MEDIA NOTEBOOK
A curation of news items about the media from this past week, with a particular emphasis on Chicago.
RADIO/PODCASTS
*Podcast Ratings
=The numbers for February
just came out, and the top 10 rated podcasts were…
The Daily
NPR News Now
Up First (NPR)
Dateline NBC
Morbid
Smartless
The Ben Shapiro Show
This Past Weekend with
Theo Von
Stuff You Should Know
Pardon My Take
*F-Bomb dropped on ESPN
Radio
=Bears reporter Courtney
Cronin was having technical problems when she let it fly. Jeff Agrest has more on the story.
*Scott Childers Exits
=In addition to the career
detailed below, Scott is also the author of the great book about WLS history…
*The AM for Every Vehicle Act
Gets 218th Co-Sponsor
=I must admit I’m
surprised by this development. Could it really pass? Radio Ink analyzes thesituation.
*Uncle Lar Flashback
=Love this picture of
Larry Lujack from the 60s. Posted as part of the 100th anniversary
celebration at WLS.
*Give a Vet a Pet
=Sherman
& Tingle capped off their seventh annual “Give
a Vet a Pet” campaign to raise funds for the
American Veterans Service Dog Academy (AVSDA) to help provide service dogs to
local veterans who are suffering from PTSD. Listeners of the show helped raise
$107,272.
*The Women Who Make Q-101
=Every weekday at noon during Women’s History Month, Q101’s
Lauren O’Neil is showcasing the most influential female artists in Alternative
Rock by playing several songs from each featured artist, exclusive interviews,
and stories about the artists.
*Broadcasting Can Be Cold
Business for Legendary Voices
=Andy Masur’s latest piecein Barrett Sports Media is about the treatment given to long-time sports
announcers. Among the examples he discusses is Hawk Harrelson’s departure from
the Sox.
*Norm Winer Update
=Norm left WXRT eight
years ago. What is he up to now?
*The Loop Files
=Thanks to Tom Lounges
from the NWI Times and Lakeshore Public Media for having me on the show
this week to promote my upcoming podcast/book signing Saturday at Bridge's Scoreboard Restaurant in Griffith Indiana at 3pm with fellow
radio-guy authors John Records Landecker and Mitch Michaels. Dan
McNeil will also be on hand, helping with the podcast. Looking forward to
seeing everyone.
MEDIA BIRTHDAYS/MILESTONES
*March 3—Ian Punnett birthday
=Ian Punnett grew
up in Chicagoland and had a long and prosperous radio career. Only a brief
portion of that was here in Chicago, in the early 90s when WGN decided it
needed to go younger. It didn’t work out for Ian in his hometown (although he
later appeared on WLS as well), but he had lots of success in
Minneapolis. I got a chance to interview him in
2007 for Chicago Radio
Spotlight. Punnett passed away in 2023.
*March 4—Jesse Rogers birthday
=Rogers was part of that
original crew at the Score as a producer and has gone on to become a respected
reporter for ESPN.
*March 4—Laura Witek birthday
=Laura was a radio news
anchor in Chicago, first at WMAQ, and later at AM 1000 and WCKG. Not an easy
task, by the way, retaining news credibility while also trying to navigate the
crazy worlds of Kevin Matthews and Steve and Garry.
She’s living out west these days, but fondly remembers her time here in this Chicago Radio Spotlight interview
from 2007.
*March 4—Tim Weigel birthday
=Weigel would have been 79
years old this week. I was lucky enough to work with Tim in his Channel 2 days,
providing him clips for his Weigel Wieners segment.
*March 5—Ken Sumka birthday
=Ken worked at WXRT for
years and also spent time as a traffic reporter on WBBM-News radio. He moved to
Wisconsin a few years ago. I interviewed Ken for Chicago Radio
Spotlight in 2008.
*March 5—Scott Dirks birthday
=Scott was a mainstay at
the Loop during both of the radio station’s hey-days (late 70s/late 80s), and
later worked at WLS-FM, among others. One of my favorite old Chicago Radio
Spotlight interviews. This one was in 2007.
*March 5—Phil Duncan birthday
=Phil Duncan was the
morning man at WCLR back in the day and a long-time production director at
US-99. He also worked at WLS-AM. Phil now lives in Madison, Wisconsin.
*March 5, 1982—John
Belushi death anniversary
=This was a sad day in
Chicago history, when we lost one of our own, John Belushi. Not only was he a
native of the area (Wheaton) and a Second City star before his famous days at
SNL, he also spent a lot of time in Chicago during the filming of the classic
film The Blues Brothers. This is a photo from that time of John
and Dan Aykroyd with John Records Landecker (Photo: John Gehron) in
the WLS Big 89 studios, and another with Steve Dahl (Photo: Paul Natkin)
*March 6—Sean Compton birthday
=Sean is the president of
Nexstar Networks, which includes the CW Network, NewsNation, Antenna-TV,
Rewind-TV, and of course WGN Radio (among others).
*March 7, 2011—Harry
Teinowitz arrested for DUI
=While this moment
essentially ended Harry’s radio career in Chicago, it’s also the moment that
saved his life. That’s what he told me when I interviewed him for my podcast last
year. It also inspired a play that he
co-wrote with his long-time friend and on-air partner Spike Manton.
The play When Harry Met Rehab was nominated for a Jeff award.
*March 8—Lester
Holt birthday.
=Lester is the anchor of
the NBC Nightly News, but we’ll always remember him in Chicago for his time at
Channel 2, and more importantly, his starring role in the video we all had to
watch during jury duty. This photo with his former colleague Rich King appears
in Rich’s latest book Ike and Me
*March 8, 2020—Clark
Weber death anniversary
=Weber was the biggest
star in Chicago during his days at WLS Radio, when the rock format was first
adopted at the station in the early 60s. He remained the air in Chicago for the
next 50 years. I got a chance to interview Clark a few times, but this one from 2007 was my favorite. Some incredible stories, including a great one about
the Beatles.
*March 8—Drew Walker birthday
=Drew has done virtually
every shift on the air at US-99, recently celebrating his 20th year
at the station. At one point I think he was on for seven hours a day. He’s now
the 9-Noon jock there. I interviewed him in 2007 for Chicago
Radio Spotlight.
March 8—Franklyn
MacCormack birthday.
=MacCormack passed more than 50 years ago (1971), but was a legendary personality on WGN in the 60s.
*March 9—Ed Silha birthday
=Known as “Computer Ed” on
the Steve Dahl show for years, Silha is currently a podcasting
mogul, the owner of the Radio Misfits Podcast Network. (Full
disclosure—that network airs all three of my podcasts)
*March 9—Bob Ferguson birthday
=Bob is a 30+ year veteran
of the Chicago radio world. Most of that time has been served in the
engineering department at WGN Radio.
TV/STREAMING
*Larry
Snyder
=40 years!
A Standing “O” for @ABC7Chicago Sports Producer @Snyderlarrysnyd celebrating 40 years at ABC7 🏆🙌 pic.twitter.com/GsWf4BsGjP
— Ryan Chiaverini (@RyanChiaverini) March 6, 2024
*Flyover Chicago
=Ana
Belaval and Marcus Leshock take you on the new ride/experience at
Navy Pier. A simulated flight over Chicago.
*Chicago
Petcare Company Gets Funding from Shark Tank
=Mark Cuban
is the one who took a chance.
*Rust Armorer
Guilty of Involuntary Manslaughter
=Hannah Gutierez-Reed
was only 24-years old when she was on set. A New Mexico jury found her guilty.
*TV Ghosts
=The networks that have lost over half of their audience over the last decade. Some big names
like MTV and Disney.
*Rest in
Peace
Long-time ESPN
reporter was 72.
DIGITAL/PRINT
*What
Happened When the Chicago Sun Times Freed the News
=The Nieman Lab takes a look at the Sun-Times decision to drop their paywall, and the
impact it has had.
*Four
Illinois Counties Have No Local Newspaper at All
=That’s the
finding of The State of Local News
Project at Northwestern University. The four counties are Alexander, Edwards,
Hamilton and Pulaski.
*Why the
Leak Investigation Inside the New York Times Newsroom is so Disturbing
=Former New
York Times public editor Margaret Sullivan opines.
*A Q&A
with Media Writer Max Tani
=Tani writes
for Semafor. This piece was published by Slate.
SOCIAL MEDIA/TECH
*Former
Google AI Engineer Charged with Stealing Trade Secrets for China Firm
=The Washington Post has more on this story.
*European
Union Fines Apple $2 billion
=This is all about Apple using the App store to keep out/push out/box out rivals.
*Elon Musk
Sued $128 Million
=This lawsuit was brought by former Twitter employees who were fired without cause.
