2018 as a fill-in news anchor. I've loved every second that I've been a part of WLS. But, as life changes and things have progressed with my local government career, I'm just not able to be available for fill-ins like I once was... so this week, I decided to resign from my position with WLS. I still expect to do occasional fill-in work for some of the suburban Alpha Media radio stations, like Star 105.5 during mornings, but I just don't have the flexibility to do mid-day or afternoons anymore. I'm grateful for the opportunity to live out my dream as a member of the WLS news team.

*Former Chicago Radio Report

=Elroy Smith, former Chicago radio executive, has gotten a big promotion. He has been named as director of urban content for Cox Media Group. He will now oversee the company's stations in Orlando, Miami, Atlanta, and Jacksonville.

*Podcast Corner

=Have you ever paid money to see a podcast performed live? I’ve done it a few times myself (most recently when Smartless came to the Chicago Theater.) According to this piece in Inside Radio, podcast listeners are more and more willing to pay for live events.

*Job Opportunity

=Don’t say there aren’t any jobs available in Chicago radio. Here’s one…

 

 MEDIA MILESTONES/BIRTHDAYS

 

*January 15—Martin Luther King Jr. birthday

=His birthday would have been Sunday, and his holiday was Monday. The media world was focused on the ugly and weird MLK statue unveiled this week in Boston. I prefer to highlight this song, put together in 1970 by Detroit disc jockey Tom Clay. It’s a beautiful to tribute to JFK, MLK, and RFK.

*January 15—Mary Sandberg Boyle birthday

=Mary is the boss at WGN Radio these days, having previously produced classic shows by the likes of Steve Cochran and Steve Dahl. She is the first female GM in WGN’s 100 year history and was named last year as one of the most influential women in radio by Radio Ink.

*January 17, 1956—Chuck Goudie birthday

=Channel 7’s premier investigative reporter has been with WLS-TV since 1980, and has been their chief investigative reporter since 1990. He has won every award imaginable, including Emmys, Lisagors, Murrows, and more. Still going strong 43 years after arriving in Chicago.

*January 17—Tom Marker birthday

=Marker is still heard on the radio at WDCB spinning his blues classics. He is best known for his multi-decade run at Chicago’s WXRT.

*January 17—Ted Novak birthday

=Ted was a long-time traffic reporter for WGN radio and became a favorite of the late-night and overnight crowd.

 

*January 17—Rick Zurick birthday

=Zurick was the morning news anchor and news director at WLIT for many years, and also anchored news for WGN Radio.

 

*January 18, 1922—Bob Bell birthday

=Simply one of the most beloved local media people in Chicago history. Bob Bell was none other than Bozo the Clown at WGN television for decades.

WGN's original Bozo, Bob Bell, would have been 101 years old today. During his early years as Bozo he was also hosting an after-school Three Stooges program as a character named Andy Starr! Bell was inducted into the International Clown Hall of Fame in 1996. Happy birthday, Bob! pic.twitter.com/KaGPVl7nhe

— Museum of Broadcast Communications (@MuseumTV) January 18, 2023

*January 18—Corey Morris birthday

=The former Chicago traffic reporter now lives in Laredo, Texas.

 

*January 18—Jim Gronemann Birthday

=Producer Jim, as he is known on Melissa Forman’s WLIT morning show, worked with Melissa for twenty years. When I interviewed Forman for Illinois Entertainer in 2021, she said: “He’s Lenny to my Squiggy”. Gronemann is also a Domino’s Pizza franchisee in Indiana.

*January 18—Jake Hamilton Birthday

=The co-host of Good Day Chicago on Channel 32.

 

*January 18—Reed Pence birthday

=The former WLUP and WBBM-FM newsman was the co-owner of MediaTracks which produced public affairs programs for hundreds of radio stations nationwide. He retired last year.

 

*January 19, 2022—Death of Pat Brickhouse

=She was the second wife of the Hall of Fame broadcaster and the keeper of the Brickhouse legacy after Jack’s death. I interviewed her for my Cubs website back in 2008. Hard to believe it’s already been a year since she passed. (WGN-TV also did a nice piece on Jack this week.)

 

*January 19—Roy Leonard birthday

=One of the smoothest air personalities in Chicago radio history. I was so lucky to get a chance to interview Roy just a few years before he passed away. It was one of my all-time favorite interviews. You can read it here, if you’re interested. After I posted it, he e-mailed me and said: "You didn't have to print ALL of it." Yes I did.

*January 20—Chris Witting birthday

=The founder and CEO of Syndication Networks Corporation (based in Chicago). His Success Journal airs in Chicago on WBBM NewsRadio 780.

 

*January 20—Rich Renik birthday

=The former WMAQ and WUSN personality is now part of the Alpha Media group in Crest Hill.

 

*January 20—Mick Kahler birthday

=Mick produced legendary personalities in Chicago for decades (including Larry Lujack at WLS and Big John & Ray at US-99) before leaving radio to become a teacher. He still writes parody songs that are occasionally featured on WGN-TV.

 

*January 21—Andrew Dahn birthday

=Andrew currently works at WBBM NewsRadio 780 as a reporter/anchor.

 

*January 21—Mike Nowak birthday

=Nowak’s Let’s Talk Gardening show was a staple at WGN Radio. He also had a long stint at WCPT 820am, and WCGO.

 

*January 21—Mike Leiderman birthday

=Leiderman had a long and distinguished television career as a reporter/anchor/producer/host. He was a sports reporter for Channel 5, the host of PM Chicago at WFLD-TV, the executive producer of Chicago Tonight at WTTW, and more. I found this video recently from his reporting days. I got a kick out of it—I suspect you might too.

*January 21—Jason Thomas birthday

=The former WXRT evening jock now lives in Colorado.

 

*January 21--Len Kasper birthday

=I interviewed Len a few times when he was the Cubs announcer including this piece from Illinois Entertainer/2017 and this podcast interview just before his final season with the Cubs. He is now the radio voice of the Chicago White Sox.

 

*January 21—Wolfman Jack birthday

=One of the most famous rock and roll disc jockeys of all time. Fellow Hall of Famer John Records Landecker wrote about his brush with the late American Graffiti star in his book Records Truly Is My Middle Name. You can read that excerpt for free here.

 

TV/STREAMING

 

*Q&A with WTTW News Director Jay Smith

=Channel 11 viewers are bracing for the changes in the flagship show, Chicago Tonight, which is moving timeslots from 7pm to 10pm beginning on Monday January 23rd. Jay Smith is the news director at WTTW and he answers questions about the impending changes coming to Chicago’s PBS station.

*Jeff Agrest Ranks Chicago's Top Sportscasters

=The Sun-Times sports media critic watches and listens to all of them. Today in the Sun-Times, he ranks the sportscasters he considers the best and worst. Best: Adam Amin. Worst: Cole Wright. The full list is here.

*Cecilia Vega Leaves ABC to Join 60 Minutes

=Vega was one of the top reporters for ABC News for the past decade, and calls the opportunity to report for 60 Minutes "A dream come true". The move was announced on Thursday morning.

*Alec Baldwin to be charged with involuntary manslaughter

=CNN.com reported the news yesterday. If convicted, he could face 18 months in prison for the shooting death on the set of Rust.

*Kerry Sanders retires from NBC News

=Sanders was one of the very best reporters in the NBC Newsroom. This week he announced his retirement. The Today Show has the full story.

 

*Chrisley Knows Best stars report to prison

=Todd and Julie Chrisley were the Reality-TV stars from the USA Network show Chrisley Knows Best. The show featured the family living a ridiculously lavish lifestyle. Turns out, they were fraudulently borrowing money from banks to live that way. In November they were convicted of bank fraud, tax evasion, and submitting false documents. This week they began serving their combined 19-year prison term. Now, that would be a good reality show.

 

*Cable News Corner

=CNN is supposedly looking to hire a comedian for a prime-time slot. Among the names being tossed around: Jon Stewart. That would be amazing, but I sincerely doubt he has any interest in the gig.

=Fox News is the highest rated of the cable news stations, but would you believe that neither Tucker nor Hannity have the highest rated show? The Five is king of cable news. This Washington Post piece speculates the earlier show is in a better timeslot for the elderly Fox News viewers.

=NBC & MSNBC Layoffs were announced last Friday afternoon after I posted my media notebook column. It has become quite controversial in the week since it happened. Deadline.com has the scoop about the unfair labor practices claim.

*Streaming Corner

=Chicago favorite, The Bear, returns for Season 2 later this year. I’ll be watching it on Hulu.

*British actor Julian Sands missing in California after a hike

=Sands starred in the film A Room with a View among many others. He went hiking in the mountains in Southern California last week and hasn’t been seen since. More information here in this BBC report.

 

SOCIAL MEDIA

*What the Jan 6 Committee Discovered About Social Media But Didn’t Include in Their Report

=According to this, the story about Twitter’s content moderation in the pre-January 6^th era is the real scandal, not the way they tried to correct that problem after 1/6 insurrection.

*Trump is coming back to Twitter, wants to come back to Facebook

=After saying he wasn’t coming back, the demise of Truth Social has forced his hand. Twitter has already allowed him back, although he hasn’t tweeted yet. Facebook hasn’t decided yet what to do. He had been banned on both social media platforms after his role in fomenting the storming of the Capitol. 

*Deep Dive on the History of Twitter by New York Magazine

=It’s all here, including the odd behavior of previous CEOs, and the increasingly odd behavior of the current one.

*Over 500 Advertisers Have Abandoned Twitter

=Reuters reports that news, as well as the news that Twitter revenues are down 40% from this time last year.

PRINT/DIGITAL MEDIA

 

*CNET experiments with AI-written articles

=As a writer, not too crazy about this news. But according to this human-written piece in the Washington Post about the experiment, it appears these articles needed a lot of fixing by humans after they were “written.” For now.

*A Cabbie Book

=It’s not from my publishing company, but this book by a Chicago cabbie sounds like an interesting read. Clearly the Tribune’s Rick Kogan felt that way too. His article about the book is here.

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.