MEDIA NOTEBOOK
A curation of news items
about the media from this past week, with a particular emphasis on Chicago…
Radio/Podcasts
*Marconi Award Finalists
This week the NAB announced finalists for this year’s Marconi Awards. Chicago is represented in a few of the categories. The Drive (WDRV) was named as a finalist for Major Market Rock Station of the Year. Janda Lane’s “Behind the Song” podcast is a finalist for Radio Podcast of the Year (Read my recent interview with Janda here). And the Score’s afternoon hosts Danny Parkins & Matt Spiegel are finalists for Major Market Personality of the Year. Congrats to all of the finalists. A full list of the finalists is here.
*Score 30th anniversary
On Wednesday the Score celebrated their 30th anniversary with a live broadcast. They brought back some of the original Score staff. I saw Tom Shaer, George Ofman, and Terry Boers in the pictures. Looks like they did not invite Dan McNeil, which is a shame. He certainly played a big part in the Score history. I did enjoy this video. An introduction of the staff…
Our 30th anniversary celebration wouldn't have been complete if it didn't include a #Bulls-like full lineup introduction ... with plenty of jokes.
— 670 The Score (@670TheScore) July 20, 2022
Listen on Rewind: https://t.co/o0wJQ5q2sk@ParkinsSpiegel podcasts: https://t.co/NDD7Vurf3e pic.twitter.com/iTIUaPcky8
*A Tribute to Lin Brehmer
Pete Crozier was Lin Brehmer’s producer for years at WXRT and
continues to help with the production of Brehmer’s Lin’s Bin feature. When it
was announced that Lin was stepping down from the show temporarily to undergo
treatment for cancer, Pete wrote a beautiful tribute on his facebook page. With
his permission, I’m re-posting a portion of it here. Read the rest on Pete’s
facebook page…
It’s
5:32 a.m.
The
morning show started two minutes ago.
The hotline flashes. I answer.
“Yello?”
“Time?”
I look at the recorded open and
calculate how long until the mic goes live.
“Fifteen seconds. Talking Heads
cued up. Ready to roll.”
“Once in a Lifetime?”
“Yep," I say.
“K. I’m walking to the back.”
I skip out of the studio. As I
turn left, and then right, I hear two loud thumps on a metal door.
I kick it open and he comes in,
a tattered leather bag in his right hand, a tray of four lattes in his left and
the Firesign Theater’s “That’s Not Funny, That’s Sick” album squeezed under one
arm.
He hands me the lattes as the
open ends and the Talking Heads song starts.
“Sixteen second intro,” he says,
a statement not a question.
“Yep.”
He hands me the album and says,
“Bill Murray’s birthday. Cart up Mr. Roberts, part one. End with, ‘You should
sleep late, much better on your constitution’.”
“Eleven seconds,” I say.
He smiles and says, “Like taking
candy from a baby.”
He nudges open the studio door
with his hip as I enter a production studio across the hall. I hit a button on
the board that brings his voice into my headphones.
“Goooooooooood morning,
everybody.”
I think to myself, "Four
seconds."
“Take nothing for granted. It's
great to be alive,” he says, hitting the post perfectly as David Byrne starts
singing, “And you might find yourself living in a shotgun shack…”
Lin Brehmer.
Chicago radio legend and my
friend.
*Black Information Network
The RAMP Newsletter reported this week that the Black
Information Network is now on the air in Chicago via WMFN-AM, branded as BIN
640 AM. BIN is an iHeart operation, and
Tony Coles is the president. He provided this quote to RAMP:
"BIN brings Chicago the most
trusted full-time news network for both local and national news by and for the
Black community, and we're looking forward to the network's impact in the
community for years to come."
*Former Chicago Radio alerts
=Former WLS-FM program Director Michael La Crosse just got a
big promotion out west. He is now VP/Programming for IHeart’s seven radio
stations in Sacramento.
=Former Kiss-FM (WKSC) weekend jock Nick Gomez is now the
7-Mid jock at WIHT in Washington
Media
Interviews
The following Chicago media figures are celebrating
birthdays this week. If you’ve like to read any of my previous interviews with
them, click on their names below. The year I interviewed them is in
parenthesis.
July 19—Loop night and overnightjock Terry Gibson (2007)
July 19—WGN Program Director Todd Manley (2015)
July 20—Loop/WCKG producer/host Pugs Moran (2012)
July 21—AM 1000/ESPN/WCKG/WLUP personality and award-winning playwright Spike Manton (2007)
July 21—River PD and morning personality Danielle Tufano (2014)
July 22—WLS/Q-101/Loop personality Tim Virgin (2019)
TV/Streaming
*Eddie Olczyk leaves the Blackhawks
Good Ol’ #16 was not just a part of Blackhawks broadcasts
for years. He was/is simply the best color analyst in the game. Jim O’Donnell explores and explains Eddie’s departure in his Daily Herald column this week.
*No charges for Colbert crew
The announcement about the decision not to prosecute came
this week. Sounds like it was a no-brainer once cooler heads prevailed. ABC News had the details…
A
spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office said it was not probable a conviction
could be obtained and sustained given that the nine arrested had been invited
and that their escorts had never asked them to leave the building. Though
Capitol Police have refused to provide the names of those who were arrested, a
person familiar with the matter provided The Associated Press with a list of
nine people who had been stopped by Capitol Police. They included several
producers, along with comedian and writer Robert Smigel, the voice behind
Triumph the Insult Comic Dog.
*Netflix loses a million subscribers
You would think that losing a million subscribers in one quarter would be a disaster, but when your projections were that you’d lose twice as many, it softens the blow a bit. Adweek has the details about the exodus, and the new ad-supporter version of Netflix that is coming soon.
*Chris Cuomo’s first interview
The former CNN prime time host has been lying low since he
was fired for improprieties earlier this year. The Hill reports that he has agreed to sit down with Dan Abrams on NewsNation next week for his first
nationally televised interview. (Chris Cuomo has also started a podcast if that's your thing)
You would think that cannabis ads would be legal in states
that have legalized weed. You would be wrong. Because pot is still considered
illegal federally, the FCC does not allow canabis ads on the public radio or television airwaves. The U.S.
House took steps to rectify the situation this week. Radio Ink has the details at the link. The bill still faces likely opposition in the Senate. But I’ve
already created the first Cannabis ad. This is a freebie for all of you media
mavens…
Other
Media News
*Pulitzer Reaffirms 2018 Awards
Former president Trump was urging the Pulitzer board to rescind their 2018 Pulitzer Prize awards to the Washington Post and New York Times for their reporting on his Russia scandal because he claimed that he had been exonerated by the Mueller Report (which, by the way, explicitly did not exonerate him). After re-examining the reporting that won the prize, the Pulitzer board announced that they are reaffirming the awards. Nothing in those reports has been proven untrue, despite the former president’s claims.
*Amazon vs. Facebook
There’s no good guy in this story. Two evil giants are going head-to-head in court. Amazon is suing Facebook because of their Facebook groups promoting/creating fake ratings for amazon products. Techcrunch has the details. Is there a way for both of them to lose?
*The Kennedy Center Honors
The 45th Kennedy Center Honorees have been
announced, and it includes Gladys Knight, George Clooney, Amy Grant, Tania
Leon, and U2. Here’s the statement U2 released…
"In December 1980, we made our first trip across
the Atlantic to America. We had big dreams then, fueled in part by the commonly
held belief at home that America smiles on Ireland. And it turned out to be
true, yet again. But even in the wilder thoughts, we never imagined that 40
years on, we would be invited back to receive one of the nation's greatest
honors. It has been a four-decade love affair with the country and its people,
its artists, and culture. We consider America to be a home away from home and
we are very grateful to the Kennedy Center Honors for welcoming us into this
great clan of extraordinary artists."
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