Showing posts with label Bill Zehme. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bill Zehme. Show all posts

Friday, October 25, 2024

Media Notebook--10-25-24















MEDIA NOTEBOOK

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



RADIO/PODCASTS

 

*Chicago Public Media’s AI Plan

=OpenAI and Microsoft have invested $10 million in local news, including a $500,000 grant to Chicago Public Media in Chicago. According to Axios, in Chicago it will be used by WBEZ and the Chicago Sun Times for transcriptions, translations, and summaries. There’s more info here.

=WBEZ also got a grant from the Mellon Foundation to expand their radio project targeting prisoners and their families. Inside Radio has more.

 


*Vikki Kokuzian Leaving WGN Radio

=Her last day will be on Monday. Vikki is leaving to concentrate on her kids and her real estate business.


 

*Will Ferrell’s House Party

=Ferrell is coming to town tomorrow to host a charity party at Wintrust Arena, along with DJ White Shadow and Swedish House Mafia. They will be spinning tunes along with celebrity DJs and artists like D-Nice, A-Trak, Felix Da Housecat, Terry Hunter, Terrence Parker, Twista, and Henry Fong. It’s a charity fund raiser for Cancer for College. Get your tickets here.



*Podcast Corner

=Carson the Magnificent. Steve Cochran interviews Mike Thomas, who has just finished the Johnny Carson book begun by the late great Bill Zehme. 

=Coming soon: The Supper with Sylvia Podcast starring Chicago TV journalist Sylvia Perez. 

=Trump is appearing on Joe Rogan’s podcast today.

=Tom Jones interviews Steve Kornacki for his Poynter Report Podcast.

=Political podcasts get election year bump.

=Barstool Sports Won’t Interview Harris or Trump. Dave Portnoy: “I’m not deep enough.”


 

*Ex-Chicago Radio Update

=Tony Sculfield, who anchored the morning show at WGCI for a few years, has re-emerged on the radio dial. The stand-up comic is now the co-host of the Toni and Tony Morning show on Kiss 104 FM in Atlanta.


 

*Music News

=MusiCares names the Grateful Dead as the Persons of the Year. The 34th annual award is handed out at a gala ceremony around the time of the Grammys. Tickets available here.

=Here’s an endorsement you might have missed: Insane Clown Posse endorsed Harris for President. Country singer Jason Aldean early voted for Trump.

=Chicago-based rapper Lil Durk arrested on murder-for-hire charge.

 


*Rest in Peace

=Paul Di’Anno

Former lead singer of Iron Maiden. He was 66.


 

MEDIA BIRTHDAYS/MILESTONES

 

*October 20—Artie Kennedy birthday

=The always lovable former WLUP and ESPN producer/production man. You can get an idea of Artie’s engaging personality from reading this interview I did with him back in 2009.

 

*October 21—Frank Mahoney birthday

=Frank worked with Geoff Pinkus at WIND and WCKG.

 

*October 22—Danny Parkins birthday

=Former Afternoon co-host at the Score, now with FS1.

 

*October 22—John Govi birthday

=The man behind those great Chicagoland record shows

 

*October 22-- Joe Collins birthday.

=One of Chicago’s best traffic reporters passed in 2017, just a few years after I interviewed him for Illinois Entertainer.

 

*October 22—Kurt Scholle birthday

=Former WJJD/WJMK/Satellite Music Network jock/newsman Kurt Scholle (air name: Kurt Schafer) is a dead-ringer for Santa during the holiday season.

 

*October 22—Pam Zekman birthday

=Chicago television’s investigative reporter extraordinaire 

 

*October 23—Dan Dorfman birthday

=Dan is a reporter for Pioneer Press, who occasionally writes for the Chicago Tribune.

 

*October 23, 1925

=Birth of the greatest late-night talk show host of all-time, Johnny Carson.

 

*October 24—Mary June Rose birthday

=The former WGN Radio program director Mary June Rose now lives in North Carolina and works as a photographer (MJ Rose-Photos).

 

* October 24 Anne-Marie Kennedy birthday

=Former WLUP (and CBS-Boston) promotional guru 

 

*October 25, 2014

=Ten years ago this week, we lost one of the good ones. Cindy Gatziolis was the promotion director at the Loop during the second Loop hey-day in the 90s, before going on to work for the Mayor’s Office of Special Events. I wrote this tribute to her the day she passed away.

 

*October 25-- Patti Haze birthday

=Chicago rock radio royalty.  I interviewed Patti for Illinois Entertainer in 2016.

 

*October 26-- Jasmine Cooper birthday

=TV/radio producer (WCIU, WGN)

 

 

TV/STREAMING

 

*Kevin Cross new IBA Chairman of the Board

=Cross is the President/GM of NBC Universal Chicago (Channel 5 & Telemundo). He added another title to his crowded business card, chairman of the board of the Illinois Broadcasters Association…



 

*NAB President Warns About Trump’s Media Threats

=Trump has now threatened to revoke licenses of NBC, ABC, and CBS during this current campaign. The president and CEO of the National Association of Broadcasters Curtis LeGeyt talked to The Hill about the threat.


 

*Leila Rahimi Leaves NBC-5

=Two years ago she was named the lead sports anchor at Channel 5. This week she confirmed to the Sun-Times that she is no longer with the station. She will continue appearing twice a week on the Score midday show.


 

*Mully & Haugh on TV

=It’s a radio simulcast…


 *50 Years of IHSA State Football Championships

=Tomorrow night (Saturday) at 8:00 on WCIU, Dave Bernhard and Tim O’Halloran will host a high school football special, celebrating the 50th anniversary of the state playoffs, and previewing and predicting this year’s upcoming finals (from 1A to 8A). The games will be played Thanksgiving weekend.

 


*Cable News Corner

=Father clearly doesn’t approve of this approach…

 =Cigar Aficionado Interviews Bret Baier


 

*Dana Carvey’s Incredible Joe Biden Impersonation

=The New York Times analyzes the great political impersonations from this election season and one of them stands out. Dana Carvey as Joe Biden. Totally agree.


 

*Congrats to WGN-TV

=More hardware for the WGN-TV shelf…


 *Rest in Peace

=Jack Jones

Crooner. Singer of the Love Boat theme. He was 86.



PRINT/DIGITAL

 


*Scoops of the Week

=Former Trump Chief of Staff General John Kelly ended his long silence, talking to Jeffrey Goldberg at the Atlantic, and Michael Schmidt at the New York Times. He has said of some of these things before, but this time there is audio.


 

*LA Times Editor Quits After Owner Nixes Endorsement

=The newspaper was getting ready to endorse Kamala Harris for president when owner Patrick Soon-Shiong stepped in to announce no endorsement would be made. That led editorial chief Mariel Garza to step down. The New York Times has more on the story.

=FYI, in case you forgot, the Chicago Tribune also no longer endorses candidates for president. Their owners (Alden Capital) made that decision in 2022. Neither does the Chicago Sun Times, because they merged with Chicago Public Media, and are now considered a not-for-profit.

=LATE UPDATE: Jeff Bezos also killed the Washington Post's endorsement of Kamala Harris.



*Writer Underwriting Writer

=Did you know that when Blair Kamin retired as the architecture writer for the Chicago Tribune, he agreed to pay for his successor out of his own pocket? Mark Caro has that incredible media story.


 

*Cooper Hefner Trying to Buy Back Playboy

=Hugh Hefner’s youngest child, Cooper, is trying to buy back the iconic Playboy brand, and according to this report, is offering $100 million. Cooper is 33 years old, the son of Hef and Kimberly Conrad.

=LATE UPDATE: His bid was "unanimously rejected" last night.

 


*Nuzzi Parts Ways with New York Magazine

=She had been suspended since the news of her affair with RFK Jr. came out a few weeks ago, but Olivia Nuzzi and New York Magazine made it official this week that she no longer works for the magazine.


 

*3rd Most Popular Magazine in America

=Would you believe it’s Costco Connection?


 

SOCIAL MEDIA

 


*Whistleblower Demands Nunes Firing at Truth Social

=According to this piece in Pro Publica, a whistleblower at Trump Media is calling out CEO Devin Nunes for “consistently lying” and “making the company vulnerable to action by regulators.”



 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.

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Friday, March 31, 2023

Media Notebook--3-31-23















MEDIA NOTEBOOK

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

(By Rick Kaempfer)

 


RADIO/PODCASTS

 

 

*Mitch Rosen Interview

=Over the weekend my interview with the Score’s Brand Manager, Mitch Rosen, will be posted at Illinois Entertainer. It’s another good one. Mitch has seen and done it all in his 30-year radio career. I’ll post a link to it here next week but keep a look out for it in the meantime.

 

 

*Johnnie D Leaves WGCI

=The program director position at WGCI has been eliminated, which means that Johnnie D is out. All Access caught up with him and discussed the news.

 

 

*RIP Bill Zehme

=Zehme was an acclaimed author, famous for his books about Frank Sinatra (The Way You Wear Your Hat), Andy Kaufman (Lost in the Funhouse) and more, but he always remained a Chicago guy. He passed away this week at the age of 64. Big loss for the entire Chicago media community.

=Zehme fans will want to tune in tonight (Friday) to Dave Plier's show on WGN. Garry Meier will join him live at 7pm to talk about Zehme. Garry & Zehme were close. So close, Garry asked Bill to be his daughter's godfather. Also, Plier is planning on replaying his own interview with Zehme.

=Zehme was a big fan of Chicago radio. When he was a kid, he was smitten with the jocks on the Big 89, Music Radio WLS. That’s why when John Landecker was writing his memoir Records Truly Is My Middle Name in 2013, I asked Zehme if he would be willing to contribute to it. This is what he sent me, and it made it into the final version of the book…

“I think of my time spent staring at Landecker doing his job (Can you imagine?  Staring at a man doing his job?) from the glassed-off safety of that little WLS viewing room, wherein all DJs resembled captive zoo creatures with the most powerful microphones controlling the lives of us 70s chilluns; the ones who ran to Sears to get the Big '89 Surveys each week to see where the hits were charting as though life depended on it.

        Landecker (and to lesser degrees Sirott and J.J. Jeffrey) -- these voices became actual men (with the Best Jobs Ever!). True, they were also guys clearly uncomfortable being stared at by punks like me, but here is why Landecker was my favorite.  Like Johnny Carson later at night (who always patiently waited a half hour for Landecker's 6-10pm shift to end), I learned the seductive if inscrutable power of the vaguely naughty double entendre. But moreover, whenever I came downtown to stare at him-- he always, always, always stepped out to say hello, like he knew what his voice meant to us and, humble though he was, he did not want to disappoint.

        I ended up in media, you know.  Became a writer guy who's done a lot of books and magazine work and TV and radio (thrillingly even a few guest turns with the Great Landecker himself!).  But I tell only truth when I say that he was the first media hero who presented himself to me as a fine and funny and decent fellow with at least two dimensions, if not the full three.

All I've ever done is remember that, and try to emulate it, even though I personally would never stand for being caged in a viewing room.  Plus, who could look cooler than John anyway?”

 

 

*Dave Fogel Health Update

=WLS-FM morning man Dave Fogel shared some good news this week…

 

 

*Big Draw at this year’s NAB conference

=They scored Ted Lasso’s Brett Goldstein. He's really living up to that "He's here, he's there, he's every f***inwhere" Roy Kent cheer, isn't he?



*Our first home opener without him

=Thanks to the Cubs for this moment at Wrigley Field yesterday...


 

 

*Audacy’s Reverse Stock Split Gambit

=Audacy hasn’t been NYSE compliant for a while now (meaning their stock is below $1 a share), so this week they announced they would be doing a reverse stock split. I can’t say I totally understand what this means, even after reading this article, but I’m assuming you are smarter than I am.

=I hope this works out better than their attempted sale of radio.com, which got zero bids. 

 

 

*Salem Layoffs

=Salem Media announced they are laying off 3% of their workstaff. In Chicago one of those layoffs was production director Brian Rhodes.



*Baseball on the Radio

=Next time you think of calling the Cubs or White Sox cheap, thank your lucky stars you aren’t fans of the Angels. This is really hard to believe in this day and age…

 

 

*The Loop Files

=My Tuesday dip into the Loop Files. This week I feature my interview with the beloved Cindy Gatziolis. 

 

 

*Podcast Corner

=Add Amy Poehler to the everybody-has-a-podcast-now department. 

=Oh, and don’t forget Julia Louis Dreyfus

=NPR cancels four podcasts

=In a twist that fans of the podcast Serial probably didn’t see coming, Adnan Syed’s murder charge was reinstated on Tuesday. More details are here, via the AP.

=Here's a recommendation for rock fans. Mark Caro's latest Caropop podcast guest is the great Marshall Crenshaw.



*WMVP Reunion

=Saw lots of photos from the WMVP 25th reunion. I wanted to stop by, but was attending a writers conference a few blocks away. These are from Dave Juday’s Facebook page…

=Marc Silverman also posted some great ones. Go to his Facebook page for more. Looks like it was a home run event, despite occasional technical difficulties. Congrats to the WMVP crowd.

 


*Chicago Writes

=As I mentioned, I was speaking at a writers conference this weekend. One of the delights of being there was hearing the presentation by Catherine Johns. The former WLS talk show host and newscaster is a force of nature when she gets in front of a crowd. In this case, she was doing a non-fiction panel and talking about her book, Show up and Shine. That’s her in the photo below along with New York Times best-selling author Jonathan Eig.




 

 

MEDIA BIRTHDAYS/MILESTONES

 

 

*March 26—Ken Cocker birthday

=Ken was a fixture on the Chicago radio dial for years at stations like WMET, WJMK, and K-Hits. He was also once a minor league baseball player. I interviewed him for Chicago Radio Spotlight in 2012.


 

*March 26—Shane Riordan birthday

=Shane is executive producer, and content and operations manager for the Score. He also sports a mighty impressive beard.


 

*March 28—John Records Landecker birthday

=Why did John Landecker call his memoir Records Truly Is My Middle Name? Because it truly is. Nobody believes this when he tells them, but it’s true. His mother’s maiden name was Records, and she gave it to him as a middle name. His Radio Hall of Fame career was destiny. (He’s also in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the National Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame, and the Illinois Rock and Roll Hall of Fame). I was honored to speak at his ceremony in Indiana a few years ago when the Governor awarded him with the state’s highest honor. Of course, John is still on the air most weeknights on WGN-Radio.

 


*March 28—Jimmy “Mac” McInerny birthday

=Jimmy was one of the producers for Jonathon Brandmeier’s show for many years, and also worked as a producer and production guru for Kevin Matthews back in the day. His podcast Rebel Force Radio is a huge hit and a must listen for Star Wars fans. Jimmy Mac is married to Wendy Snyder.



*March 28, 1971—Final Ed Sullivan Show

=Ed Sullivan took the stage at the Ed Sullivan Theater for the very last time this week in 1971. The rerun of the show aired in June. The last musical guests to appear were Gladys Knight and the Pips.


 

*March 30—Fred Winston birthday

=Fred is one of the all-time great DJs in Chicago radio history. He worked at WLS, WCFL, WFYR, WJMK, and more. I interviewed Fred several times over the years, most recently in 2018 for Illinois Entertainer.



*March 31—Dean Richards birthday

=Dean has been a key part of the WGN-TV morning show for decades now. He’s also a major contributor to WGN Radio. I interviewed Dean back in 2008 for Chicago Radio Spotlight.


 

*March 31—Orion Samuelson birthday

=The man who taught Chicago radio listeners about pork bellies worked at WGN radio for five decades. I had the honor of interviewing him on the eve of that anniversary back in 2010.


 

March 31—Jock Hedblade birthday

=Jock was a producer at WGN (Bob Sirott) and WLS (Roe Conn), and later produced for the Rosie Show at Harpo and the Steve Harvey Show during his time in Chicago. He is now the executive director of the Macomb Area Convention and Visitors Bureau.

 


*March 31, 2008—CBS 2 Announces 17 Departures

=It was a bloodbath in the CBS 2 newsroom this week in 2008. Mary Ann Childers, Diann Burns, Mark Malone and 15 others were let go on the same day.

 


*April 1—Rob Johnson birthday

=Rob is also a former Channel 2 veteran. He was an anchor at WBBM-TV for 13 years, ending in 2019. Rob is active in many charities including the Special Olympics, and currently runs his own media consulting firm.

 


*April 1—Norm Van Lier birthday

=Norm was one of a kind and is still missed by those who knew him, including me. His former producer Tom Serritella wrote this tribute to Norm when he passed away in 2009. (Photo with Chet Coppock from Chet’s book Your Dime My Dance Floor)



*April 1—Bernie Tafoya birthday

=One of the top radio reporters in Chicago, Bernie has been doing it for decades at NewsRadio WBBM-AM. I interviewed him about his career back in 2009 for Chicago Radio Spotlight.


 

*April 1—Jim Shorts birthday

=This is the listed birthday of the Kevin Matthews show sportscaster. How many of you have interviewed an imaginary character in a foreign language? One of the oddest moments of my career. The English translation of that interview is here.


 

*April 1—Penny Lane birthday

=Penny Lane was in your ears and in your eyes in the 1970s as one of the gals on WSDM (a station with all female jocks), which later became the Loop. She was also a very prominent commercial voice-over artist for many years, and was married to the great Wayne Juhlin (WFYR). I interviewed her in 2011 about her memorable career


 

*April 1—Eddie Volkman birthday.

=Eddie is best remembered for his days with Jobo on B-96, but he currently holds down the fort afternoons on the Star network in Chicago’s suburbs. (Photo of Eddie & me taken back in his podcasting days)



 

 

TV/STREAMING

 

 

*The Home Stretch for Chicago Mayoral Election

=It can go either way still, but I agree with Brandon Pope about the work of the moderators for this last debate.

 

*Hawk Harrelson “Got Retired”

=With the new baseball season upon us, this news got some attention this week. Former White Sox broadcaster Hawk Harrelson is now saying that he didn’t retire, he “got retired”. Awful Announcing has more on thesubject.



*Opening Day and EveryCubEver

=I made the media rounds yesterday too. It was Opening Day for the Cubs, and the 5th Edition of my book EveryCubEver came out yesterday...


*Cable Corner

=Remember that Fox News producer who sued her bosses for turning her into a patsy in the Dominion Lawsuit scandal? She was fired by Fox News this week. Fox News apparently enjoys being in court.

=Oh, and the list of Fox News people that may have to testify in the trial has to be causing agita in the Fox News hallways: Fox News chief executive Suzanne Scott; Fox News President Jay Wallace; hosts Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson, Maria Bartiromo, Laura Ingraham, and Bret Baier; and former executive Bill Sammon, politics editor Chris Stirewalt, and  the Fox News producer who filed lawsuits against the network last week that alleged network lawyers coerced her into providing misleading testimony.

=And finally, the Society of Professional Journalists released a statement about this Fox News scandal. It was pretty harsh.  “No responsible journalist can accept or excuse this behavior.”  And just for the record, they are talking about Fox News, not Dominion.


*Death of Woodstock Cover Girl

=Her name was Bobbi Ercoline, but she is best known as the girl on the front cover of the Woodstock album, covered in a blanket, and hugging her boyfriend. She passed away this week at the age of 73. 

 

 

*Ireland Pays Their Artists

=This is an interesting experiment being conducted by the Republic of Ireland. They honor their artists so much, that they are paying them a weekly fee to stay with it. The New York Times has the details. 

 

 

SOCIAL MEDIA

 


*Twitter says part of their source code was leaked

=They are blaming a disgruntled ex-employee, although they don’t know which one. They have more than 10,000 of them.


 

*Twitter’s “For You” feed only for verified accounts

=In other words, you don’t pay, you don’t get on that feed. 

 


*What will journalists do if Tik Tok is banned?

=Tom Jones at The Poynter Institute asked that excellent question in his column this week. As of yesterday, 168 American news outlets have TikTok presences.  

 

 

PRINT MEDIA

 

*Russia Detains American Reporter

=This has the potential of being a major international incident. The reporter works for the Wall Street Journal, and his publication vehemently denies the Russian claim that he is a spy.



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.


If you're interested in some of my other projects from this week...

The Fifth Edition (2023) of EveryCubEver is out now!  Buy your copy today

Minutia Men:  Rick and Dave Confess

Minutia Men Celebrity Interview: Keytarist Jeff Abbott

Minutia Men Celebrity Interview Classic: Grand Funk Railroad's Mark Farner

Free Kicks with Adam & Rick: Free Kicks Goes To England

Meet the Eckhartz Press Author: Jeff Gentile

From the Eckhartz Book Shelf: Close Encounters of a Chicago Kind

My latest novel: Back in the D.D.R

Windy City Reviews Back in the D.D.R.

Podcast Interview about Back in the D.D.R: Military Family Museum Podcast


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