Showing posts with label Eddie Olczyk. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Eddie Olczyk. 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, July 22, 2022

Media Notebook--7-22-22

 













MEDIA NOTEBOOK

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

 

Radio/Podcasts

 

*Marconi Award Finalists

This week the NAB announced finalists for this year’s Marconi Awards. Chicago is represented in a few of the categories. The Drive (WDRV) was named as a finalist for Major Market Rock Station of the Year. Janda Lane’s “Behind the Song” podcast is a finalist for Radio Podcast of the Year (Read my recent interview with Janda here). And the Score’s afternoon hosts Danny Parkins & Matt Spiegel are finalists for Major Market Personality of the Year. Congrats to all of the finalists. A full list of the finalists is here. 

 

*Score 30th anniversary

On Wednesday the Score celebrated their 30th anniversary with a live broadcast. They brought back some of the original Score staff. I saw Tom Shaer, George Ofman, and Terry Boers in the pictures. Looks like they did not invite Dan McNeil, which is a shame. He certainly played a big part in the Score history. I did enjoy this video. An introduction of the staff…

 

*A Tribute to Lin Brehmer

Pete Crozier was Lin Brehmer’s producer for years at WXRT and continues to help with the production of Brehmer’s Lin’s Bin feature. When it was announced that Lin was stepping down from the show temporarily to undergo treatment for cancer, Pete wrote a beautiful tribute on his facebook page. With his permission, I’m re-posting a portion of it here. Read the rest on Pete’s facebook page…

It’s 5:32 a.m.

The morning show started two minutes ago.

The hotline flashes. I answer.

“Yello?”

“Time?”

I look at the recorded open and calculate how long until the mic goes live.

“Fifteen seconds. Talking Heads cued up. Ready to roll.”

“Once in a Lifetime?”

“Yep," I say.

“K. I’m walking to the back.”

I skip out of the studio. As I turn left, and then right, I hear two loud thumps on a metal door.

I kick it open and he comes in, a tattered leather bag in his right hand, a tray of four lattes in his left and the Firesign Theater’s “That’s Not Funny, That’s Sick” album squeezed under one arm.

He hands me the lattes as the open ends and the Talking Heads song starts.

“Sixteen second intro,” he says, a statement not a question.

“Yep.”

He hands me the album and says, “Bill Murray’s birthday. Cart up Mr. Roberts, part one. End with, ‘You should sleep late, much better on your constitution’.”

“Eleven seconds,” I say.

He smiles and says, “Like taking candy from a baby.”

He nudges open the studio door with his hip as I enter a production studio across the hall. I hit a button on the board that brings his voice into my headphones.

“Goooooooooood morning, everybody.”

I think to myself, "Four seconds."

“Take nothing for granted. It's great to be alive,” he says, hitting the post perfectly as David Byrne starts singing, “And you might find yourself living in a shotgun shack…”

Lin Brehmer.

Chicago radio legend and my friend.

 

*Black Information Network

The RAMP Newsletter reported this week that the Black Information Network is now on the air in Chicago via WMFN-AM, branded as BIN 640 AM.  BIN is an iHeart operation, and Tony Coles is the president. He provided this quote to RAMP:

                "BIN brings Chicago the most trusted full-time news network for both local and national news by and for the Black community, and we're looking forward to the network's impact in the community for years to come."

 

*Former Chicago Radio alerts

=Former WLS-FM program Director Michael La Crosse just got a big promotion out west. He is now VP/Programming for IHeart’s seven radio stations in Sacramento.

=Former Kiss-FM (WKSC) weekend jock Nick Gomez is now the 7-Mid jock at WIHT in Washington

 

Media Interviews

The following Chicago media figures are celebrating birthdays this week. If you’ve like to read any of my previous interviews with them, click on their names below. The year I interviewed them is in parenthesis.

July 19—Loop night and overnightjock Terry Gibson (2007) 

July 19—WGN Program Director Todd Manley (2015) 

July 20—Loop/WCKG producer/host Pugs Moran (2012) 

July 21—AM 1000/ESPN/WCKG/WLUP personality and award-winning playwright Spike Manton (2007) 

July 21—River PD and morning personality Danielle Tufano (2014)  

July 22—WLS/Q-101/Loop personality Tim Virgin (2019) 

 

TV/Streaming

 

*Eddie Olczyk leaves the Blackhawks

Good Ol’ #16 was not just a part of Blackhawks broadcasts for years. He was/is simply the best color analyst in the game. Jim O’Donnell explores and explains Eddie’s departure in his Daily Herald column this week.

 

*No charges for Colbert crew

The announcement about the decision not to prosecute came this week. Sounds like it was a no-brainer once cooler heads prevailed. ABC News had the details…

A spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office said it was not probable a conviction could be obtained and sustained given that the nine arrested had been invited and that their escorts had never asked them to leave the building. Though Capitol Police have refused to provide the names of those who were arrested, a person familiar with the matter provided The Associated Press with a list of nine people who had been stopped by Capitol Police. They included several producers, along with comedian and writer Robert Smigel, the voice behind Triumph the Insult Comic Dog.

 

*Netflix loses a million subscribers

You would think that losing a million subscribers in one quarter would be a disaster, but when your projections were that you’d lose twice as many, it softens the blow a bit. Adweek has the details about the exodus, and the new ad-supporter version of Netflix that is coming soon.


*Chris Cuomo’s first interview

The former CNN prime time host has been lying low since he was fired for improprieties earlier this year. The Hill reports that he has agreed to sit down with Dan Abrams on NewsNation next week for his first nationally televised interview.  (Chris Cuomo has also started a podcast if that's your thing)

 

*Canabis ads

You would think that cannabis ads would be legal in states that have legalized weed. You would be wrong. Because pot is still considered illegal federally, the FCC does not allow canabis ads on the public radio or television airwaves. The U.S. House took steps to rectify the situation this week. Radio Ink has the details at the link. The bill still faces likely opposition in the Senate. But I’ve already created the first Cannabis ad. This is a freebie for all of you media mavens…

 

Other Media News

 

*Pulitzer Reaffirms 2018 Awards

Former president Trump was urging the Pulitzer board to rescind their 2018 Pulitzer Prize awards to the Washington Post and New York Times for their reporting on his Russia scandal because he claimed that he had been exonerated by the Mueller Report (which, by the way, explicitly did not exonerate him). After re-examining the reporting that won the prize, the Pulitzer board announced that they are reaffirming the awards. Nothing in those reports has been proven untrue, despite the former president’s claims.

 

*Amazon vs. Facebook

There’s no good guy in this story. Two evil giants are going head-to-head in court. Amazon is suing Facebook because of their Facebook groups promoting/creating fake ratings for amazon products. Techcrunch has the details. Is there a way for both of them to lose?

 

*The Kennedy Center Honors

The 45th Kennedy Center Honorees have been announced, and it includes Gladys Knight, George Clooney, Amy Grant, Tania Leon, and U2. Here’s the statement U2 released…

                "In December 1980, we made our first trip across the Atlantic to America. We had big dreams then, fueled in part by the commonly held belief at home that America smiles on Ireland. And it turned out to be true, yet again. But even in the wilder thoughts, we never imagined that 40 years on, we would be invited back to receive one of the nation's greatest honors. It has been a four-decade love affair with the country and its people, its artists, and culture. We consider America to be a home away from home and we are very grateful to the Kennedy Center Honors for welcoming us into this great clan of extraordinary artists."

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