MEDIA NOTEBOOK
A curation of news items about the media from this past week, with a particular emphasis on Chicago…
RADIO/PODCASTS
*National
Radio Hall of Fame
=The NRHOF announced the latest inductees of legends to the Hall in 2022, and once again, Chicago is represented well. The late Doug Banks (long-time Chicago jock at WGCI), Pervis Spann (WVON), and former Rockline host Bob Coburn (WMET) are among the names this year. The others are James Brown (yes, the Godfather of Soul also owned a radio station in Knoxville), Chick Hearn (Lakers play-by-play man), Bernice Judis (New York), Bobby O’Jay (Memphis), Rosalie Trombley (Detroit), Sid Mark (syndicated Sinatra show host), and James Thompson (Group W Broadcasting).
*2023
Ford Frick Award Nominees
=Both
Chicago baseball teams have an announcer nominated for the prestigious Ford
Frick Award: Pat Hughes (Cubs) and Steve Stone (White Sox). The
winner of the award every year becomes a Baseball Hall of Famer. Both Hughes
and Stone are worthy, and eventually, both will be enshrined. This year they
are up against a pretty formidable bunch, including Dave Campbell, Joe Castiglione, Gary Cohen, Jacques Doucet, Tom Hamilton, Jerry Howarth, Ernie Johnson Sr., and
Duane Kuiper.
=For more about the
nominees and the Ford Frick Award, the Baseball Hall of Fame is the place to go.
=My Pat Hughes interview (from 2010) can be found here.
*Chicago Radio Ratings
=The top five stations
(ages 6+) according to the September Nielson PPM ratings are…WDRV, WLIT,
WBBM-AM, WVAZ, and WBEZ. These five stations were all in the top five last
month too. The Drive has been at #1 (or tied) now for five straight months.
=The rest of the top ten: WLS-FM, WOJO, WXRT, WGN
and WTMX.
*Janda Lane Named Permanent Midday Host at the
Drive
=Janda has been doing the show since Bob Stroud
stepped down a few months ago, so it’s probably not a huge surprise that they
named her to this slot. The former afternoon co-host (with Steve Seaver) has
adapted pretty seamlessly. (I interviewed Janda for Illinois Entertainer this summer).
=In the station’s announcement of the official
promotion, Janda says, “I am beyond thrilled to move into middays on The Drive and am
honored to fill the space around the one and only Bob Stroud’s
long-standing Ten at 10 and One 45 at 1:45 features. Life
is a winding road and I am so happy that the road has led me here to Chicago,
to The Drive, and last and most importantly, to our awesome listeners. Thank
you so much for listening!”
*RIP Bob Gelms
=Bob Gelms passed away last weekend. He was 73. You may remember his contributions at WXRT and the Loop, where he wore multiple caps. There has been an outpouring of love expressed by his former colleagues.
=Current WXRT morning
man Marty Lennartz had this to say on the radio.
=Here are a few more
comments on social media from his old friends and co-workers
Patti Haze: Bob was one of the most charming men I ever
met, he loved sharing great music with his audience and he was one hell of a
broadcaster.
Charles Jaco: Bob was one of my favorite people at XRT. He
was kind, funny, big-hearted, and had an encyclopedic knowledge of music. May
the wind be at your back, boy-o.
Bob Stroud: Bob was a good guy who loved the music and
the radio that played it.
Johnny Mars: I remember his laugh and big love of blues
and new music.
Tom Marker: Bob was well respected by all who knew him.
Not surprisingly, I see a lot of comments about his laugh and warmth. He was
also highly regarded through his work on air, as a music director and as a
Blues program host. RIP.
Charlie Meyerson: Bob was one of the first people I met at
WXRT. It’s particularly sad to get this news the day after the station retired
a blues show he shepherded during its early days.
Patty Martin: There aren’t many people who have claimed the
Music Director chair at XRT. I’m grateful to have followed in his footsteps.
Gelms is now presiding over the great music meeting in the sky.
*Julian Lennon on College Radio Day
=I feel a weird connection to this announcement
because I played Julian Lennon’s debut record on my college radio station
(WPGU), but here’s the news: Julian Lennon has been named
the official 2022 Ambassador for the 12th Annual World College Radio Day, which is today.
“College
radio is a good way to learn about what’s going on in the world, whether it’s
locally or worldwide,” says Lennon. “College radio is not like the usual mainstream
stuff, and I find that far more intriguing!”
*Nationwide Lover
=Last week I reported Ed Lover was removed from the morning show at WBMX. This week the company (Audacy) officially announced his national syndication deal…in the evening slot. The Ed Lover Experience will be on here in Chicago 8-Midnight at WBMX, but he’ll also be heard in New York, Las Vegas, San Francisco, and Seattle. The show rolls out on October 17.
*Podcast Corner
=The obvious
merging has finally happened. Dateline NBC, the show that presents news stories
as murder mysteries, is doing a True Crime podcast. It’s a natural. The NewYork Times has more on the story.
*Ex-Chicago Radio Corner
=Former Loop and
WKQX staffer Gordon Mays has gotten a big promotion. He was the brand manager of WRTB The Bull in Rockford, but is now
director of programming and content for the company’s six-station group in
Rockford and Dekalb.
MEDIA
BIRTHDAYS/MILESTONES
*October 1st
was Norm Winer’s birthday. Norm was the driving force behind WXRT for
many decades. He’s currently the co-founder and chief content curator at
Noteworthy.
*October 2nd
was former WBEZ broadcaster Michelle Damico’s birthday.
*October 5, 1947,
President Harry Truman gave the first televised address to the nation
from the White House. The topic was the humanitarian crisis in war-torn Europe…
*October 7 is US-99’s Melissa
McGurren’s birthday. I previously interviewed her for Shore Magazine (2008), when she was still part of the morning show at the Mix.
*John Owens, the
Chicago/Midwest chapter President of the The National Academy of Arts and
Sciences, is also celebrating a birthday today (October 7). Owens currently
works at ABC-7 in Chicago and is the co-author of the book Chili Dog MVP.
*October 8, 1970, WLS
Radio announced the arrival of a new night-time disc jockey Kris Erik
Stevens. I interviewed him about that and his long career last year for Illinois Entertainer.
TV/STREAMING
*Alan Krashesky
Announces Retirement
=He has been the main anchor at 10pm at Channel 7 since Ron Magers retired, and has worked in television for 40 years. This week he announced he will be stepping down on November 22.
*Svengoolie Interview
=On Saturday Illinois Entertainer’s October issue came out, and it features my interview with Rich Koz/Svengoolie.
=If you are a Me-TV watcher, you’ll have a hard time
avoiding Sven over the next few weeks. It’s a month-long Halloween spectacular. Here's a small taste. I asked him about the differences in the show now that it's national...
“We still bring up Berwyn,” he points out. “The great thing is there are
other Berwyns in America. The people in Pennsylvania think we’re talking about
their Berwyn. For the most part, we just dropped some of the local references
like local news and weather folks or local sports teams, but that’s basically
the only thing that changed. It’s pretty much the same content we’ve always
done. Unfortunately, the rubber chickens will never leave. I’m constantly being
pelted by them. The office people come in and really get into it, sometimes a
little too much.”
=In other WCIU news, the
first high school game of the week will air tonight. Brother Rice vs. Joliet
Catholic at 7pm. On Wednesday night the station will air the CPS soccer championship game (Teams TBA) at Lane Tech.
*Network TV corner
= Former Today
show and Dateline co-host Natalie Morales has been named a CBS
News correspondent. She also will continue her role on CBS’s The Talk.
Morales joined CBS in 2021 after 22 years at NBC.
=Former Scrubs writer/producer
Eric Weinberg is charged with 18 counts of sexual assault.
=Velma from Scooby Doo officially comes out as a lesbian.
*Cable News Corner
=Former President
Trump is suing CNN for $475 million. He claims that the network has defamed
him. Nobody is taking it
seriously, including CNN. Here is how they responded to the letter warning them a lawsuit was coming…
“While we will address the merits of any lawsuit should one be
filed, we note that you have not identified a single false or defamatory
statement in your letter.”
*Streaming Corner
=Just in case you were wondering about the pace of unplugging:
Peacock now reaches 15 million paid customers.
OTHER MEDIA NEWS
*Elon Musk Whiplash
=He’s buying Twitter.
He’s not buying Twitter. He’s suing Twitter. Twitter is suing him. Where does
this whole back and forth stand this week? Now he’s buying Twitter again, at
the original asking price. Oh, and this morning, the Twitter lawsuit was halted. Where does this finally end? Your guess is as good as mine.
*Sun
Times is Dropping their Paywall
=This
was a big announcement yesterday from the Sun-Times, and a welcome one. The
headline says it all: The Sun Times’ New Chapter: Our Digital Content is Now Free for Everyone
*The Onion Files Supreme
Court Brief
=Because it’s the Onion,
it’s a little more irreverent than a typical legal brief, but they are tackling
a serious subject: defense of parody and satire.
*RIP Judy Tenuta
=The Oak Park native was a regular on the comedy circuit for years and
made countless appearances on Chicago’s comedy stages before breaking big nationally. Sad to hear about the
passing of Judy Tenuta. She was 72 years old. Ovarian cancer. The New York Times has her obit.
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
