MEDIA NOTEBOOK
A curation of news items about the media from this past week, with a particular emphasis on Chicago.
RADIO/PODCASTS
*Laurence Holmes Moves to
Afternoons at the Score
=Holmes is replacing the departed Danny Parkins on the afternoon show with Matt Spiegel. Taking the place of Holmes on the midday show with Dan Bernstein is Marshall Harris. Harris has been filling in at the Score for a few years. He was previously the sports director at WBBM-TV.
=Jeff Agrest explains why some staffers consider this a controversial move in light of the recent Bernstein/Barstool blowup.
*Crystal Mic Awards
=The Illinois News Broadcasters Association announced the winners of this year’s Crystal Mic Awards over the
weekend. Chicago radio stations (especially WBBM) and announcers fared well.
Among the winners…
Best Large Market Radio
Station—WBBM-AM Chicago
Best Newscast—1st
place/WBBM, 2nd place/WLS-AM
Best Reporter—Lisa
Fielding, WBBM
Best Sports Report—Jeff
Joniak, WBBM
Best Use of Sound—(2nd
place) Lisa Fielding, WBBM
*Pizza named after George Ofman
=George’s Deep Dish in Chicago
(6221 N. Clark St.) has named several of their menu items after celebrities,
including sportscaster George Ofman. That’s his pizza below, “Ofman’s
Towering Line Drive”. Other pizzas on the menu include Wendt’s Corner Barstool,
Clooney’s ER, Harrison’s White Album, and McFly’s Sci-Fi.
*Illinois Rock and Roll Museum Reschedules Induction Ceremony
=It was scheduled for
October 20, but there were some unforeseen issues with the venue (The Rialto
Square Theater), so they were forced to move it to Spring 2025 (at the same
venue). A new date will be announced soon. Among the inductees this year,
WDRV’s Bob Stroud. WGN’s Bob Sirott will emcee.
*Ex-Chicago Radio News
=Veronica Carter,
formerly of WBBM-AM, is now co-hosting San Diego Morning News with Ted
Garcia on NewsRadio 600 KOGO.
=J.J. Jeffrey (former WLS) update courtesy of Chuck Knapp
*BIN Looking for a News
Anchor
=Whenever I see an opening
in the radio biz in Chicago, I’ll pass it along to you. This is for a news
anchor position at Black Information Network. Details about the position are here.
*Podcast Corner
=Ten Latino podcasts to add to your queue.
=Surprise breakout podcast star of 2024? The Bulwark.
=The New York Times is launching podcast subscriptions through Spotify and Apple.
*Music News
=Weird Al is coming to Chicago next summer.
*Rest in Peace
Guitarist for the Outlaws.
He was 70.
MEDIA BIRTHDAYS/MILESTONES
*September 22—Captain
Whammo birthday
=The wild-man morning host
at WMET in the late 70s. When I tracked him down for Chicago Radio Spotlight in 2012, I was shocked to discover he had gone a very different
direction since he left Chicago. He passed away last year.
*September 22--Cisco
Cotto birthday
=WBBM-AM’s morning
co-host. He was with WIND-AM 560 when I chatted with him back in 2008, and then
at WLS-AM 890 when I interviewed him in 2010. Both interviews can be accessed here.
*September 22--Mike
Caplan birthday
=Meteorologist at Fox-32,
WFLD.
*September 23—Marty
Lennartz birthday
=WXRT morning man. I interviewed Marty for Chicago Radio Spotlight in 2010.
*September 23, 1969—The
ABC Movie of the Week debuts
=It featured this theme
song written by Burt Bacharach. (h/t Rob Hart and Rick
O’Dell)
*September 24, 1970--The Partridge
Family debuts on NBC.
=Of course, former Chicago
radio talker Danny Bonaduce had a starring role on that show.
He told a few entertaining stories about those days when I interviewed him
for my Minutia Men Celebrity Interview a few years ago.
*September 25—Kerri
Kendall birthday
=The former Playboy Playmate was the
co-host of Playtime with Bill & Kerri on WGCO for several
years. I featured them
in my Illinois Entertainer column a few years ago.
*September 25-- Paul
Meincke birthday
=Long-time award-winning
reporter at WLS-TV, Channel 7. Retired a few years ago.
*September 26—Johnny
Morris birthday
=Former
Chicago Bear and WBBM-TV sports anchor. Johnny has kept a pretty low profile
since stepping down at Channel 2, although he did make this appearance at Rich
King’s book signing in 2014.
*September 26, 1960
=The first ever televised presidential
debate took place in Chicago at the old WBBM-TV studios on McClurg Ct, John
F. Kennedy vs. Richard Nixon.
*September 26--Don
Nelson birthday
=Former on-air talent at
the likes of WLUP, WLS AM & FM, and WFYR.
*September 26---Phil
Ponce birthday
=Former Chicago Tonight host.
*September 27—Neal
Sabin birthday
=The wunderkind
behind the scenes at Me-TV. He is featured prominently in this piece I wrote for Illinois
Entertainer a few years ago,
when Me-TV FM first started making an impact.
*September 27--Doug
James birthday
=Former Jammin Oldies and WE-FM morning
man. I’ve worked with the talented voice over man in the past. He was kind
enough to pen this guest blog for me when I first began blogging back in 2006.
*September 27--Guy
Bauer birthday
=Former Brandmeier producer. I interviewed Guy for Illinois
Entertainer after he left Johnny’s show and started
up his own video production company.
*September 27--Mike
Parker birthday
=News anchor and reporter
at Channel 2 for 36 years. He passed away in 2018.
*September 27,
1992
=The Dr.
Demento Show featured a song I
wrote for the Ebony & Ivory show on AM 1000 (“Okoberfest
is Hier!). I still have the record. My second song played by the Dr. I wrote
hundreds after that, but never again made it on Dr. Demento.
*September 28—Ed
Sullivan birthday
=If you’ve ever wondered what the
experience of being on the Ed Sullivan show was like, I’ve interviewed a few
people who have told their stories about Ed, including former Rascals lead singer Felix Cavaliere,
and Buckinghams
guitarist Carl Giammarese.
TV/STREAMING
*Farewell
to NBC Sports Chicago
=They are
going out with a bang this weekend. Here are a few of the programming
highlights…
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 29
2:00 PM –
WHITE SOX at Detroit Tigers (L)
5:00 PM
– White Sox Postgame Live (time approx.)
5:30 PM
– NBC Sports Chicago: Celebrating 20 Years
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 30
5:30 AM – 2010
Blackhawks Stanley Cup Parade & Rally
8:30 AM – 2016
Cubs World Series Parade & Rally
1:30 PM – 2005
White Sox World Series Parade & Rally
7:30 PM – 2013
Blackhawks Stanley Cup Parade & Rally
11:30 PM
– NBC Sports Chicago: Celebrating 20 Years
11:59:59 PM –
(Sign Off)
*The Black
Sox
=This airs
tonight on WTTW.
It’s the most notorious scandal in the history of professional baseball. Eight Chicago White Sox players conspired to throw the World Series in 1919. Watch the next episode of Chicago Stories on Friday, September 27 at 8:00 pm on WTTW and streaming at https://t.co/GWBWC3sS46 pic.twitter.com/OWCHw6UxSD
— WTTW - Chicago PBS (@wttw) September 25, 2024
*Crystal
Mic Awards
=The Illinois News Broadcasters Association also announced the
winners in the television categories for the Crystal Mic Awards. Among the
Chicago winners…
Best Large Market TV Station—WLS-TV (2nd
place)
Best Newscast—WLS-TV (2nd
place)
Best Breaking News Coverage—WGN-TV
Best Digital Presence—WLS-TV
Best Sports Report—WGN-TV (2nd
place)
Best Weather Operation—WLS-TV
=Note: This competition included the
whole state, plus St. Louis. In all of the categories above where Chicago
finished in second place, St. Louis (KSDK) claimed the top spot.
*Hota Ktob
Leaving Today Show
=She wrote a letter
to her co-workers explaining the decision. You can read it here.
*More
Layoffs at CBS
=Among those
cut in the latest round of layoffs, CBS Saturday Morning co-host Jeff
Glor. Also gone, Illinois native Anna Werner and Chicago-based
reporter Roxana Saberi
*West Wing
25th Anniversary
=The New
York Times takes a look back at the iconic series to see if it stands the
test of time.
*Cable Corner
=Smartmatic settles with Newsmax just as the trial is beginning.
=The best episode ever of Succession, the real-life trial about Rupert Murdoch’s irrevocable trust, is approaching its finale. It’s now in the hands of the judge.
*Rest in
Peace
Actress in
over 20 films. Widow of Bing Crosby. She was 90.
Father of
WGN-TV’s producer Jeff Hoover. Jeff featured his father prominently in
his social media feeds, and he also appeared on the WGN-TV Morning show,
telling jokes. He was 88.
DIGITAL/PRINT
*The Olivia
Nuzzi Controversy
=New York
reporter Olivia Nuzzi is on administrative leave from her magazine after
word got out that she had a digital affair (non-physical) with Robert
Kennedy Jr. while she was covering his campaign. This has caused an uproar
in the journalism world. It’s probably not doing wonders for Kennedy, either,
who is married to actress Cheryl Hines. Nuzzi did admit to it, in a
statement to the New York Times.
“Some communication between myself
and a former reporting subject turned personal. During that time, I did not
directly report on the subject nor use them as a source. The relationship was
never physical but should have been disclosed to prevent the appearance of a
conflict. I deeply regret not doing so immediately and apologize to those I’ve
disappointed, especially my colleagues at New York.”
=Nuzzi
previously had a relationship with Keith Olbermann, which also came to light this week.
*NY Post
Urged Neo-Nazi Nick Fuentes to Endorse Harris
=The Rupert Murdoch-owned newspaper did this, according to this article, to try to distance Trump from Fuentes. Trump is still taking heat for dining with the self-proclaimed white supremacist. Fuentes refused the Post’s offer, so the paper dropped it. We are not exactly living in the golden age of news media, are we?
*How to
Cover the Worst MLB Team in History Without Going Insane
=The Washington Post talked to members of the press who must follow the White Sox for a living. Fun piece.
*Coming
Soon to The Daily Beast
=They’ve added a whole new slew of contributors and journalists to spice up their coverage.
Among them; Samantha Bee, Larry Wilmore, and Kara Swisher.
*Rest in
Peace
Bob was a
long-time (1976-2000) Chicago Tribune copy editor, news editor, makeup
editor, and reporter. He was 84.
