MEDIA NOTEBOOK
A curation of news items about the media from this past week, with a particular emphasis on Chicago
(By Rick Kaempfer)
Radio/Podcasts
*Taylor Swift, the Movie
=The most popular recording artist in the world is coming back to Chicago. If you missed her shows here, don't fret. Starting Friday, October 13th, the movie of her tour will hit town.
*The folds of her belly
fat
=Peggy Kusinski
from ESPN Radio (AM 1000) scored this juicy scoop. The person in question has denied she did this, and so has Jerry Reinsdorf, but it's a visual I've had a hard time shaking this week.
As I reported on @ESPN1000 just now… the shooting at Guaranteed Rate Field during a #WhiteSox game was indeed an accidental discharge by one of the women “grazed” by the bullet. She reportedly snuck the gun in past metal detectors hiding it in the folds of her belly fat.
— Peggy Kusinski (@peggykusinski) August 29, 2023
=Once upon a time there was a radio
personality named Kevin Matthews. He was a huge star at AM 1000. Kevin
also donned the persona of Ed, a parody of WGN Radio’s overnight man Eddie
Schwartz, and fronted a band called Ed Zeppelin. They played to sold out audiences
all around Chicagoland. That story is the story of this film, which will debut
on October 5th at the Arcada Theater in St. Charles. Kevin will be
there in person. Mancow Muller will be there too, as will comedian (and
WGN-TV Morning New’s) Mike Toomey. Tickets are available here.
=I will be there too. Full disclosure: I’m the director of this film, and my son is the editor. It’s really quite good.
=CBS sportscaster James Brown will be the
recipient of the NAB's 2023 Distinguished Service Award (NAB DSA). Brown will
be honored during the NAB Marconi Awards Dinner on October 25 at NAB Show
New York.
*Rewound Radio
=A special treat for radio geeks like me. Rewoundradio.com is once again doing a flashback weekend featuring classic WLS and WCFL radio shows from their Top-40 heyday. It begins tomorrow morning and runs all weekend long.
*Podcast Corner
=Dr. Seuss Podcasts are coming. Wondery signed a deal this week with Dr. Seuss enterprises.
=YouTube has surpassed both Spotify and Apple as a destination for podcasts.
=Stats on podcast listenership reveals that 56% of Americans listen to at least one. 22% listen to more than 5 hours a week. Inside Radio has more stats.
*The 2023 Streamy Awards
=Yes, it’s a real thing. Find out who won the awards by clicking here.
*Rest in Peace
Long time Notre Dame Radio
broadcaster Tony Roberts, play by play voice for Notre Dame football from
1980-2006. He was 94.
*Media Golf
=Star studded foursome hit the links this week. Left to right, Bernie Tafoya, David W. Berner, Pat Cassidy, and Mitch Michaels. I asked Bernie who won. If you'd like to know his response, it's at the bottom of this column.*
Media Birthdays/Milestones
*August 26, 1963—"I Have a Dream”
speech in Washington.
=It’s not often that a President of
the United States writes an op-ed, but President Biden did this week,
about the 60th anniversary of Martin Luther King’s speech
*August 27—Ron Magers birthday
=Magers has
been retired for a few years now, but he had a legendary run as a news anchor
in Chicago at both NBC-5 and ABC-7.
*August 27—Joe Cicero birthday
=Joe is the morning man at Star 105.5. I interviewed
him for Illinois Entertainer a few years ago.
*August 27—Dan McNeil birthday
=I’ve interviewed the former Score,
ESPN, Drive, and Loop host many times over the past few decades, but I think
this 2004 piece I wrote about him for Lake Magazine is the best.
*August 29—Tom Couch birthday
=Couch is the former creative director
for Hubbard Broadcasting in Chicago and WXRT. He is now with Noteworthy Media.
*August 29—Michael Jackson
birthday
=Hard to picture, but he would have
been 65 years old this week.
*August 30—Mark Zander birthday
=Zander has worked at several stations in Chicago, including the Loop, ESPN, WCKG, and Me-TV FM. I’ve interviewed him a few times, including this one from 2007.
*August 30, 1993
=It’s the
30th anniversary of David Letterman’s first Late Show on CBS. The
entire show is on YouTube if you’d like to watch it. The first guest was Bill
Murray.
*August
31—Robert Jordan birthday
=Jordan
retired a few years ago after a long and productive career on WGN-TV. This
photo is from Rich King’s book “Ike & Me” (L-R: King, Ramsey, Bange, and
Jordan)
*August 31, 1997--Princess Diana's death
=News that shocked the world. This is how the news was reported in England.
*September 1, 1972
=Bobby Fisher wins the Match of the Century and becomes first ever American chess champion.
*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.
TV/STREAMING
*Jim Rose Retires
=Channel 7 sports anchor Jim Rose announced this week that he will be stepping down. His last show will be September 15. He told the Tribune: “The quote I like to use is, nobody beats Father Time. Now that said, I turned 70 in July and I’m in excellent health. I get a health checkup every six months just because I want to, and my health is, as pilots say, right on the glide path and glide center. But this seemed like the perfect time to call it a career. I have had more of a career than a man is really entitled to.”
*Univision Crew Robbed While Reporting on Uptick in
Robberies
=This story is more than a little disturbing.
*Jay Cutler is Back
=He has been named to the "Inside the NFL" team. The show airs in Chicago on the CW Network. The first episode will be Tuesday night. The other hosts of the show are Ryan Clark, Channing Crowder, Chad Johnson, and Chris Long. I suspect at least one of those other co-hosts will intercept Jay's first topic.
*Steve Sanders Wedding
=Congratulations to former WGN-TV anchorman Steve
Sanders…
*Strike Update
=SAG/AFTRA “remains ready at a moment’s notice” to resume
talks.
*New Host Coming to Meet the Press/September 17
=It’s Welker Time.
*Cable News Corner
=Geraldo Boats into the Sunset
*Rest In Peace
The former Price is Right host (and Adam Sandler fighter)
was 99 years old.
Emmy-award winning Days of our Lives actress. Voice-over talent from Batman cartoon. Wife of Christopher Lloyd. She was 67 years old.
He was all over television during the 2008 presidential
campaign. His real name was Samuel Wurzelbacher. Pancreatic cancer claimed his
life. He was only 49.
He was featured in a series of British documentaries
beginning at a young age. He later became a professor at the University of
Wisconsin. He was 65.
DIGITAL/PRINT
*The Daily Tar Heel
=The day after the shooting on the North Carolina campus,
this was the powerful front page of the student newspaper, The Daily Tar Heel. (Click to enlarge). This is the story of how and why they did it this way.
*Barstool Sports Layoffs
=Dave Portnoy announced the layoffs on Wednesday calling it a "no brainer" because the company has been losing so much money. More information here.
*Wall Street Journal Reporter Detained by Russia for
Another 3 Months
=The story of Evan Gershkovich doesn’t seem to be getting better any time soon.
*Bernie Tafoya's response about who won the golf outing? "We all did, cuz we had a good time." (So, my guess is that Bernie didn't win)
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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The Fifth Edition (2023) of EveryCubEver is also on amazon. Buy your copy today.
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