Musings, observations, and written works from the publisher of Eckhartz Press, the media critic for the Illinois Entertainer, co-host of Minutia Men, Minutia Men Celebrity Interview and Free Kicks, and the author of "The Loop Files", "Back in the D.D.R", "EveryCubEver", "The Living Wills", "$everance," "Father Knows Nothing," "The Radio Producer's Handbook," "Records Truly Is My Middle Name", and "Gruen Weiss Vor".
=Tim's a great comedian and we were excited to have him on the show a few years ago. He later helped me out by being a last second fill-in as keynote speaker for the Chicago Writers Association. That's Tim in the middle with the CWA board.
A curation of news items
about the media from this past week, with a particular emphasis on Chicago.
RADIO/PODCASTS
*Danny Parkins Leaving the Score
=Teased
the possibility here last week. Confirmed by the Chicago Sun-Times early this week, and the next day confirmed by Parkins himself. He ended his time at the Score with his
radiothon. Parkins will join the FS1 morning show.
This is
a shocker. Much too young. Kelly was a part of the Danny Bonaduce show
on WLUP and co-hosted a show with Pugs Moran on WCKG before heading down
to Dallas and co-hosting a show with Pugs there for several years.
=Well,
that didn’t take long. A few weeks ago we reported that WGN was removing Rich
Valdes from their weekday late night slot. This week WLS snapped him up and
is putting him on at night (9-Mid). He fits better at WLS because his show is
mainly a right-wing political show.
*New York Radio Earthquake
=This
would be like NewsRadio WBBM dropping its format. WCBS is an iconic news
station that has been around for 100 years. One of the people let go in this
massive layoff is former WLS (and WCKG) newsman Steve Scott…
=I’ve
been following the reports of layoffs at iHeart radio stations and haven’t seen
too many that affected Chicago. Here is one. Michael Perez has been let
go from Kiss-FM (103.5FM). He had been doing weekends.
=Ex-Chicago
radio staffer Gina Ferraro was also let go this week as part of the
national iHeart downsizing. She was a program director in Dayton. Gina
previously worked in Chicago at WLIT, WUSN, WGN, and WIND.
The man behind "The Break Up Song" and the smash hit "Jeopardy". He also hosted a radio show in Bay Area for 20+ years. He was 75.
*38 Books About Chicago Radio
=Don
Beno posted these on the Chicago Radio Archives and Memories page. Five are
published by my publishing company, and I think I’ve read another ten of them.
Check out the list (complete with cover photos) here.
=The
former WGN reporter/anchor (both radio and television) now works for her alma
mater, the University of Illinois. I interviewed Andrea about that in 2023 for the Illinois Entertainer. Click on her name, and you can also read the first
interview I did with her back in 2007.
=Ron was
a well-regarded music programmer (especially in the Oldies genre) and wrote
several books about Chicago radio music charts. I interviewed him in 2011 for Chicago Radio Spotlight. He passed away a few years ago.
*August
12--Lauren Jiggetts birthday
=The
popular WGN-TV anchor is the daughter of former Chicago Bears lineman (and
broadcaster) Dan Jiggetts.
*August
12, 1966
=Take a
look at what Chicago was listening to this week in 1966. The Hollies song “Bus
Stop” was #1 on WLS Silver Dollar Survey
*August
13—Danny Bonaduce birthday
=He was
a star in the 1970s on TV, and in the 1990s on the radio in Chicago (The Loop).
Danny recently retired from his morning show in Seattle. I interviewed him several
times, most recently in 2021 for Illinois Entertainer.
*August
14—Rick Hall birthday
=Rick is
the music director and afternoon personality at Throwback 100.3 in Chicago.
=Mackay
has been the morning man at The River for 16 years. He also co-starred on the
Kevin Matthews show on CD 94.7 before that.
*August
16, 1954—Sports Illustrated debuts
=It
may be a shell of its former self, but this year Sports Illustrated turns 70
years old. The first issue featured Eddie Matthews of the
Milwaukee Braves slugging in County Stadium.
*August
16, 1977—Elvis Presley Dies
=Do
you remember where you were when you heard the news?
TV/STREAMING
*Colbert
in Chicago
=Next week
Stephen Colbert is bringing his show to Chicago for the Democratic National Convention.
Last night he had Sean Hayes on the show to do a bit about things that are
going on this week in Chicago (outside of the convention). It was comedy gold. My hometown of Mt. Prospect even got a mention.
*NBC Chicago
Convention Coverage
=Channel 5 is
bringing back Carol Marin to be part of their weeklong Democratic
National Convention coverage. Political reporter Mary Ann Ahern will not
only be covering the convention for local Channel 5 she will also be on Meet
the Press on Sunday with Kristin Welker. Telemundo’s Iris Berrios
will be part of the local coverage as well, for both Channel 5 and
Telemundo. The NBC network coverage will be helmed by Lester Holt and Savannah Guthrie.
*Matthew
Perry’s Personal Assistant & Doctor Charged
=This story is an all too familiar one. Similar to John Belushi. Similar to Michael
Jackson. Similar to Elvis. The fault is still with the victim
himself, but without the enablers around these celebrities, this wouldn’t have
happened.
=CBS replaced Norah
O’Donnell with two men, John Dickerson and Marcell DuBois. Katie
Couric wrote an op-ed in the New York Times criticizing this move. Her reasons are here.
*Paramount
Shuts Down TV Studio
=There are some drastic cuts coming to
many of the properties currently owned by Paramount (including CBS). They have
to cut $500 million in the coming weeks/months before the merger is finalized.
First move is shutting down the TV studio completely. Reuters has more.
A 22-year-old NewsNation journalist in Chicago was killed last month after she was struck by an oncoming commuter train, her parents told local news outlets.https://t.co/OH4SD5P4EK
*Kansas
Police Chief Formally Charged in Newspaper Raid
=This was
welcome news this week. The police chief was charged with obstruction after
initiating a raid on the town’s local newspaper last year. Full story is here.
=If you happen to run into one of your favorite movie stars this weekend, you'll probably assume they are in town for the DNC. Not necessarily. If it's Mark Hamill, Hayden Christensen, Rosario Dawson, William Shatner, or Marissa Tomei, it's because of FanExpo. They'll be signing autographs here.
*The radio
legends in the photo above are David Berner, John Dempsey, Mitch Michaels, and
Pat Cassidy.
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.
