MEDIA NOTEBOOK
A curation of news items about the media from this past week, with a particular emphasis on Chicago.
RADIO/PODCASTS
*Brian
Sherman
=The latest
issue of Illinois Entertainer came out yesterday and features my interview with WDRV (The Drive) morning co-host Brian Sherman. Here’s a small taste of the
piece…
They
don’t try to sugarcoat their flaws.
“You’re
exactly right,” Sherman admits with a laugh. “Having those quirks makes you
much more human and relatable to everybody else too. What you hear on the air
is the real Sherman and Tingle. Just two guys talking and sharing things from
their lives.”
*Marconi Finalists
=The NAB announced the finalists for this year's Marconi Awards yesterday, and Chicago is well represented. WLS is a finalist for legendary station of the year. "Behind the Song" by Janda Lane on WDRV is a finalist for Best Radio Podcast of the Year. WTMX was named in the AC Station of the Year category. WGRB is a finalist for Religious Station of the Year, and the Score is a finalist in the Sports Radio Station of the Year category. Congrats to all of them. The full list is here.
*WBBM-AM
and WSCR-AM Moving to a New Tower
=Audacy’s two
Chicago AM stations are moving to a new tower. It doesn’t sound like this will
affect the range or quality of the sound too much (although WBBM will get a
stronger daytime signal), but it’s necessary because of the bankruptcy of the
broadcasting giant. They had to sell the land where they had their old towers.
Inside Radio has more.
*Lon Helton
to Host 2024 Radio Hall of Fame Banquet
=Helton is
himself a Hall of Famer (class of ’22) and worked for a while in Chicago radio
(WMAQ). The banquet will be held in Nashville this year.
*CBS Radio
Executive Editor Sees Her Job as a Calling
=Jennifer
Brown got her start as a Steve Dahl intern but has moved up to Executive Editor
at CBS. Barrett Media talks to her about her career journey.
*J.J.
Jeffrey to Leave Radio Ownership
=In the 1970s,
J.J. Jeffrey was a big star in Chicago on WLS AM 890. When he left Chicago, he
moved into station ownership in his home state of Maine. This week he and his
partner announced they were going to be leaving the business. Inside Radio has more on this story.
*Most
Common Radio Formats in America
=The top four
most common radio formats in America are…Country, Religious, News/Talk, and
Contemporary Christian. If you’ve taken a road trip this summer, I’m sure that
tracks with your experience. The full list is here.
*Steve
Albini May Get a Street Named After Him
=The late
musician/producer had a studio on West Belmont in Chicago, and the city is
considering naming a portion of that street after him. Block Club Chicago has more.
*It's Lolla Weekend
=Axios' Justin Kaufman examines the lessons learned by the country's best run music festival.
*Podcast
Corner
=Vulture rates the top new podcasts of 2024, so far.
=Kelce Brothers are looking for a $100 million podcast deal.
=Look who has
the number 1 podcast this week. It’s the Mooch and Katty Kay. Anthony
Scaramucci is quite entertaining. I had him on my podcast this week too.
*Rest in
Peace
=The Nelons
Plane crash. Gospel
Singers Kelly Nelon Clark, 64, husband Jason Clark, and
their daughter Amber Nelon Kistler, 35, were killed along with the
latter's husband Nathan Kistler, 34, the Georgia-based band's
assistant, Melodi Hodges, plus the pilot, Larry Haynie,
and his wife, Melissa Haynie. Tragic.
Co-founder of
the band The Chills. He was 61.
MEDIA BIRTHDAYS/MILESTONES
*July 28--Walter
Jacobson birthday
=Legendary
Chicago TV newsman. Walter and Bill Kurtis dominated the ratings during
their years at Channel 2 (CBS) in Chicago. At one point during his CBS era,
Walter won an Emmy for political commentary ten years in a row. He also won a
Peabody award. Walter later spent more than a decade at WFLD-TV (Channel 32),
and currently still offers political commentary on WGN Radio. He turned 87 last
weekend.
*July 28—Gehrig
Peterson birthday
=Gehrig got
his start in Chicago media as the manager for radio legends like Steve Dahl
and Kevin Matthews but is best known for his years in concert promotion.
*July 28--Rick
Kaempfer birthday
=That’s me. 61
this year. I don’t look a day over 60 ½.
*July 29, 1981
=750 million
people worldwide watched the wedding of Prince Charles and Princess
Diana. I don’t follow the royal family, but I’m sure that this fairy tale
had a wonderful and happy ending.
*July 29—Andy
Chanley birthday
=He’s the
afternoon man and music director at WXRT these days. I recently interviewed him
for Illinois Entertainer.
*July 29—Bill
Souronis birthday
=Total Traffic
Network
*July 29—Vasili
Souronis birthday
=Total Traffic
Network
*July 29—Rick
Morrisey birthday
=Chicago Sun
Times sports columnist.
*July 29—Geli
Corbett birthday
=Long-time
producer for Kevin Matthews.
*July 1994
=30 years ago the
Blaze (103.5FM) became Rock 103.5. They soon debuted their new morning man Mancow
Muller. Before it became The Blaze,
the frequency was known as WFYR. 103.5 FM is now known as KISS-FM.
*July 30—Tom
Petersen birthday
=WGN newscaster
for decades, working alongside the likes of Spike O’Dell, Bob Collins,
and more.
*July 31—Irv
Kupcinet birthday
=Probably the
most famous newspaper columnist (with apologies to Mike Royko) in Chicago
history. His column for the Sun Times began in 1943 and lasted 60 years. Kup
hobnobbed with the big Hollywood stars, did color commentary on Bears
broadcasts, and hosted his own television show. He now has a statue across the
river from the old Sun-Times building. Kupcinet died in 2003.
*July 31—Bill
Frink birthday
=Part of the
legendary Eyewitness News Team in the 1970s. Frink was the sports anchor
alongside Fahey Flynn, Joel Daly, and John Coleman.
*August 1,
1981
=MTV launches.
“Video Killed the Radio Star” by the Buggles was the first video. Watch the launch.
*August 2—Kenneth Smith birthday
=Known to Mancow
fans as Al Roker Jr.
*August 2—Ryan
Baker birthday
=For the last
five years he’s been hosting the morning show on Channel 2. Now he’s back on
the 10:00 News, anchoring the sports desk.
*August 3—Scott
Placko birthday
=Channel 2
cameraman/photographer Scott is the younger brother of Fox-32 reporter Dane.
August 3--Jerry
G. Bishop birthday
=The
anniversary of Chicago broadcasting icon Jerry G. Bishop’s birth was this week.
His protégé (as both Svengoolie and in radio) was Rich Koz. When I
interviewed Koz in 2009,
he went into a little more detail about what Jerry G. meant to him. Worth a
read.
TV/STREAMING
*Former
President Trump Appears in Chicago
=He was
interviewed Wednesday by a panel of print and television reporters at the
National Association of Black Journalists Convention. Among the panelists: Rachel
Scott (ABC News), Harris Faulkner (Fox News), and Kadia Goba
(Semafor). Needless to say, it was a controversial appearance. Trump really bristled at a question from Scott. And according to this report from WTTW, Trump’s
team demanded that it end after 35 minutes even though it was scheduled for an
hour.
*30 Years
of Larry Potash
=Yesterday
marked the 30th anniversary of Larry Potash on WGN-TV. Since his
arrival in 1994 he has arguably become the biggest star on the local television
scene.
*Jennifer
Lyons
=She has been
named the new regional GM for CBS Detroit and CBS Chicago.
*Chicago TV
Reunion
=Look who
bumped into each other at a local suburban festival. That’s retired TV
photographer/author Chuck Quinzio, Fox 32’s Dane Placko, and
retired ABC-7 reporter Paul Meincke.
*20 Years
of Dave Savini
=The
award-winning investigative reporter just celebrated his 20th
anniversary at CBS-2 Chicago. This week they brought him in to co-host the
morning show with Dana Kozlov. Savini shared some photos on his LinkedIn page.
*Is Hard
Knocks a Curse?
=Jim
O’Donnell examined that possibility in his sports media column in the Daily Herald. Normally I wouldn’t care about Hard Knocks, but the Bears
are the subject of this year’s show.
DESPITE THE STRONG SUGGESTION of George McCaskey, the sports gods have yet to officially proclaim that "Hard Knocks" is a curse. https://t.co/bYEyG1D4kJ
— Daily Herald (@dailyherald) July 28, 2024
*The
Bear? Never Heard of It
=Great piece
in the Tribune this week. The reporter went to Little Italy to talk to
some of the beef shops that inspired The Bear. They don’t watch it. They
never heard of it.
*Norah
O’Donnell Stepping Down after Election in November
=This was a surprise announcement this week. She was mired in third place as the anchor of CBS Evening News.
*Venu Sports Announces Prices
=The much anticipated sports streaming service (combining Disney/Fox/Warner Brothers sports assets) announced they are starting up in the fall. The cost will be $42.99 a month. Awful Announcing has the details.
*Colin Jost
to Host New Pop Culture Jeopardy
=30 years ago
I would have killed in this game. Now, not so much. For more info about the
show, click here.
*Olympic
Commentator fired for Sexist Remarks
=He worked for
the BBC, and let’s be honest. This is pretty cringe. Ballard said the women
swimmers were "finishing up" and "you know what women are
like... hanging around, doing their make-up."
*Warner
Brothers Discovery Sues NBA
=This lawsuit was expected. They are upset about losing the NBA rights to Amazon. ESPN has the details.
*New York’s
Hot Weather Chaser
=Not hot weather. Hot weatherman. The internet is abuzz. The New York Times has the story.
*Rest in
Peace
From 1971-1979
Jim was the voice of the Chicago Blackhawks and the Cubs for WGN-TV. He was 95.
STAGE/SCREEN
*Deadpool
& Wolverine Sets Box Office Records
=It has
already grossed over $500 million dollars globally and it just came out last
weekend. Crazy numbers
*Obama the Musical?
=You read that
right. Check it out.
DIGITAL/PRINT
*Biden Secures Release of Gershkovich and others
=Emotional scenes at the airport last night. Jake Sullivan explained the news earlier in the day...
National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan gets choked up during the White House briefing talking about the negotiations that led to the historic prisoner swap with Russia.
— NBC Politics (@NBCPolitics) August 1, 2024
“Today was a very good day,” he told reporters. pic.twitter.com/3P1qXA6dnH
*Photo of
Surfer in Mid-Air Goes Viral
=It’s an AP
photo. The photographer is Jerome Brouilait. The surfer in the picture
is Olympian Gabriel Medina. You can see it here. It really is stunning.
*100 Best
Books of the 21st Century
=According to the
New York Times.
SOCIAL MEDIA
*Justice Department
Warns About TikTok
=According to a report this week, the Justice Department claims that TikTok collected US user
views on specific issues like abortion and guns, and that they have
communicated directly with the Chinese government.
*How do you
solve a problem like Elon?
=The New
York Times has a piece about Elon’s right-hand-woman Linda Yaccarino,
and the challenges she faces because of her boss’s whims.
=Don Lemon is also suing Elon for $35 million because he backed out of their content deal.
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.
