MEDIA NOTEBOOK
A curation of news items about the media from this past week, with a particular emphasis on Chicago…
I'll return with a full column next Friday. Just two quick news items from this week.
Great news! https://t.co/C1sQXq1zh4
— Rick Kaempfer (@RickKaempfer) November 22, 2022
*Also, I appeared on the Destination Eat Drink podcast that dropped today. You can listen to it here. Had a great time discussing my new novel "Back in the D.D.R"
MEDIA NOTEBOOK
A curation of news items
about the media from this past week, with a particular emphasis on Chicago…
RADIO/PODCASTS
*Bob Stroud Profile
=The latest issue of Illinois
Entertainer is out and features my interview with the recently-semi-retired
rock and roll jock Bob Stroud. (Read the full interview here) We discussed his entire career, including what
led him into this business in the first place…
“The DJ that sent
me on the course to where I am is Dick Biondi,” he says. “It was so important
in my life – sixth grade, living in Kalamazoo, a friend of mine said, ‘Have you
heard this disc jockey named Dick Biondi on WLS in Chicago? He’s crazy.’ I went
home that night and listened, and it changed my life. The other guy who I
always mention because I thought he was so brilliant was Ron Britain from WCFL.
When I met him the first time, it was like meeting a Beatle for me.”
=Coming up next month (September 1st), Garry
Meier.
*Update on the WTMX lawsuits
=Inside
Radio has the full story with the latest updates. You can read that here. Bottom line,
according to the article is that Melissa McGurren, former Eric Ferguson
sidekick and current morning co-host at US-99, is appealing the dismissal of
her lawsuit. The case brought by former producer Cynthia DiNicola is still in
the midst of litigation in U.S. District Court in Chicago.
*Legendary broadcaster Vin Scully passes away
=How much of a part of the American broadcast world was Scully? 67 years behind the microphone calling games for the Dodgers. The youngest person to broadcast a World Series game (age 25). 3 perfect games. 18 no-hitters. Hank Aaron’s 715th home run. Inducted into Baseball Hall of Fame in 1982. He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. A presidential medal of freedom from Barack Obama. The street leading to Dodger Stadium is named after him, and so is the press box. Vin Scully was simply the best there ever was. Read the AP obit of Scully here.
=To
me, this is a great example of Scully’s greatness. It’s his radio play-by-play
of the 9th inning of Sandy Koufax’s perfect game against the Cubs in
1965.
*WGN
Radio News
=There was a big announcement this week about the WGN radio archives being donated to Northwestern. This includes everything from 1941-2011. 70 years of audio is now in the hands of Northwestern University Libraries in the Charles Deering McCormick Library of Special Collections and University Archives. Some truly historic material has been donated by WGN and their corporate bosses Nexstar. More details here.
=Editor & Publisher also reports that Nexstar CEO Perry Sook has been extended through 2026.
*Maybe
radio jobs aren’t extinct after all
=This announcement came from EP of WBEZ’s Reset…
Great positions open on WBEZ's daily talk show @WBEZ: Senior Producer, Digital Engagement Producer and Reset Production Fellow (1-year position, pays 55K). We'll also be posting a Producer position soon. Please spread the word and reach out with questions. https://t.co/JfObSYK9Ae
— danielptucker (@danielptucker) August 1, 2022
*Audacy
Stock Price
=Audacy
owns quite a few radio stations in Chicago, including WBBM-AM, B-96, The Score,
WXRT, US99 and 104.3 Jamz, but the company is facing a serious financial crisis.
The stock price hasn’t been over $1.00 since the beginning of July (it closed
at 70 cents a share yesterday), and now they are in danger of being de-listed
by the New York Stock Exchange. (Details are here)
How that will impact Chicago’s Audacy stations remains to be seen. Cumulus
faced a similar financial emergency a few years ago and managed to recover.
*Podcast
Roundup
=The film industry is jumping into the podcasting world. Lionsgate is the latest major player to announce they are joining the crowd. Podcast Business Journal has the details.
= The New York Times recommends six new political scandal podcasts. They are about (pick your topic): Hurricane Katrina, Putin’s obsession about Ukraine, Chappaquiddick, British scandals, a BBC look at Bush & Blair, and a little-known Australian coup from the 1970s. Something for everybody here.
=Bloomberg has a story this week about some podcast guests paying a fortune to appear on popular shows. I’ve clearly been doing this all wrong.
*Chicago radio anniversary
=The late great WNUA signed on with
their smooth jazz format exactly 35 years ago this week. If you’re feeling
nostalgic, here are a few places to read or listen to some highlights.
=My interview with WNUA star RickO’Dell (2010)
=Former Ramsey Lewis producer BobKessler reminisces (2012)
=Charlie Meyerson’s WNUA interviews with Richard M. Daley and Jane Byrne
*WXRT Hall of Fame
=This tweet by Johnny Mars has a photo from 25 years ago that features nearly every one of the all-time WXRT greats. See if you can identify all of them.
The WXRT air staff 1997 pic.twitter.com/fYfZ9I57MM
— Johnny Mars (@JohnnyMarsDJ) July 30, 2022
MEDIA BIRTHDAYS/MILESTONES
*Jerry G. Bishop
=The anniversary of Chicago broadcasting icon Jerry G. Bishop’s birth was this week. His protégé (as both Svengoolie and in radio) Rich Koz mentioned Bishop on his Facebook page this week: “An amazing talent, a good man, and a good friend- his generosity to me could never be paid back.”
=When I interviewed Koz in 2009,
he went into a little more detail about what Jerry G. meant to him…
“The job with Jerry actually came about when he was leaving
WFLD after they cancelled his Svengoolie show he was in talks with NBC for
both radio and TV, and he thought enough of me to try and get me involved as
part of his team for the radio side. He did some fill in at WMAQ, with me
filling the afore-mentioned sidekick/producer/goofball role- and, when they
brought him in full time- first, in afternoon drive, then in morning drive- I
went along for the ride.
It was a great gig, other than having to get up so early
for the morning show- we’d ride in, going over the papers, and he’d read
something about Dean Martin, and say-“let’s do a bit on this- you be Dean!” I’d
write stuff and be about 85% of the characters and “celebrities” that called
in- I’d write song parodies for him, invent new bits, and we’d do sponsored
commercials as bits- for example, I played the president of a lumber/home
improvement chain, playing him as a sort of dopey guy, in a running series of
live read commercials, and they went over really well.
Plus, on Monday mornings, when the show started an hour
earlier than usual, for a while, Jerry had me do that first hour by myself!
Jerry was the best--very generous, and, as I’ve always said, the guy who’s responsible
for me getting into the broadcasting business…so blame him!”
*Former Loop/Drive jock (and current WGN fill-in) Phil Manicki celebrated a birthday August 4th. My 2019 Illinois Entertainer interview with Phil is here.
*Former WIND/WCKG talker Geoff Pinkus celebrated a birthday on August 5th. My 2008 Chicago Radio Spotlight interview with Geoff is here.
*Chicago sports broadcasting pioneer Chet Coppock released his final (and most critically acclaimed) book Your Dime, My Dance Floor this week in 2018. Less than a year after this book came out, Chet died tragically in a car crash. My final Q&A with Chet is here.
*Former Chicago traffic reporter Joe Collins passed away five years ago this week. It would be difficult to find someone more universally loved than Joe. I had the chance to interview him for Illinois Entertainer just a few months before he passed away.
*One of the biggest
names in Chicago television news history, Fahey Flynn, was born this week in
1916. He also passed away this week in 1983. His Eyewitness News (Channel 7) co-anchor
Joel Daly delivered the eulogy, which he published in his book The Daly News.
The following is a short excerpt from Joel’s speech…
“Fahey had very strong feelings, deeply held
political and philosophical convictions. But he never let them show on the air.
During this time of great change and great debate, Fahey was steadfast…his
eyebrows as straight as his familiar bow tie. Fahey was the original,
quintessential anchorman. Unmoved, unemotional, a man whom people trusted to
tell them the truth… without endorsement or embellishment. Fahey Flynn fought
the odds of time in a very tough business in a very tough town. And his tenure,
all that time as a broadcaster and newsman belie the unfortunate myths which
cloud our profession: that it is cosmetic…that it is shallow… that it is ‘slick
and superficial.’ For Fahey, the most successful of all, was none of these.
On
the contrary, what you saw was what you got…what he was—a decent, caring human
being, so obvious and so visible every night at 6:00 and 10:00. For many years,
at the beginning and end of our news programs, the camera would show the two of
us talking. You couldn’t tell what we were saying to each other. That,
naturally, aroused a lot of curiosity. People would invariably ask me; “What do
you and Fahey talk about every night?”
Usually,
I’d just smile and remain noncommittal, as if it were some kind of secret. We
were two men bound in time—victims of the unrelenting clock. And we talked
about living and dying…of where we had been…and where we were going…if we only
had time. And those conversations would often last long after the studio lights
went out. We would sit there in the darkness, as if unwilling to let go. Those
were the moments I will most remember.
That
rich voice rolling out of the darkness, spinning a tale from the past…or posing
a question of the future—often funny, sometimes sad—intimate words that could
be said and shared without the presence of the clock…without the witness of the
world. But now time has run out! No more deadlines, my dear friend…no more
rush. No more stories to send…no more fuss. So rest in peace, dear friend…and
be to heaven bound. We’ll follow, for time must end…Just pray the bridge is
down”
TELEVISION/STREAMING
*Devil in White City to film in
Chicago
=One of the most famous books ever
written about Chicago, The Devil in White City, is about to become a
television series. Some big-time names are attached. Keanu Reaves to star.
Leonardo DiCaprio and Martin Scorsese to produce. And most importantly, it will
actually be filmed here in Chicago. Reel Chicago has the details.
*I want my MTV
=It’s hard to believe it’s already 41 years, but one of the original VJs Martha Quinn tweeted about the anniversary this week. Do you remember where you were? I was in college at the University of Illinois, and it was a groundbreaking moment.
Happy 41st birthday to the pop culture meteor that enrolled us all in the greatest school of rock ever-#MTV High! Can you remember the first video you saw? Where were you?? pic.twitter.com/40c3Agc3HU
— Martha Quinn Ⓥ (@MarthaQuinn) August 1, 2022
*Whoopsie-Doopsie
moment for Alex Jones
=The
InfoWars host/founder had a very bad week. He discovered live on the stand that
his lawyer had accidentally given all of Jones’ phone records (all of them) to
the lawyers representing the Sandy Hook families. He lost in court and was
ordered to pay a $4 million settlement. The January 6th committee
then asked for the files too, which may have further implications for him in
future legal matters.
=NBCNews has the details on the whoopsie moment.
=NPR has the story about the Jan 6 angle of this story.
=US News & World Report has the story about the settlement.
*Batgirl must be really,
really, bad
The movie Batgirl is not coming
out at all…anywhere. I get why they don’t want to spend money marketing it, or
they don’t think it’s big enough for nationwide theater release, but I don’t
get why they won’t just release it on HBO Max. Supposedly they are taking it as
tax write off, but even that doesn’t quite smell right. They’ve already spent
$90 million (see below). Rumors have been trickling out that it tested very
badly, despite their initial quotes to Variety this week. Here’s
a short excerpt…
Studio
insiders insist the decision to axe “Batgirl” was not driven by the quality of
the film or the commitment of the filmmakers, but by the desire for the
studio’s slate of DC features to be at a blockbuster scale. “Batgirl” was
budgeted to screen in homes on HBO Max, and not for a major global release in
theaters. The initial $75 million production budget for the project, which
finished principal photography earlier this year and was in post-production,
reached $90 million, due in part to COVID-related delays and protocols.
*RIP Nichelle Nicols
=The actress who brought Star
Trek’s Lt. Uhura to life passed away this week. The Washington Post has a great obit of this amazing woman. What a
fascinating life. I didn’t realize that she was from Chicago, or that she was
discovered by Duke Ellington, or that she dated Gene Rodenberry and Sammy Davis
Jr. it’s worth a read. RIP Nichelle.
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
Here is a small excerpt of that piece...
He had been a heavy XRT listener for years, and he credits some of the greats for influencing his own style on the air.
“All of them had an impact on me,” he says, “but I don’t think I’ve ever given proper credit or attribution to Bobby Skafish. He created the most marvelous radio in the late ’70s/early ’80s, which was an impressionable time for me. I was a hardcore WXRT listener beginning in ’78 or ’79, and Bobby Skafish was on fire in those days. His personality leaped through the speakers. Those Skafish years at WXRT are as responsible for me getting into radio as anything.”
Since arriving at the 93.1 dial position himself, Milne has had some of his own shining moments.
“I remember talking to Curtis Mayfield in 1996. He had just released his first LP since an on-stage lighting accident in 1991. You have to admire all that Curtis brought to music, but for the majority of his life—by this time, he was living in Atlanta—he was a Chicago guy. I have always taken great pride in that. When I left the studio that day, having just interviewed Curtis Mayfield, albeit it that he was literally lying on his back talking into a telephone, I felt like I was walking on air. Surviving an interview with Lou Reed live, with his personality, while witnessing his on-stage performance, was another highlight. He played songs four feet away from me that I was engineering. It’s hard to top that.”
Milne isn’t the same disc jockey he was when he first cracked the microphone in the 80s. His on-air style has evolved over time, and he credits his attention to detail.
“I have a path I follow every break,” he says. “That’s the way I do my best work. I have to know what my ‘in’ is and what my ‘out’ is, and what my content is. I don’t just whip these things out. I have given thought to everything I say and everything I play. It is important to me. I don’t have a problem with other people who can crack a mike and let the stream of consciousness flow, but I’m not that guy.”
He is, he admits, a very lucky guy.
“I wish everyone in radio had the kind of outlet and the kind of freedom we have on WXRT. That’s why listeners respond to it. As far as I’m concerned, the future remains bright for Chicago’s Finest Rock, and I’m glad to be a part of it.”
Richard Milne can be heard every weekday morning from 5:30am—10am.
If you'd like to read the entire piece, it's here.