Media Notebook--2-3-23

MEDIA NOTEBOOK

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

RADIO/PODCASTS

*Waking up with Brian & Justin

=The latest issue of Illinois Entertainer came out this week and features my interview with Q-101’s morning team. A fun interview with a twist at the end. You can read it here. 

 

*The Last Great Chicago DJ?

=This was a front page story in the Chicago Tribune this week (January 27). The full title of the piece is The Last Great Chicago DJ? With Lin Brehmer’s Death and Rise of AI, are Radio’s Glory Days Over? Read it and see if you if you agree. It was written by William Lee.

 

*RIP Jay Marvin

=The former WLS talk show host had been in declining health for many years. His wife Mary announced that he passed away on Tuesday. Marvin was a country music DJ, who later became a lefty talker on a predominantly right-wing station here in Chicago. The published author spent his final years in Colorado.

=I never got a chance to meet him in person, but I did interview him on the phone in 2007 for Chicago Radio Spotlight. 

=Radio Ink and Inside Radio both mentioned the news, but neither really captured what Marvin was like.  For me, this piece by Eric Zorn is the best and most comprehensive account of Jay that you’ll find on-line. Zorn went back into his archives and reposted three columns he had written about Marvin over the years. Well worth the read.

 

*Larry Kudlow Show on WLS

=Larry Kudlow, former Trump advisor and current on-air host at the Fox Business Network, will debut a new weekend show this Sunday on WLS. The Larry Kudlow show will air from 5-8pm. 

 

*The Loop Files

=My weekly mining of my interviews with former Loopers continued on Tuesday, in case you missed it. This week’s feature is Bruce Wolf. 

*Harper College Radio a Chicago Reader Finalist

=Tis the time of year the Chicago Reader asks people to vote for their Best of Chicago favorites in a long list of categories. One of those is best radio station. Not surprised to see perennial favorites WXRT or WBEZ in the list of five finalists, but how about 100-watt 88.3FM Harper Radio? Congrats to the local music aficionados at WHCM. The other two finalists, by the way, are Vocalo Radio and Chirpradio (107.1 FM). The poll is open through February 15th, if you want to vote. Winners are announced in their April 6 edition.

 

*Folk DJ Hall of Fame

=John Platt, one of the people who launched WXRT in Chicago, is the latest member of the Folk DJ Hall of Fame.  Platt was in Chicago for about ten years but has also made his mark in New York and Philadelphia radio.  You can read more about him here.

*The Day the Music died

=Today is the anniversary of the plane crash that claimed the lives of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and the Big Bopper in 1959. Over the years I’ve been lucky enough to meet and talk to people who had a deep knowledge of the subject matter. The man who introduced them on stage at their last performance in Iowa was future WLS Big 89 jock Bob Hale. I worked down the hall from Bob when I was at WJMK and he was at WJJD. He told me the whole “The Day the Music Died” story for Chicago Radio Spotlight.

=Bob Dearborn became famous during his days at WCFL when he analyzed the mysterious lyrics of the song “American Pie” by Don McLean. Bob also was kind enough to write this piece for my blog explaining why Buddy Holly was so important to him.

 

*The Mix and Fitz

=Last October the Mix morning show auctioned off a private perfomance by Fitz and the Tantrums, and this week the band came into town and delivered the promised accoustic set to a select group of listeners at 167 Green Street. The money raised went to the American Cancer Society. The band played at the Vic last night.

*50 Years of Bill & Walter

=Dave Plier always seems to get the biggest guests on his WGN radio show. This past week he managed to reunite Bill Kurtis and Walter Jacobson for the 50^th anniversary of their pairing. A fun listen.

*Jen Weigel to interview Kathy Hart

=February 19 at Madame Zuzu’s in Highland Park. A spiritual discussion is sure to ensue.

*Podcast Corner

=WGN Radio’s Lisa Dent was interviewed by Brandwidth on Demand podcast hosts Kipper McGee and Dave Martin this week. I love these radio-on-radio conversations.

=Acclaimed novelist Adam Langer (a former WXRT intern) has a new podcast that examines the history and back-story of the Pulitzer Prize winning play The Diary of Anne Frank. 

=Nick DiGilio is doing another live podcast (The Nick D Show) at Zanies in Rosemont on February 21^st. Amy Guth will be there with him, filling in for co-host Esmeralda Leon.

=My podcast, Minutia Men, posted our 300^th episode this week. I’m still having a ball doing the show with my Eckhartz Press co-publisher David Stern. The 300^th episode is titled “Shopping with your German mother”. It’s very high-brow.

 

 

MEDIA BIRTHDAYS/MILESTONES

 

*January 30—Chuck Swirsky birthday.

=Chuck is not only the play-by-play man of the Chicago Bulls. He’s also an author. His book Always a Pleasure came out during the holiday season.

*January 30, 1935—Warner Saunders birthday

=Warner Saunders had a long and distinguished television career in Chicago at NBC-5. He retired in 2009 and passed away in 2018.

 

*January 30--Lisa Dent birthday

=Lisa hosts afternoons on WGN Radio. I was lucky enough to interview her for Illinois Entertainer in 2016, shortly after she was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame (during her days at US-99). 

 

*January 31—Josh Liss birthday

=The morning sports anchor for WBBM News Radio was featured in the December 2016 edition of Illinois Entertainer.

 

*January 31—Nick Shepkowski birthday

=Shepkowski was a producer and host at the Score for 15 years. 

 

*February 1—Lisa Miller birthday

=Lisa has been one of the most powerful media agents in Chicago for the past four decades. She is married to Channel 5 meteorologist Brant Miller.

 

*February 3—Karen Conti birthday

=Karen has been a legal analyst and host at WGN Radio for many years. 

 

*February 3—Dan Roan birthday

=Dan retired as the sports director of WGN-TV last year. I snapped this photo of Dan and his fellow WGN-TV colleagues at Rich King’s book launch party last May, just a week or so before Dan retired.

*February 3—Steve Sanders birthday

=Steve also retired from WGN-TV last year and is also in that photo above (second from the right).

 

*February 3—Lisa Greene birthday

=Lisa did stints at several radio stations in Chicago, including WJMK. I interviewed her for Chicago Radio Spotlight in 2008. She currently lives in California.

 

*February 3—Steve Bertrand birthday

=Steve has been a news mainstay at WGN radio since the mid-80s. I interviewed him for Chicago Radio Spotlight in 2012.

 

*February 4, 2009—Eddie Schwartz died

=Eddie was the overnight voice of Chicago for decades, first at WIND, then at WGN, and finally at WLUP. He had such an unusual sounding voice that he sparked impersonations from the likes of Steve Dahl and Kevin Matthews. Kevin even created a band to impersonate Eddie. He called it Ed Zeppelin. When I interviewed Eddie in 2007, he was already in declining health and was difficult to understand. Still, I’m glad I got the chance to get him on the record while I could.

 

*February 4—Jim Williams birthday

The Channel 2 news anchor recently celebrated his 20^th anniversary at the station.

 

TV/STREAMING

 

*Lisa Parker leaves NBC5

=If you feel like they are dropping like flies at NBC5, you aren’t alone. Here’s another one…

 

*Marcus Stroman appears on CBS News

=Cubs pitcher Marcus Stroman appeared on the national CBS News morning show to talk about his new children’s book, and his baseball career. Not an everyday event for a Chicago athlete. 

 

*DECADES remembers actresses Cindy Williams and Lisa Loring

=We lost two beloved sitcom stars this week, Cindy Williams and Lisa Loring.

=This weekend, Weigel Broadcasting honors Cindy Williams with tributes on MeTV and DECADES. MeTV will present four selected episodes of Laverne & Shirley that Williams said were her favorites, airing on Sunday afternoon from 2-4pm. DECADES will pay tribute with a Weekend Binge of 36 back-to-back Laverne & Shirley episodes beginning Saturday, February 4 at 11am. 

=DECADES will pay tribute to Lisa Loring beginning at 5am on Sunday, February 5 with a special binge of 48 back-to-back episodes of The Addams Family celebrating her character, Wednesday Addams. 

 

*Cheryl Scott Welcomes a New Colleague

=The Channel 7 weather department grew by one this week. Cheryl Scott welcomed her newest colleague Jaisol Martinez. Jaisol is a native Texan. Hopefully the Chicago weather doesn’t scare her off.

 

*Cable News Corner

=In a move that was teased a few weeks ago, CNN signed comedian Bill Maher for Friday nights. It should be interesting to see how he adjusts after having complete freedom at HBO for many years now. Maher is known to be a bit prickly.

 

*The mystery of ABC journalist answered

=James Gordon Meek was a top producer at ABC News. It made news last year when he abruptly resigned his position after the FBI raided his apartment. He basically disappeared after that, cutting off all contact with his former colleagues. This week’s unsealed court filing probably answers the reason why. Meek was charged in a child pornography case.

*The End of the GM3 Drama

=The titillating scandal involving the extra-marital affair of GM3 hosts Amy Robach and T.J. Holmes appears to have been resolved with the hosts leaving the network after a settlement was reached. Semafor reports that ABC Talent VP Galen Gordon is also on thin ice because he knew about the affair and didn’t alert his bosses.

 

*Giving back to their alma mater

=Alex Maragos and Mike Lowe may be on different channels in Chicago (NBC5 and WGN), but they are from the same alma mater (Loyola Academy) and spoke to students at the school last Friday.

 

 

PRINT MEDIA

 

*Newsworthy week in Chicago print media history.

Three big changes were announced…

=The Chicago Tribune named a new managing editor.

=The Chicago Sun Times announced their CEO was leaving.

=The Chicago Reader named their new Publisher and CEO

 

*Trump Sues Bob Woodward

=Yet another (probably) frivolous lawsuit was filed by the former president this week. This time he’s suing Bob Woodward for releasing the audio tapes of the on-the-record interviews he conducted with Trump. Presumably, the tapes include Trump agreeing to be taped. That’s something I always get on tape, and I’m sure Bob Woodward did the same.

 

SOCIAL MEDIA

 

*TikTok CEO to testify before Congress

=If you haven’t noticed, the new Congress is going hard after TikTok. They have called TikTok’s CEO to testify and justify TikTok’s modus operandi.

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.

Media Notebook--7/15/22

 

MEDIA NOTEBOOK

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

 

 

Radio/Podcasts

 

*Well -wishes for Lin Brehmer

The WXRT midday man surprised his legion of fans with his announcement this week that he is taking a leave of absence to undergo chemotherapy for his prostate cancer, which has unfortunately spread. Here’s a little bit of his written announcement…

      What can you do? Only this. Afford me the kindness you have always shown me. I will miss spending time with you every day, but hopefully, this too will pass and one day down the road, I will announce brightly on the airwaves of 93XRT, “It’s Friday. It’s Great to be Alive.”

     You’d be hard pressed to find someone in Chicago media who is more respected than Brehmer. Many of Lin’s fellow broadcasters and friends responded with words of encouragement and affection. Add my name to the list. 

    Lin did me the honor of sitting down for an interview a few years ago (2018) for Illinois Entertainer. You can read that interview here. 

*Robert Feder Exit Interview, Part 2 & 3

Last week I posted a link to Eric Zorn’s exit interview with former Daily Herald media critic/writer Robert Feder. (Neil Steinberg also posted an article about it.). Well, the article has apparently sparked controversy because Eric Zorn allowed Feder the right to look it over before he posted it. Eric defends himself here. 

Axios Chicago’s Justin Kaufman and Monica Eng also posted a piece about why Feder’s absence leaves such a big hole in our town’s coverage.

*Bob Stroud Exit Interview

I had the good fortune to speak with Bob Stroud this week about his great career. Bob stepped away from daily radio WDRV duties at the end of June. He will be featured in my next Illinois Entertainer media column on August 1^st. I’ve also posted the interview as a podcast, my 100^th episode of Minutia Men Celebrity Interview.  Listeners of the podcast will hear the bonus (embarrassing) story of the day I accidentally got trapped in Bob’s bathroom

*Disco Demolition Anniversary

July 12^th marked the 43^rd anniversary of Disco Demolition. As a former Steve & Garry producer (late 80s/early 90s), I’ve heard virtually everything there is to hear about this momentous radio promotion. I even interviewed Steve Dahl about it on the 40^th anniversary. You can read that piece here. (Photo courtesy of Joe Callahan Jr.)

 

*Satellite Radio/Terrestrial Radio feud

It appears that the radio advertising board got a little ticked off when they saw this ad from XM/Sirius.

According to Radio Ink, the RAB responded with this angry e-mail:

“Negative advertising, selling products or services by putting the competition down, is a marketing strategy that demonstrates a lack of strength in the product or service as a standalone. In the case of SiriusXM, when taking a look at their most recent earnings report, it’s no wonder their strategy was to go after the undisputed leader in the audio space, AM/FM broadcast radio.”

Then NAB CEO Curtis Leyget also chimed in…

“As the most-listened-to audio platform, broadcast radio is no stranger to our competitors’ envy of the popularity and connection we enjoy with Americans. That’s why SiriusXM’s new marketing campaign taking direct aim at local radio should come as no surprise.”

These two related industries have always had a strange relationship. I was working in radio when the main satellite radio stations debuted and was absolutely shocked that terrestrial radio allowed satellite radio to advertise. At that time, terrestrial radio wasn’t worried, and didn’t consider it competition. I argued then, and argue now, that they should have known better.

 

*Tackling Mis-information Just Got a Little Harder 

Inside Radio reports an appellate court in DC has struck down the bipartisan FCC attempt to stop propaganda from Russia or China from appearing on our airwaves. Broadcasters had fought back that it required too much investigation on their part (even though a database of registered foreign agents was provided to cross-check any outside source of material). The judge agreed with the broadcasters.

“Because the FCC has no authority to impose that verification requirement, we vacate that facet of its order,” wrote D.C. Circuit Judge Justin Walker. “We hold that the FCC cannot require radio broadcasters to check federal sources to verify sponsors’ identities.”

*Julian Tries Out Politics

From the RAMP newsletter…

Last week legendary longtime Chicago DJ/businessman Julian "Jumpin" Perez announced his departure from radio and promised to keep us posted on what he described as his "next chapter" -- yesterday, Perez made good on that promise and announced his entrance into the exciting world of Chicago politics and his candidacy for Alderman of Chicago's 26th ward.

 

*Media birthdays

Several of the media figures I’ve interviewed over the years are celebrating birthdays this week. Click on their names to read the original interviews. The year I interviewed them is in parenthesis.

·                     July 12—Former WTMX program director Barry James (2009)

·                     July 14—Former WDRV overnight  host Greg Easterling (2009) 

·                     July 15—Q-101 jock Lauren O'Neil (2016)

·                     July 15—Radio Hall of Famer Jonathon Brandmeier (1993) 

 

Television/Streaming/Social Media

 

*Emmy Nominations

My two favorite shows, Ted Lasso & Succession, lead the pack with 20 and 25 nominations respectively. The full list of Emmy nominees can be found here. 

*Elon Musk Backs Out Of Twitter Purchase

And is immediately sued by Twitter. There are some stories that make you say, ‘I never saw that coming’, and then there are stories like this one. Everyone saw it coming. Musk was apparently so unconcerned he posted a series of mocking memes on Twitter. More details about the lawsuit are here via the Washington Post: 

 

*Media Trust Reaches No Low

Publishers Daily has this rather unwelcome news for people working in the media:

                Trust in media is lower in the United States than any other place in the world, according to the Reuters Institute Digital News Report 2022, a global study released in June.  Finland has the highest level of trust at 69%, while the U.S. has fallen three percentage points to 26%, the study notes. In addition, people are less interested in news in general. In the U.S., 47% say they are interested, which is down from 67% in 2015. Of a selected group of countries, only the UK fares worse, with interest dropping from 70% in 2015 to 43%. 

 

*New Documentary About the Song American Pie

The RAMP Newsletter reports…

The Day The Music Died: The Story Of Don McLean's American Pie will have a special Academy-qualifying run in New York City and Los Angeles and will screen in Showcase Cinemas and associated theaters globally on July 17 before it premieres on Paramount+ on July 19.

Of course, any Chicago radio fan who was around in 1972 already knows the story told in the song American Pie. Former WCFL disc jockey Bob Dearborn became famous for his analysis, which can now be found online here.  Impress your friends and relatives.

 

*William Barr Subpoenaed InDominion/Fox News Lawsuit

The January 6^th hearings are having an impact on the lawsuit Dominion Voting Systems filed against Fox News. Former Attorney General William Barr testified to J-6 committee that he believed that there was no basis for believing the voting machines had been tampered with. Obviously, that’s been Dominion’s point all along. Having a former AG testify could bolster an already strong case.

 

*YouTube-TV Now Has 5 Million Subscribers

The chord-cutting continues. According to the Hollywood Reporter, it took YouTube only five years to reach that mark and puts them ahead of Hulu (4.1 million) and Sling (2.25 million). 

*If you have any media news to share, e-mail rick@eckhartzpress.com. Rick Kaempfer is the media critic/writer for Illinois Entertainer and has written three books about the media, The Radio Producer’s Handbook (co-written with John Swanson), $everance (a satirical novel about broadcasting), and Records Truly Is My Middle Name (co-written with John Records Landecker). Rick also worked in radio for 20+ years at the Loop (WLUP AM/FM) and WJMK (Oldies 104.3)