Showing posts with label Craig Schwalb. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Craig Schwalb. Show all posts

Friday, September 06, 2024

Media Notebook--9-6-24















MEDIA NOTEBOOK

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



RADIO/PODCASTS


*Chicago Radio Ratings

=The ratings for August are out, and the following are the top ten stations in Chicago for the month (6+, M-Su, 6am-Mid)

WDRV (6.5)

WVAZ (6.1)

WBBM-AM (5.7)

WLIT (5.3)

WXRT (4.8)

WUSN (4.7)

WLS-FM (4.2)

WOJO (4.2)

WRME (3.5)

WBMX (2.6)

WTMX (2.6)

=The biggest jumps this month belong to Spanish language WOJO (+1.2) and WUSN (US-99), which recovered from their bad July numbers (+0.7).  WKQX (Q-101) also had a big month, finishing just outside the top ten with a 2.5 (+0.6), and WBBM-AM returned to their perch near the top of the ratings with a gain of 0.5. This is the highest they’ve ranked in over a year.

=Meanwhile, this is the lowest that WLIT has been for more than a year (although still respectable). They dropped 0.6 this month. Luckily, Christmas music is just around the corner.

=Also, it should be noted that if you add the Score’s over-the-air ratings with their streaming numbers, they would slip into tenth place overall (2.4 + 0.9).

=In the talk radio battle, it’s WGN (2.4), WBEZ (2.3), WLS-AM (1.5)

 


*Joe Brand to the Penguins

=WGN Radio lost their Blackhawks pre- and post-game radio host this week. Great opportunity for Joe Brand…


 

*Chicago Media Departures

=I’ve reported on all of these over the previous six months or so, but Axios’ Justin Kaufmann did a nice job of chronicling all the recent Chicago media departures in one story. You can check that out here.


 

*Craig Schwalb

=Congrats to WBBM Program Director Craig Schwalb for being named as one of the top program directors in the country.


 

*Isaac Hayes vs. Donald Trump

=The song “Hold On I’m Coming” was written by the late Isaac Hayes. His family wants Donald Trump to stop using that song at his rallies. This week the courts sided with the Hayes estate.


 

*J.J. Jeffrey

=Chuck Knapp posted this scoop about former WLS jock J.J. Jeffrey this week…


 

*Rest in Peace

=Steve Zana

Northwest Indiana radio legend. He was 63. I interviewed him in 2008 for Shore Magazine.

=Fatman Scoop

Rapper. Collapsed on stage. He was 53.

=Rich Homie Quan

Rapper. He was 34.

 

 

MEDIA BIRTHDAYS/MILESTONES



*September 2--Bill Cochran birthday

=Cochran isn’t just one of the great voice-over guys in radio (WXRT, WNUA, ME-TV), he has a band that recreates classic albums on stage. I got a chance to talk to him about that back in 2017. 

 

*September 2—Jim DeRogatis birthday

=Jim is the co-host of Sound Opinions with Greg Kot, which is now a podcast, after a long run on WXRT and WBEZ. The show originally got it’s start on Eddie Schwartz’s overnight show on AM 1000 (with Bill Wyman in place of Kot).  

 

*September 2—JoBo Colborn birthday

=Jobo was on B-96 for 26 years. An incredible run.

 

*September 4-- John Howell birthday

=Formerly of WUSN, WJMK, WIND, and WLS. I interviewed John for Chicago Radio Spotlight back in 2007 when he was co-hosting a morning show with Cisco Cotto at WIND.

 

*September 4--Chris Base birthday

=The former WVON talker now hosts an internet show called BaseLine Saturdays.

 

*September 4-- Patrick Kampert birthday

=I like to joke with Patrick that people constantly mistake me for him because of the similarities of our names. He is the far more distinguished of the two of us, a former Chicago Tribune editor and reporter.

 

* September 4, 2014--Roy Leonard death anniversary

=Hard to believe Roy has been gone for ten years. I was lucky enough to have a lengthy chat with Roy back in 2010  and we covered his entire career. After I posted the interview he e-mailed me and said: “Did you actually post every word of our conversation? Nobody wants to hear that much about me.”

 

* September 5-- Johnnie Putman birthday

=The better half of WGN’s long-time overnight team Steve & Johnnie (that’s Steve description) talked to me for Illinois Entertainer back in 2016 

. 
*September 6-- Nick Friedell birthday

=The former ESPN Chicago reporter is a go-to NBA expert.

 

*September 7—Jonathan Hood birthday

=I interviewed the ESPN Radio morning co-host (with David Kaplan) in 2010. 

 

*September 7—Steve Scott birthday

=The former WLS Newsman was a victim of the format change at WCBS in New York. I chatted with him in 2008 shortly after he left us for the big Apple.


 

 

TV/STREAMING

 

* WGN-TV Morning Show anniversary


=On September 6, 1994, the WGN-TV morning show as we know it today debuted (with Robin Baumgarten, Larry Potash, and Paul Konrad). I don’t think they could have possibly foreseen the ratings juggernaut it would become. I’ve written about the show a few times, including for Shore Magazine eleven years ago. Here’s a short excerpt from that article…

            Is there anything they’ve ever refused to do?

            “I won’t dress like a woman,” Potash admits, drawing the line.

            “I won’t dance,” Konrad adds.

            “Um,” Robin says, thinking about it. “Wow, well, let’s see. I’m trying to think if I’ve ever said no to anything before. Maybe that’s part of my problem.”

 

 

*Dave Wannstedt

=NBC 5 Chicago (WMAQ-TV) has announced former Chicago Bears head coach/renowned NFL analyst Dave Wannstedt will be joining the station’s signature sports program, Sports Sunday, as its lead Bears/NFL analyst beginning Sunday, September 8.

 

 

*Nick Olczyk

=Son of the great Eddie Olczyk continues his own NHL broadcasting climb. This year he’s moving from Seattle to Salt Lake City, to be part of the new club in Utah.


 *Cable News Corner

=Brian Stelter has returned to CNN as the editor of Reliable Sources. He is once again the chief media analyst at the cable news outlet, two years after having been fired by the network. 

=The succession battle in the Murdoch family is playing out in secret behind the scenes and the other major news outlets are asking a court to make it public. My money is still on Kendall...er, I mean Lachlan. His brother James endorsed Kamala Harris.


 

*Brian Lamb retires from C-SPAN

=After a mere 47 years on the job. His last day was Friday.


 

*Rest in Peace

=James Darren

Star of Gidget and TJ Hooker. Former teen idol. He was 88.


 

 

STAGE & SCREEN

 

 

*Angelina Jolie’s Comeback

=Her new movie was just released at the Venice Film Festival and she is getting some Oscar buzz.



 

*Making Fun of Nepo-Babies

=Jack Robbins, son of Tim Robbins and Susan Sarandon, has done a series of videos making fun of Nepo-babies (like himself). The New York Times has the story.


 

 

DIGITAL/PRINT

 


*New York Times Publisher Writes Op-Ed in Washington Post

=A.J. Sulzberger's piece is called "How the Quiet War Against Free Press Could Come to America." You can read it here.



*Mary Mitchell Retires from Sun Times

=After 34 years. Her last column was in Friday’s paper.


 

*What Journalism Isn’t

=Great substack piece by former Chicago Tribune and Sun-Times editor Mark Jacobs. Among his observations (provided in list form)… Journalism isn’t helping unnamed sources take anonymous potshots at their enemies.


 

 

SOCIAL MEDIA

 

 

*Russians Funding Right-Wing Media Operation in America


=It’s a very disturbing story. Russia has successfully infiltrated right wing media.

Among the commentators listed on Tenet Media’s website are right-wing personalities Benny Johnson and Tim Pool. Both have millions of subscribers on YouTube and other social media platforms. Pool interviewed Trump on his podcast in May.

=Tim Pool, by the way, is a Chicagoan. The Sun-Times has the scoop. I'm sure he wasn't suspicious that he was being paid $100,000 per episode. For a YouTube podcast.


 

*Iran Working Against Republicans

=Meanwhile, according to this piece, Iran is doing the opposite. They are spreading misinformation to hurt Donald Trump and the Republicans.




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, January 13, 2023

Media Notebook--1-13-23













MEDIA NOTEBOOK

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



RADIO/PODCASTS

 

*New boss at WBBM

=Auducy calls them “Brand Managers” and that’s what Craig Schwalb will become (along with the extra title of News Director) for WBBM NewsRadio. He replaces Ron Gleason, who recently retired. Schwalb certainly has the pedigree, having worked at WABC in New York, and most recently WTOP in Washington, the highest grossing radio station in the country. At WTOP he was the content and operations manager. In the release announcing his hiring, Schwalb said: “The chance to lead WBBM is an incredible opportunity that doesn’t come around often. It brings me back to my home state and to a city that I adore, while working with the team behind one of the nation's elite news radio brands. Thank you to Jeff Sottolano, Rachel Williamson, Greg Solk and Bill Smee for their support in allowing me the honor of leading this great station.”



*WBBM says goodbye to the Bears after 22 years

=It was the end of an era on Sunday when WBBM radio broadcast their final Bears game. Next fall the games will be airing on ESPN, AM 1000.  It’s obviously not the first time the Bears have changed radio stations. They came to WBBM from WMAQ back in 2000. Remember Gary Bender? He was the play-by-play man before Jeff Joniak. (Hub Arkush and Tom Thayer worked at WMAQ before Bears came to WBBM).

=Joniak, by the way, was named the co-winner of Illinois Sportscaster of the Year award. Details further down in this column.

=It was also the end of the line for the Bears pre- and post-game crew at WBBM. Former Bears center Jay Hilgenberg and former Bears linebacker Jim Schwantz and Ron Gleason said their goodbyes on Sunday. Schwantz posted this before the final broadcast.


 *Bernie Kosar fired for placing bet

=The Bears weren’t the only team to change up the radio broadcast team or station. The Browns did it too, but for very different reasons. Bernie Kosar was fired from his pre-game radio job because he bet on the NFL. It’s a bit of a murky case, if you ask me. Sports betting has just become legal in Ohio, and Kosar had pledged publicly to donate any winnings to charity, but this bet was against NFL rules. The Browns said: “We understand what Bernie means to this community and our history. But as team contracted personnel hired to provide content on our media platforms his bet was a violation of NFL rules and we must adhere to all NFL policy.”


*Kathy & Ray

=If you haven't heard the news, Kathy Hart (formerly of Eric & Kathy) & Ray Stevens (most famously part of the US-99 morning show for years) are doing a show together on the internet these days. Kind of fun to watch and listen to old pros back in front of the microphone. Watch/Listen here.

=Kathy also did a podcast with Radio Girl (Margaret Larkin). Listen to it here.


*Podcast Corner

=The Signal Awards, a new award celebrating the world’s best podcasts, announced their inaugural winners. Among them: Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend, Masters of Scale, Stacey Abrams: How To Harness Risk, Making Gay History, and The Official Hacks Podcast.

= Heather Cherone of WTTW’s Chicago Tonight is leaving the Mincing Rascals podcast. She will be a fellow at the University of Chicago Institute of Politics, and will continue at Chicago Tonight, but the Mincing Rascals said farewell to her this week. 


*Former Chicago Radio Alert

=Jay Styles was with WSHE in Chicago for five years but left in 2021 to go to KQMV in Seattle. That stint ended for him at the end of the year. It was by his own choice, according to his LinkedIn Post: "Before the holidays I resigned from my role as APD/MD/afternoons at KQMV (MOViN 92.5)/Seattle and relocated to Sarasota, FL to be with my kids, because raising kids via FaceTime is no way to live! Radio programmers, I am available to voice track for multiple formats please think of me if you are going that path!"

 

*The Loop Files

=This week’s dip into the Loop Files features my interview with the legendary Bob Stroud. Check it out here if you missed it.


*Meet Chuck Swirsky

=The Bulls radio play-by-play man is making an appearance at the Windy City Bulls game tomorrow. Details below. (Full disclosure: My publishing company published Chuck's book)



MEDIA MILESTONES/BIRTHDAYS

 

*January 8—Jim Turano birthday

=He was known as Elton Jim when he was a part of the Garry Meier show on WGN Radio (because of the hundreds of times he has seen Elton John in concert). Jim now hosts the podcast Elton Jim’s Captain Podcastic on WGN Plus. 

 

*January 8—Jacky Runice birthday

=She’s currently a columnist for USA Today, but Jacky was once a radio personality in Chicago at WLS, WLUP, and WGN.

 

*January 9--Mark Grote birthday

=Mark has been the sideline reporter during Bears games for WBBM News radio the past few years. He also works as a sports-talk host at WSCR. When I interviewed him for Illinois Entertainer in 2015, he was part of the Chicago Cubs broadcast booth.


*January 9—Brendan Greeley birthday

=Brendan is part of Steve Dahl’s crew on the Dahlcast. He was also part of Dahl’s show on WCKG and WLS-AM. Brendan published a novel on Amazon last year called The Genius of 1990s Girls. 

 

*January 9--Megan Reed birthday

=Megan had a great run in Chicago radio (WLIT, Rewind 100) before passing away at the way too young age of 52 in 2016. I interviewed her in 2011 when she was working at Rewind. 

 

*January 10—Kristyn Hartman birthday

=Kristyn had a long stint at Channel 2 as a reporter, before moving on to a similar role in Cincinnati. In May, she left the station in Cincy, to return to her hometown of Chicago to pursue options outside of television news. Her current facebook page describes herself as an aspiring author. (I know a publisher, Kristyn!)

=I first met Kristyn in 2008 when she came to my house during the 2008 baseball playoffs. In this clip, I’m the idiotic Cubs fanatic. 

 

January 11—Bill Wyman birthday

=The former NPR mainstay and Chicago Reader staff writer is now living in Phoenix.

 

January 11—Bill Kissinger birthday

=Kissinger is a WGN-TV news writer. Perhaps you’ve seen his list of newswriting cliches. Kissinger is married to Channel 2’s Dana Kozlov.

 

*January 11, 2020--Ron Smith passes away

=Smith was a long-time Chicago radio programmer who wrote some great books about it. We talked about his books in this 2011 interview. 

 

*January 12—Rabbi Doug birthday

=His real name is Doug Zelden, but you may remember him as Rabbi Doug, a regular contributor to the Steve & Garry show back in the day. (He also contributed to Brandmeier’s show and John Landecker’s show on WJMK). Doug has been doing a cable access interview show Taped with Rabbi Doug for many years now. Tons of Chicago media figures have appeared on the show. Even me. Three times. Here’s the one from 2004 when The Radio Producer’s Handbook came out. 

 

*January 13--Diana Steele birthday

=Diana was a jock on WBMX for a few years, and I featured her in Illinois Entertainer in 2018.


*January 13, 2013--Jake Hartford passes away.

=Hard to believe he’s been gone now for ten years. I talked to the former WCPT/WLS talk show host back in 2009 for Chicago Radio Spotlight.


*January 14—Jenny Milkowski birthday

=Jenny worked at CBS-2 and WGN-TV as a producer, and Fox-32 as a traffic reporter for a few years before moving on to greener pastures and better weather in San Diego. The University of Illinois alum now runs her own media company out there.

 

*January 14—Joe McArdle birthday

=Joe has been a radio production guru (ESPN, Tribune, WXRT) in Chicago for more than 30 years.

 

*January 14—Mike Krauser birthday

=Mike has been an anchor, reporter, producer, writer, managing editor and a news director in Chicago since 1988. His reports can be heard every day on NewsRadio WBBM.

 

TV/STREAMING

 

*Network TV Ratings

=Take a look at the numbers on this chart. (Click on picture below to enlarge). These are not big numbers at all. Only one network (NBC) has over a million nightly viewers in the 18-49 age bracket. Younger viewers are simply not watching television as much. If you have a younger person in your home (I have three in their 20s), this isn’t surprising news. Most younger viewers are either watching a streaming service (like Netflix) or they are watching YouTube or TikTok or some other programming on their phones or iPads. These are the kind of numbers that keep network executives up at night.

 


 

*Golden Globes

=After taking a year off, the Golden Globes returned this week and handed out a bunch of awards. Among the winners, Kevin Costner, White Lotus, Abbott Elementary, Steve Spielberg, Cate Blanchett, Colin Farrell, Jeremy Allen White from The Bear, and Austin Butler as Elvis.

=The full list is here.

 

*National Sports Media Hall of Fame

=ESPN College GameDay host Lee Corso, and legendary hockey announcer (the late) Dan Kelly were named to the National Sports Media Hall of Fame this week. CBS Sports announcer Ian Eagle was named 2022 National Sportscaster of the Year.

=Bill Plaschke (Los Angeles Times sports columnist) and essayist (the late) Roger Angell also were named to the Hall of Fame.

=Chicagoans honored included Jeff Joniak and Leila Rahimi (co-winners of Illinois sportscaster of the year) and Steve Greenberg (Sun Times) and Mark Lazerus (The Athletic) as co-winners of Illinois Sportswriter of the Year.

 

*Elizabeth Vargas Coming to NewsNation

=Before becoming a big network news star at ABC, Elizabeth worked in Chicago at WBBM-TV, Channel 2. This week it was announced she is joining NewsNation. She’ll be anchoring an hour-long news program from New York. Vargas’s show debuts April 3. 


*NY Times Editor Takes Top Job at NBC News

=Rebecca Blumenstein was the deputy managing editor of the New York Times before being named the president of editorial at NBC News this week. Blumenstein will oversee shows like Meet the Press and Dateline. This should be interesting. Rebecca doesn’t have a lot of television experience. Maybe this move portends a new approach at NBC?


*NBC Sports Chicago Layoffs

=For a few years NBC Sports Chicago was really going after the digital viewers. Unfortunately, the staff bringing that digital news just got a little smaller with the layoffs of Bulls writer Rob Schaefer and Cubs writer Tim Stebbins. The Chicago Sun Times has more info.


*Cable News Corner

=CNN has announced they are revamping their daytime lineup. Oliver Darcy spells out the particulars at CNN.com. 


*Phil Rogers Interview

=Channel 5’s Phil Rogers retired at the end of last year. He will be a big loss to Chicago’s NBC affiliate. Margaret Larkin interviewed him for the Illinois News Broadcasters Association podcast.


*RIP Bernard Kalb

=Kalb was a legend in the business. He was an anchorman for CBS Morning News, covered the State Department beat for CBS (five secretaries of state) and was the founding host of CNN’s show about the media, Reliable Sources. May we all live the kind of life Kalb did. He was 100 years old when he passed.


*C-SPAN fights for more camera angles

=After a spellbinding job covering the cluster of the House of Representatives electing a speaker, you can see the despair between the words in this tweet.


=C-SPAN has formally asked to regain the kind of access they had during the speaker debate. At least a few politicians seem to agree, but let’s see what happens. It could be one of those “be careful what you ask for” situations, encouraging the most camera-hungry representatives to be even more outrageious.

 

*What really happens after Shark Tank?

=We don’t often get a follow up report about the winners and losers of investment opportunities in Shark Tank. Forbes has a great example this week why we should get them more often.

 

SOCIAL MEDIA

 

*Twitter Considering Selling User Names

=The New York Times reports that Elon Musk is considering selling user names (the words that follow the @ sign) to the highest bidder. Musk and his staff are trying to figure out ways to generate more revenue for the struggling media giant. Not a lot of details here. It sounds like this was leaked as a trial balloon to see how people react.


PRINT/DIGITAL MEDIA

 

*Tribune Veteran Named Managing Editor of Newsday

=Pro Publica’s Tom Jones reports that Rochell Bishop Sleets is taking over the #2 job at Newsday after 16 years with the Chicago Tribune.


*NYTimes still in search of a media columnist

=And they have been for almost a full year now, ever since Ben Smith left to form Semafor. Vanity Fair looks into why they still don’t have a new one.


*Jake Sherman and Kevin McCarthy

=This is an interesting development. One digital news organization is calling out another for being a little too chummy with one of their sources. Semafor and Punchbowl are the combatants. Jake Sherman of Punchbowl is the target.


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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