Media
CBS Heaves It To Stever
Last month’s firing of radio legend Steve Dahl and his staff was shocking – but not out of character – for CBS Radio. A few weeks earlier, B96’s longtime morning team, Eddie Volkman and Joe “Jobo” Bohannon, were dumped by CBS Radio with eight months left in their contracts – and no chance to say […]
Reasons To Be Cheerful, Pt. 1
Last month’s firing of radio legend Steve Dahl and his staff was shocking – but not out of character – for CBS Radio. A few weeks earlier, B96’s longtime morning team, Eddie Volkman and Joe “Jobo” Bohannon, were dumped by CBS Radio with eight months left in their contracts – and no chance to say […]
Public Acess Under Siege
AT&T hypes its new U-verse digital TV system as “advanced TV that brings consumers a revolutionary new ent-ertainment experience that’s cooler than cable.” U-verse boasts something like 900 channels (including more than 41 in high definition) and a DVR that can record four shows at once. But activists say it doesn’t give consumers easy access […]
He Gone
Chicago Tribune. Recent redesigns have reduced story length and page count plus relegated much of the national and world news into bite-sized briefs.
The Morning After
For WKQK-FM 101.1 listeners, the morning drive is now an awful lot like the afternoon drive. On August 11th, the former afternoon team of Brian Sherman and Steve Tingle took over the morning slot after Alan Cox and Jim Lynam‘s “The Morning Fix” was given the ax.
College Stations: Terrastrial Radio’s Last Frontier
Down at the left end of the dial, sprinkled among the non-commercial religious and public-radio stations, is where you’ll find the most subversive sounds on the radio. That’s the domain of college radio – where students and community DJs often play (and say) anything, and with its focus on the local and offbeat, college radio […]
Hope For Local TV
The station that launched the legendary dance show “Soul Train” in 1970 recently hired two WTTW-Channel 11 alumni to help develop local programming. Weigel Broadcasting, which owns WCIU-Channel 26 (where “Soul Train” got its start back in 1970), as well as WWME-Channel 23 and WMEU-Channel 48, recently hired Harvey Moshman and Randy King to create […]
This Is Hell! Turns 10
The most witty, politically incisive talk show on the radio doesn’t air on a commercial station. It’s engineered by students, who are trained on the job. And the host isn’t paid.
Andy Austin, Courtroom Artist
“There’s been a lot of agitation on the part of the electronic media and regular press to open up the courtrooms,” says courtroom artist Andy Austin, author of the new book Rule 53: Capturing Hippies, Spies, Politicians, And Murders In An American Courtroom (Lake Claremont, $19.95). Rule 53 is a Federal Rule Of Criminal Procedure, […]
Webbed Migration
Two years ago Steve Rhodes left his post as Chicago magazine media and political writer and launched The Beachwood Reporter, an online magazine chronicling all things Chicago (www.beachwoodreporter.com). Last year longtime New York Daily News TV critic David Bianculli made the leap to the Web with Tvworthwatching.com, after the newspaper he’d been with for 14 […]
TV, The HDTV Switchover, & You
They can’t give us universal health care. They can’t fix the subprime mortgage problem. They can’t even find Osama bin Laden. But at least they can subsidize our TV viewing. The government is spending some $1.5 billion on its digital converter switchover program, which will ensure people with analog TVs can continue to watch over-the-air […]
Why Free TV Sucks
NBC will make network history on February 18th when it premieres the Internet TV series, “Quarterlife.” But not because the half-hour show follows the lives of six good-looking white Los Angeles 20-somethings as they express their angst and try to find their place in the world.
Don’t Look Back
Chicago radio was like a revolving door in 2007 – even at the left side of the dial. Last summer, Loyola University opted out of its contract with Chicago Public Radio, which had been running the college’s WLUW-FM (88.7) since 2002. Under the leadership of program director Shawn Campbell, WLUW had just become financially self-sufficient, […]
Sister Act
Chicago is a city of firsts. It’s the home of the first steel-frame skyscraper, the first atomic reaction, and the first daytime TV soap opera. It’s also where the term “jazz” was coined, back in 1914. And on August 12th, the Windy City became one of the first major media markets in America to boast […]
Jazz Hands
WNUA-FM (95.5)’s Ramsey Lewis is not the only game in town when it comes to jazz musicians moonlighting as DJs. Sax player Bruce Gibson and bass guitarist Nick Calabrese co-host a show called “Local Jazz Focus” each Tuesday night from 7 to 9 on Triton College’s WRRG-FM (88.9). They’ve had a whole host of musicians […]
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