MEDIA NOTEBOOK
A curation of news items about the media from this past week, with a particular emphasis on Chicago.
RADIO/PODCASTS
*What to Watch for in Local
Chicago Media 2024
=Axios Chicago shines a spotlight on what could happen in Chicago radio, TV, print, and more in the
coming year.
*Destination Eat Drink
=The January issue of Illinois Entertainer is out and features my piece about one of my favorite podcasts, Destination Eat Drink. It’s hosted by former Chicagoan Brent Petersen.
*Audacy to File for
Bankruptcy
=This story has been coming
for a long time. According to the Wall Street Journal, Audacy’s bankruptcy filing will take place in a few weeks. In Chicago, Audacy owns WXRT, WBBM AM
& FM, WUSN, WBMX, and WSCR.
=The financial implications of this move are explained by Radio Ink. Locally, Salem owns WIND-AM.
*Spotify Backlash
=The changes announced last month by Spotify have enraged the music industry. Here’s one star’s reaction. Dee
Snider from Twisted Sister: “That
guy from Spotify. I wanna tell you, he should be taken out and shot. When he
heard that artists were complaining about how little we get paid, his response
was ‘make more music.’ Like we’re producing cans of Coke!”
=I interviewed Ian for Chicago Radio Spotlight back in 2007.
*Taylor Swift Tops Elvis
=This is hallowed ground. She has now spent more weeks at #1 than Elvis.
*Podcast Corner
=In 2024, the industry hopes AI will jumpstart growth. P.S: Add foreign language voice over artists and translators to the endangered professions list.
=Dan Levy interviewed
Garry Meier for his latest podcast.
*The Loop Files
=Thanks to Pete McMurray
and Steve Cochran for having me on WLS last week.
MEDIA BIRTHDAYS/MILESTONES
*January 1, 2019
=Five years ago this week I interviewed Dave Fogel for Illinois Entertainer. He’s still going strong as the co-host of the morning show at WLS-FM.
*January 2, 1992/The Score debuts
=At first it was only on during the daytime hours at 820 AM. It
later migrated to 1160 AM, before landing in it’s current location at 670 AM.
The first all-sports-talk station in Chicago was a bold experiment at the time
of its debut. Now every market in America has at least one sports-talk station.
*January 3--Rick Gieser birthday
=Rick was one of the originals at the Score. He was the first
executive producer of the morning show. Tom Shaer was the morning show
host. Tom Webb was the newsman. Dawn Shuneman DeSart was the
traffic reporter. Henry Henderson was the associate producer.
*January 3--Tanya Maher birthday
=Tanya is a gifted voice over artist who also did traffic
reports in Chicago for years.
*January 3, 2016/Barry O’Keefe’s death
=The longtime newsman at WTMX passed away this week eight years
ago. I interviewed him back in 2008 shortly after he left the Eric and Kathy
show.
*January
3, 1998/Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me debuts
=The
announcer for the NPR/WBEZ classic is Bill Kurtis. I interviewed him about that (and
many other things) for my podcast a few years ago.
*January
4--Dave Kerner birthday
=Before
retiring last year, Dave did radio for more than four decades including WBBM-AM
(2004-2023). He previously worked at the Score.
*January
4, 1927/John Drury birthday
=The
legendary Channel 9 and Channel 7 anchorman was simply one of the most
respected journalists in Chicago history. The high school radio awards were
named after Drury posthumously (he died in 2007). Drury also had small roles in
the films Richie Rich, Baby’s Day Out and Rent-a-Cop.
Drury’s long-time producer Alex Burkholder wrote a book for Eckhartz
Press in 2018 called Death
of the Angels.
*January
4, 1963/Randy Salerno birthday
=Salerno
was a reporter/anchor at WBBM-Channel 2 when he died in a tragic snowmobiling
accident in late January 2008. He previously worked at WGN-TV.
*January
4, 1966/WFLD-TV debuts
=They
began broadcasting from their original studios in Marina City this week 58
years ago. Their studios are now on Michigan Avenue just south of the river.
*January
5--Mary Van De Velde birthday
=I
interviewed the WGN traffic mainstay (and fellow U of
I alum) back in 2009.
*January
6--Judd Sirott birthday
=Judd
started in Chicago radio as a producer at the Score. He later went on to do
Cubs and Blackhawks pre- and post-game shows and play-by-play for the Chicago
Wolves. Judd is now the radio voice of the Boston Bruins. (His uncle is WGN
morning man Bob Sirott) I
interviewed Judd back in 2011, shortly before he
made the move east.
*January
6--Anne Johnsos birthday
=The
Medill School of Journalism grad has worked at both WGN and WBBM Radio. In 2017
she authored the book Potty
Mouthed: Big Thoughts from Little Brains. It’s
not about radio.
TV/STREAMING
*Mickey Mouse Enters Public
Domain
=At least the Steamboat Willie version does. The Verge has the details.
*First Time Since 2015
Disney Isn’t Top Grossing Movie Studio
=In 2023 they were bested by Universal. Oppenheimer and the Super Mario brothers had more than a little to do with that.
*Tracy Butler Celebrates 30
Years at ABC-7
=Congrats to Tracy. That’s a
heck of a run. There were a few surprise guests who came in to wish her a happy
anniversary. Click here to see who.
*CAN-TV at 40
=CAN-TV has been serving the community now for 40 years. WBBM-News Radio has the story.
*50 Years of Happy Days
=The Catchy Comedy Network is featuring a Happy Days marathon to celebrate the show's 50th anniversary. It begins on January 13th at 10am and runs until January 15th at 5am. 86 back-to-back episodes.
*How Fox changed the NFL
=Andy Masur’s take at Barrett Sports Media
*Kimmel vs. Rogers
=I
don’t know either of these guys personally, but there’s clearly one good guy
here and one bad guy. Hint: the bad guy is a quarterback. I’m probably being
too subtle. The bad guy is Aaron Rogers.
Jimmy Kimmel tells Aaron Rodgers he'll see him in court if he keeps up 'reckless' Jeffrey Epstein claims https://t.co/syqBv81hgL
— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) January 3, 2024
*Nicole Berlie announcement
on NewsNation
=In case you missed her
announcement over the break…
*Rest in Peace
Lost quite a few legends
over the break…
The news broke this morning. Hutch is gone at age 80.
Tommy was 86. He will always be remembered for his groundbreaking 1960s show The Smothers Brothers, although this clip is pretty funny too..
The mercurial Las Vegas comic was 97.
The Academy Award nominated actor was 75.
Another Academy Award
nominated actor. He was only 48.
Chicago’s very own character actor nearly made it to 100.
The tap-dancing star was 80.
Best known for her role as Mrs. Banks in Mary Poppins. She was 100.
*Paula Abdul Accuses
American Idol Producer of Sexual Assault
=It happened over 20 years ago. The New York Times has the story.
=The day after Abdul’s
lawsuit, two more women sued the same producer.
DIGITAL/PRINT MEDIA
*New York Times Sues for
Copyright Infringement
=They claim that AI simply uses NYT content, sometimes verbatim, and that content is behind a paywall. NPR explains the case pretty well.
SOCIAL MEDIA
*X (Twitter) Downgraded
=How bad has it been going
at Twitter? Fidelity, which loaned Elon Musk money for the purchase,
estimates its value is down 70% since Musk took over.
