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
*Sports Talk Reunion
=ESPN Radio in Chicago is throwing itself a 25th
anniversary party on March 24. (Get tickets here). As part of that
extravaganza, take a look at who is reuniting for the show! Looking forward to
this one…
Mac, Jurko and Harry are reuniting for a show for ESPN 1000's 25th anniversary show on March 24 at House of Blues: https://t.co/Y8sYvVXYoe
— jon greenberg (@jon_greenberg) February 13, 2023
=I wrote about Mac, Jurko & Harry at the height of the show’s popularity. It was also the height of the intra-show tension. You can read that piece here.
*National Radio Hall of Fame
=Nominations are being accepted for the National Radio
Hall of Fame between now and March 31st. If you want to nominate
someone, click here. There are quite a few Chicago greats that aren’t in the
Hall of Fame yet. From the 1960s, the great Ron Britain hasn’t gotten
the nod. From the 1970s, somehow Fred Winston hasn’t been recognized.
From the 80s and 90s, how is it possible that Bob Stroud and Kevin
Matthews (both finalists last year) are not in there? I’m a little biased,
but I have a few authors in my publishing company stable that should be in
there too, including Bobby Skafish and Mitch Michaels. Support
your favorite candidates.
*WSHE Valentines Cards
=Wonderful
gesture made this week by WSHE radio in Chicago (100.3 FM). They collected and donated thousands of Valentine’s Day cards for La Rabida Children’s hospital. Brenda Wolf,
President & CEO of LaRabida Children’s Hospital said: “It’s just so
heartwarming and wonderful to know that there’s so many people and
organizations in Chicago that would take the time to do something like this. This
really means so much to our kids, families, and staff.”
*Tease of Sky Daniels interview
=My next interview for Illinois Entertainer (due
March 1) will be with the legendary rock jock Sky Daniels. I have so much material from the interview that I had a hard time keeping it down to 900 words. So…I thought
I’d give you a few free bonus stories that didn’t make the final cut. Here’s
one about the origins of The Loop…“That station was Lee Abrams’
baby,” Daniels says. “He doesn’t get enough credit for what he meant to that
radio station, because it really was his vision. He wasn’t afraid of
bandoleros. He wasn’t afraid of really strong personalities. He called me and
said ‘I’m going to create the New York Yankees of rock radio here in Chicago.
I’m going to handpick every single jock and get the very best there is, with
the right personality, and the right character. I want you to do nights, and I
want you be music director.’ I’m thinking ‘I’m #1 in Detroit and having a good
time here.’ Steve Dahl called me and said, ‘Are you crazy? Do you have
any idea how big this is going to be? This is the big time. You gotta take this
job, man.’ He talked me into it.”
*First Look for Charity Auto Show 2023
=Before the Auto Show went live to the public, a
charity event was staged for Chicago’s glitterati. Lou Manfredini (WGN
Radio) and Alex Maragos (Channel 5) were the emcees and auctioneers this
year. The event benefited Misericordia, Heart of Mercy.
*Podcast Corner
=New Podcast on WBEZ: Shoes Off: A Sexy Asians
Podcast. This sounds like a fun one. Susie An and Esther Yoon-Ji
Kang and producer Stephanie Kim put the show together. They
interview Asian artists that are sexy. Some examples here.
=It’s a running joke that everyone in America has a podcast. This week you can add Ice-T to the list. Someday it will be true.
*The Loop Files
=This week’s trip into my old Loop files is a piece
from 1993. My co-writers and I spent a night out on the town with Buzz
Kilman. It was an eye-opener.
*Camp Broadcast
=Chicago-area native Sam Alex (a
national radio & TV personality) is doing his fourth annual masterclass for
high school and college age journalists and broadcasters. This year it’s taking
place May 13-14 at Northwestern University. As part of the camp, students are
able to interview celebrities and professional athletes for their reels. Click here for more information.
*Former Chicago Radio Update
=Brian Wheeler worked in Chicago radio for a
while at WMAQ, WBBM-AM, WGN, and was very highly involved in Loyola Ramblers
sports for WLUW. (He was replaced there in ’84/’85 by Lou Canellis). He
also worked on Chicago White Sox pre and post game radio shows, and
Northwestern University games, but later moved into NBA work, with the Bulls,
the Sacramento Kings, the Seattle Supersonics, and for the past 21 years, the
Portland Trail Blazers. Unfortunately, Brian isn’t doing well these days. He is
facing health and financial difficulties. His friend Rachel Taylor has set up a
GoFundMe page for him. It’s here if you’d like to help.
MEDIA BIRTHDAYS/MILESTONES
February 12—Wendy Snyder birthday
=Wendy has seen it all in Chicago broadcasting at
radio stations like the Loop, Q-101, WCKG, WGN, and WLS. I’ve interviewed her
many times over the years, including this one in Illinois Entertainer from 2013
when she and Bill Leff first re-started their show together on WGN.
February 12—Allison Rosati birthday
=Allison has been with Channel 5 for more than 30 years now. She initially garnered attention doing First Thing in the Morning
with Bob Sirott. Of course, she’s been the main anchor for the 5, 6, and 10
O’Clock news for many years now.
February 12—Alison Payne birthday
=The popular WGN-TV news anchor was only 57 years old
when she passed away in 2021.
February 12, 1953—Channel 2 Changes Call Letters to
WBBM-TV
=The TV station call letters were changed after CBS
acquired it. They already owned AM 780 and FM 96.3 (since 1929!), and both of
those stations went by the call letters WBBM (and still do).
February 13—Jim Foster birthday
=Foster has been a jack-of-all-trades for WDRV for the
past decade. He also has worked for Steve Dahl, produced a morning show at the
Loop, and more.
February 13—Jerry Springer birthday
=Jerry is 79 this year. He will always be remembered
for his time in Chicago when his Jerry Springer Show became a national
sensation. On the other hand, his stint as a commentator on the Channel 5 News
eventually led to the departure of both Carol Marin and Ron Magers,
the star anchors at the time.
February 14—Pat O’Brien birthday
=Not many people remember that the former CBS Sports
and Access Hollywood host got his big television break here in Chicago
at Channel 5. He has since covered six Olympic Games, the World Series, the
Super Bowl, the NBA Finals and the Final Four. Unfortunately for Pat, he will
probably always be remembered for a series of embarrassing voicemails that
became public in 2005. (Warning, this is a NSFW recording, to say the least). His
career has never really recovered.
February 14—Rick O’Dell birthday
=For years he was the pre-eminent host on WNUA Radio,
during their jazz days. He is now the programmer for Me-TV radio, which has
become a phenomenon. I interviewed him about that in 2021 for Illinois Entertainer.
February 14—Janet Sutherland birthday
=Sutherland
is a former Chicago radio reporter where she was heard covering Supreme Court
cases, Illinois legislation, health news and prison stories on WMAQ, WLS, WGN,
KMOX, UPI Radio and 75-plus radio stations on the Illinois and Wisconsin Radio
Network. In 2004, she suffered a brain aneurysm. Her long and painful recovery
is chronicled in the book Nose Over Toes.
February 16—Joy Masada birthday
=Joy is probably best remembered for her days as part
of the Danny Bonaduce show (on the Loop) and her stint as the producer
of the Murphy in the Morning show on Q-101. She also had a five year run at WCKG.
February
17—Cheryl Raye Stout birthday
=Cheryl
has been a sports reporter at WBEZ for more than 25 years now. She previously
worked for WMAQ (producer of Chet Coppock’s original sports talk show)
and WMVP. Her nephew is a pitcher for the Chicago Cubs. I interviewed Cheryl for Chicago Radio Spotlight in 2012.
February 17—John Roach birthday
=John Roach was the genius creator of The
Sportswriters on TV (with Rick Telander, Bill Jauss, Bill Gleason,
and Ben Bentley), which ran in Chicago from 1985-2000. He also wrote a
film called The Straight Story which was nominated for an Academy Award.
He lives in Madison Wisconsin these days.
February 18, 1998—Harry Caray dies
=A momentous day in Chicago broadcasting history. The
Cubs had just signed his grandson Chip to work in the booth alongside Harry,
but Harry never made it to Opening Day. Hard to imagine a more beloved
announcer in history. Harry’s been gone now for 25 years and he’s still
remembered by legions of fans who probably never heard him live.
=I met Harry many times over the years. I wrote about several of those encounters here, if you’re interested.
TV/STREAMING
*The Catchy Comedy Network
=Weigel Broadcasting Co.
announced a re-brand of their Decades channel. It will begin on March 27, 2023,
with the launch of CATCHY COMEDY. “Catchy
Comedy is a celebration of the very best in classic television comedy and will
showcase and celebrate a who’s who of funny women and TV legends,” said Neal
Sabin, Vice-Chairman of Weigel Broadcasting Co. “We are excited to bring an all-comedy approach
with this exciting rebrand of DECADES evolving into Catchy Comedy. Weekdays we
will showcase hilarious series with a strong appeal to women, or with female
characters that redefined and expanded the role of women in television. Then in
primetime we will feature groundbreaking comedy and characters from the
legendary Norman Lear, and in late nights we will present some of the
smartest and best written comedy series on television. Viewers really will be
able to ‘catch all the laughs’ on Catchy Comedy.”
*Andy Shaw and Paul Meincke
=These two guys were synonymous with Channel 7 News for decades. Good to see they are still friends. Andy posted this on his Facebook page this week. He gave me permission to re-print it here…
Paul and Andy back
together,
On a night with stormy
weather,
Telling tales til’ past
eleven,
‘Bout our days at
Channel 7.
Man, we shared some vintage times,
Doin’ news and slingin’
rhymes,
Paul liked limericks,
short and sweet,
I chose couplets,
simpler beat.
But that was just a bit
of fun,
Our working lives were
run and gun.
I chased pols, both
good and bad,
He told stories, many
sad.
TV news was big in Chi,
We were on an endless
high,
But finally we said
good-bye,
Adios, a sign-off sigh.
So on this night we
toasted life,
Mostly joy but also
strife,
Watching offspring grow
and bloom,
And hatching grands to
fill the room.
Yes we’re geezers,
mighty old,
But young at heart and
still quite bold.
He’s a craftsman, a
woodworking star,
I’m a golfer, miles
from par.
Mr. Meincke, Mr. Shaw,
Brothers yes, but not
by law,
Ours a bond that’s deep
and strong,
Tell me Paul that I
ain’t wrong!
*Eddie & Jobo, The Rom-Com
=From the evil geniuses of the WGN-TV morning show, Jeff Hoover and Mike Toomey. They reprise their roles as Eddie & Jobo for Valentine’s Day. Note the cameo appearance at the end of the bit.
Eddie and Jobo are back with their new movie trailer... Take a look 🎬 pic.twitter.com/wNcRL9Tjsh
— WGN Morning News (@WGNMorningNews) February 13, 2023
*Jack Taylor Tribute
=Nobody writes an obituary like the Chicago Tribune’s Bob
Goldsborough. This came out just after my column last week, but I thought
it was good enough to feature this week. Among the people quoted in the piece,
former Taylor colleagues Steve Ruxton and Linda Marshall.
*Charges Dismissed Against NewsNation
Reporter
=Evan Lambert, a correspondent for NewsNation,
was arrested for criminal trespass and resisting arrest last week while
covering the Ohio train derailment story. His actual crime? Irritating the Governor
of Ohio who was trying to hold a press conference at the time of Lambert’s live
shot back to the network. It was all on video. After reviewing it, all charges were dropped by the Ohio Attorney General.
*Yamiche Alcindor steps away from PBS
=She announced the news via Twitter
Some personal news: After deep thought & some meaningful conversations, I have decided to step away from the moderator role of Washington Week. This move will allow me to focus full time on my commitments to NBC News & to finish my upcoming memoir.
— Yamiche Alcindor (@Yamiche) February 13, 2023
*Cable News Corner
=Jake Tapper’s Executive Producer Frederico
Quadrani was fired this week by CNN for sexual improprieties with an
underling. According to this piece, Tapper himself was presented with evidence
and turned in his producer.
=Fox News anchors never believed election fraud claims. Dominion has their sworn testimony (not one claimed to believe it) and their e-mails and texts while it was happening. It's normally impossible to prove defamation, especially when dealing with a press organization. This time it may actually happen.
*Derek Jeter to join Fox Sports studio team
=After his MLB ownership debacle in Miami, Derek
Jeter has opted to give a shot at being in the broadcast studio/booth. I
suspect he will be very good at it.
*Super Bowl News
=Huge ratings for
this year’s game. Fox drew 113 million viewers for the game, making it the
most-watched Super Bowl in six years and the third most-watched TV show ever. (Behind
the Super Bowl in 2015 and 2017)
=Much has been made of the fact that Joe Biden opted not to do an interview during the Super Bowl pre-game show on Fox this year. The reason is pretty obvious. The same reason Donald Trump refused to do an interview with NBC’s Lester Holt during the Super Bowl pre-game a few years ago.
*Ted Lasso finally returning
=It’s about time! I was getting ready to cancel my Apple subscription.
New season kicks off March 15!
— Ted Lasso (@TedLasso) February 14, 2023
And unlike that guy who ordered Fireball at dinner and kept saying “crypto is the future,” this is one date you’ll want to remember. https://t.co/Wm4DJqeZI8
PRINT MEDIA
*Sports Illustrated Lays Off 17 Staffers
=Times are rough at traditional
publications like Sports Illustrated, especially in the print arena. According to this piece, it sounds like more investments will be made in the digital
division.
*New York Times Called Out for Coverage of Transgender
Issues
=Over 200 NYT contributors sent a
letter to the Times complaining about bias in the coverage of transgender and
non-binary individuals and issues. The letter is here, if you’d like to read
it. They obviously made it public.
SOCIAL MEDIA
*TikTok CEO Launches Aggressive Push to Fend Off Ban
=When both political parties in the US are against
you, it has a tendency to get your attention. TikTok CEO Show Zi Chu sees the
writing on the wall and is making a last ditch push with lawmakers on both sides
of the aisle to save his huge American audience. The Washington Post has an exclusive report.
Why your Twitter feed seems like it’s all about Elon
Musk
=This is what happens
when an egomaniac gains control of a social media platform. According to Platformer, Elon Musk was so upset that Joe Biden’s Super Bowl tweet got
more engagement than his own, he threatened to fire engineers working for him,
and had 80 employees work on making sure his tweets are viewed by more users.
The Verge has more info.
MJ
*Happy birthday Michael Jordan
=Not technically a media story or even part of a media category, but this is still Chicago, so what the heck.
What a way to celebrate 👏
— ESPN (@espn) February 15, 2023
More: https://t.co/JlEev3XncE pic.twitter.com/mff7QMIMGo
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.
If you're interested in some of my other projects from this week...
Minutia Men: The Silly Walk Workout
Minutia Men Celebrity Interivew: The Mad Drummer Steve Moore
Minutia Men Celebrity Interview Classic: Tommy Chong
Free Kicks with Adam & Rick: Breaking the Law
Meet the Eckhartz Press Author: Pat Colander
From the Eckhartz Book Shelf: Brandwidth
EveryCubEver: Charlie Grimm
My latest novel: Back in the D.D.R
The illustrations in the book are Jessica Hagy’s. She is an artist and writer best known for her Webby award-winning blog, Indexed (www.thisisindexed.com). A fixture in the creative online space, Jessica has been prolifically illustrating, consulting, and speaking to international media and events since 2006. Her work has been described as “deceptively simple,” “undeniably brilliant,” and “our favorite reason for the Internet to exist.” Her style of visual storytelling allows readers to draw their own conclusions and to actively participate in each narrative. Her images don’t always tell us what to think; quite often, they elegantly offer us ideas to think about.” She mixes data (both quantitative and qualitative) with humor, insight, and simple visuals to make even the most complex concepts immediately accessible and relevant. Her commissioned work frequently appears in various web formats, galleries, books, magazines, newspapers, television outlets, and advertising campaigns. She lives and works in Seattle, Washington.
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