MEDIA NOTEBOOK
A curation of news items about the media from this past week, with a particular emphasis on Chicago…
RADIO/PODCASTS
*R.I.P. Jim Bohannan
= Cancer has claimed another victim. For the past few
years the nationally syndicated Radio Hall of Famer has been on WGN Radio (from
Washington) hosting overnights. The news of his death wasn’t unexpected. Jim
stepped down a few weeks ago for health reasons. Jim Bohannan was 78.
=Bohannan was a gifted broadcaster. I once witnessed
him do an unexpected live interview with Bradley Whitford (from West
Wing). Jim was interviewing John Landecker and had no idea that
John’s son-in-law (Bradley) would be there, but he effortlessly brought
Whitford into the conversation and had a very entertaining chat with him,
despite the differences in their political opinions (Bohannan skews right,
Whitford left). I was impressed.
=I should also note that when Landecker and I were working on John’s memoir Records Truly Is My Middle Name, I asked Bohannan to contribute to the book because I knew of his admiration for Landecker. He was gracious and kind and didn’t hesitate.
*Steve Cochran Show celebrates 100th episode
at WLS
=Steve has navigated most of the radio dial in
Chicago, having worked at WCKG, WPNT, WGN, WLUP, WIND. His latest home is WLS,
AM 890. This week the show celebrated its 100th episode.
*Hanksgiving
=If you happen to be in Pittsburgh for Thanksgiving, you might want to turn on the radio. Tom Hanks is taking over a radio station (WYEP) and curating their music from 8am—7pm. He has been in Pittsburgh filming the movie “A Man Called Otto.” Hanks is a music lover, particularly rock and roll, and if the film “That Thing You Do” is any indication, he has a great taste in music.
*Podcast Corner
=In Chicago, the Bears
are always king (even when they aren’t good). This podcast guest is perfect for the 2022 Bears season. Peggy Kusinski and Jason Kinander (The Sportscaster
and Her Son) speak with the last Bears quarterback who ran more than he
passed, Bobby Douglass.
=Time Magazine came out with their list of the top ten podcasts.
=Elon Musk has been in the news a lot lately (including further down in this column), but few people have the insight into Elon that journalist Kari Swisher does. Her podcast about him, entitled ‘Elon Musk: Someone I Used To Know’ is worth a listen.
=The Divided Dial is a WNYC podcast that covers one of my favorite topics: How did the political media get here? This particular episode is about talk radio and how one party managed to dominate the radio airwaves.
=When a writer has Seinfeld, Cheers, and
3rd Rock from the Sun on his resume, I’m interested in
hearing what his podcast is about. The writer is Andy Cowan, and the title of
his podcast gives you a good idea: The Neurotic Vaccine.
=I’m a huge soccer fan, so these next few weeks I’ll surely catch World Cup fever. There are several podcasts to check out during the tournament, but one is a little more star-studded than the others. It’s called After the Whistle, and it will be hosted by NBC’s Rebecca Lowe and Ted Lasso’s Brendan Hunt.
=Of course, I also co-host a soccer podcast with the
Illinois Youth Soccer Association’s Director of Coaching Adam Howarth
called Free Kicks with Adam and Rick. Our World Cup preview special
drops today.
*Radio Legends Returning to the Airwaves
=Steve Dale had a great interview with the
legendary Fred Winston (WLS, WCFL, WFYR, WJMK, etc) this week. I missed
it when it was live, so I’m so happy they posted it on the WGN Radio website.
=Garry Meier also made a few terrestrial radio stops this past week, including a visit with Sherman and Tingle at the Drive, and a return to Garry’s old stomping grounds at WGN (he was on with Dave Plier). I include this photo from Steve Bertrand’s Facebook page, because I’m calling it the Steve & Garry reunion…
MEDIA BIRTHDAYS/MILESTONES
*Jimmy Baron’s birthday was November 13. Baron
grew up in the Chicago area, and briefly worked as a producer for Jonathan
Brandmeier in the early 90s. Jimmy mainly made his mark in radio in Atlanta as
a morning show co-host.
*Dag Juhlin’s birthday was November 14. Dag is
not only a great guitarist (Poi Dog Pondering, the Slugs, and several other
bands), he’s one of the co-hosts of Steve Dahl’s podcast. I got a chance to interview him last year.
*Jimmy Piersall was born on November 14. The late White Sox broadcaster is still fondly remembered. It seems everyone who knew
him has a story about Jimmy. I’ve been told a few great ones, including Jimmy’s
challenge to race former White Sox slugger Eric Soderholm, and a Central
Park challenge Jimmy issued to his White Sox radio-booth mate Rich King. My own personal story about Jimmy involves such an over-the-top expletive-filled tirade when I asked him to appear on a show I was producing that it actually made me laugh out loud. (Needless to say, he didn't do the show)
*This week in 1977, an agreement was reached regarding
the classical station WEFM. Lee Abrams had big plans to turn it into a Top
40 Rock station. His story about the greatest station that never was, is a fascinating
read. You’ll recognize a few of the names involved. WEFM, by the way, is now
US-99 (and has been since 1982).
*Former WLUP program director Rick Balis’
birthday is today (November 18). Balis made his mark as a programmer in St.
Louis guiding the legendary rock station KSHE for many years.
*WBEZ’s Mary Dixon’s birthday is November 19. I interviewed Mary for Illinois Entertainer back in her WXRT days, when she was
the news anchor on Lin Brehmer’s show.
*Radio and Television host David Kaplan (ESPN Radio/See below for his TV news) also has a November 19 birthday. This interview with David for Chicago Radio Spotlight dates back to 2011.
*And finally, the late Larry King was born on November
19. I never had the chance to interview Larry myself, but I do have an entertaining story about my brush with the former CNN host. It involves Ross
Perot, Al Gore, and an angry radio general manager.
TV/STREAMING
*David Kaplan leaving NBC Sports Chicago
=He announced the news via YouTube last night...
*WCIU Airing High School Football Championships
= There’s nothing quite like a high school football
game. WCIU-TV (Channel 26 in Chicago) has the rights to air the championship
games at every level this year. The 1A, 2A, 3A, and 4A games will air next
Friday (November 25) beginning at 10am. The 5A, 6A, 7A, and 8A games will air
on Saturday (November 26), also beginning at 10am.
*Good Morning America in Chicago
=At least for a segment on Thursday. They were doing a
contest called “The United States of Pie.” The local Chicago judges for this feature
were ABC-7 Chicago meteorologist Greg Dutra, Top Chef winner Joe
Flamm, and WGCI’s Kendra G.
*The Last Grown Up in Washington Journalism
=That’s the title that has been bestowed upon Judy
Woodruff, who is stepping down at PBS after a distinguished career in
television journalism. The New York Times has a nice profile of the PBS Newshour host during her final days on the air. The new hosts, by the way, will
be Geoff Bennett and Amna Nawaz.
*Streaming Corner
=The modern-day western, Yellowstone, returned for a 5th
season this past week (on Paramount) and scored big numbers. Variety has the full story.
*R.I.P Robert Clary
=The Hogan's Heroes star died this week at the age of 96. Me-TV is going to pay tribute to him by playing some of his classic Hogan's Heroes episodes on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of next week, from 9:00-10pm each night.
SOCIAL MEDIA/DIGITAL
*Teen Life on Social Media
=The Pew Research Center just released a survey of
teens about their usage of and feelings about social media. The results are here. The majority of teens say that social media strengthens their friendships
and offers support. However, they are also very aware of the potential
pitfalls. As the parent of three young social media aficionados, I found this
survey oddly comforting.
*Elon Musk’s $44 Billion Implosion
=The L.A. Times has this headline: Is the World’s Richest Man the World’s Worst Boss?
=The Washington Post got a copy of his e-mail to employees, and boy oh boy: “We will need to be extremely hardcore…this will mean working long hours under high intensity…only exceptional performance will constitute a passing grade.”
=Did you catch the story about him firing his employee on Twitter? NBC News has the details.
=The New York Times has this headline: If you want to understand how dangerous Musk is, look outside of America.
=And all of that was before this news last night...
NEW: Twitter just alerted employees that effective immediately, all office buildings are temporarily closed and badge access is suspended. No details given as to why.
— Zoë Schiffer (@ZoeSchiffer) November 17, 2022
=And by the end of the night, this was happening.
NGL I love twitter employees 😭😭😭 they roasting this fool #RIPTwitter pic.twitter.com/nOEuSxtHcv
— 𝒮𝒸🅾☯️ter🐐 (@IanScottie4) November 18, 2022
*Amazon to lay off 10,000 employees
=The tech sector seems to be alerting us to a coming
downturn. This Amazon news is coming on the heels of the layoffs at Meta and
Twitter. On the other hand, Jeff Bezos also announced this week that he
would give away the bulk of his $100+ billion fortune. (Just not to his
employees, apparently.)
PRINT MEDIA
*Jonathan Swan Moves to the New York Times
=He’s one of the best interviewers around. Swan moves over from Axios.
*R.I.P Michael Gershon
=This is sad news. Gershon was a Washington Post opinion
columnist, and former speechwriter for George W. Bush. As a columnist, he was fair,
and consistent. He passed away this week at the way too young age of 58. His colleague Karen Tumulty has written a fitting tribute to him in today’sWashington Post.
*Washington Post Managing
Editor Leaves
=Steven Ginsberg has chosen to leave his post
at the Washington Post to run the Athletic. The Athletic is a sports-news
outlet owned by the New York Times parent company. Ginsberg had recently been
passed over for the top job at the Post.
*As the Rupert Turns
=Major slam of Donald Trump sent out this week by
Rupert Murdoch’s New York Post. Check out the ‘bottom of the front-page afterthought’ the morning after Trump’s presidential announcement. It says “Florida
Man Makes Announcement” and directs readers to page 26. Isn’t it something when
a media mogul billionaire acts like a kid on a playground because he knows it
will tick off the other billionaire kid on the playground?
OTHER MEDIA
*2022 Grammy Nominees Announced
=Got a few Chicago names in this batch, including J. Ivey, Justin Roberts, and the immortal Buddy Guy.
*Salt Shed Lineup for 2023
=The new local concert venue has announced their schedule for next year. Some big names on this list like Iggy Pop, the
Roots, and Third Eye Blind.
FYI: There will be no media notebook next week. I'll be back on December 2.
If you have any media stories (Chicago or national) that you think I might like to share in future columns, feel free to drop me a line at rick@eckhartzpress.com or amishrick@yahoo.com
