Tag: Rick Kaempfer
Media: September 2026 ⢠Champaignâs Indie Filmmaker
Robin Christian is an Indie-filmmaker, the writer of over a hundred film scripts, and the director of films for more than twenty years. Yes, thatâs all very impressive. But what makes his accomplishments even more impressive is where he is doing it: right here in Illinois. Robin is based in Champaign. His journey into this […]
Media: August 2026 ⢠Kev Meets the Pope
Kevin Matthews is still fondly remembered in Chicago for his days on the radio here, particularly his time at the Loop (AM 1000/FM 98). Those crazy days of improv radio are chronicled at the Museum of Broadcast Communications if you want to check it out. Kevin was just over there recently and signed the […]
Media: July 2026 ⢠Fred Winston – Hall of Famer
Fred Winston is part of the 2026 class of Radio Hall of Fame inductees, although it didnât happen without a bit of drama. âI found out I was nominated via phone call from one of the board members, Lon Helton, who is a former Chicago radio guy, who’s now in Nashville. We worked together briefly […]
Media: June 2026 ⢠When Landecker Met Travolta
50 years ago, John Records Landecker (then on WLS) and John Travolta (then starring in Welcome Back, Kotter) shared a moment they will both remember forever. âTravolta had a single out on RCA Records,â John recalls, âand my show was really popular with kids who bought records, so RCA brought him into the WLS […]
Media: May 2026 ⢠Mark Ruffinâs Jazz Odyssey
Mark Ruffin hosts a daily jazz show from 2-5 pm on SiriusXM Channel 67 and programs the channel as well. Ruffin has a programming philosophy. âI work by what I call the Duke Ellington School of programming,â he says. âDuke tried to tailor his musicians to whatever song it was. I do the same with […]
Media: April 2026 ⢠100 Years of Sirens In The Loop
The journalism business has obviously changed dramatically over the past few decades. The latest book about the history of the Chicago News Bureau (Sirens in the Loop), written by Paul Zimbrakos and Jim Elsener, really shines a spotlight on just how much it has changed. Â The City News Bureau was a news cooperative, meaning […]
Media: March 2026 ⢠National Radio Hall of Fame Chicago Nominee Suggestions
The National Radio Hall of Fame is located right here in Chicago, in the Museum of Broadcast Communications (440 W. Randolph).* This is a National Hall of Fame, but Chicago is well represented. For instance, among the inductees youâll find Chicago radio greats like Dick Biondi, Jonathon Brandmeier, Jack Brickhouse, Harry Caray, Bob Collins, Steve […]
Media: February 2026 ⢠Norville: Back in the Game
Deborah Norville was a journalist for 40 years and is now a game show host (The Perfect Line, on WCIU-TV), but she got her career start right here in Chicago at Channel 5. âMy five years in Chicago was really when I grew up,â she remembers. âI was 23 when I came here, and coming […]
Media: December 2025 ⢠The Museum of Broadcast Communications Pop-up Exhibit
Many of us worried it might never return after shuttering its previous location, but in October, the Museum of Broadcast Communications made a triumphant comeback in a new location, with an assortment of new exhibits. The date wasnât chosen randomly. It was the 100th anniversary of Johnny Carsonâs birth, and Johnny Carson is the big […]
Media: November 2025 ⢠Wild Kingdom: Full Circle
Mutual of Omaha is so closely associated with wildlife that some people donât even realize itâs an insurance company. âTrue,â host of Mutual of Omahaâs Wild Kingdom, Peter Gros, says with a laugh. âThey ask us if we run an amusement park.â Since 1963, Mutual of Omaha has been the sponsor of the ultimate nature show, Wild […]
Media: October 2025 ⢠Mitch Michaels: Hall of Famer
Very few rock and roll stations on the Chicago radio dial have not had the voice of Mitch Michaels pumping through their airwaves. The list of stations is impressive: WGLD (now V-103), WDAI (now WLS-FM), WXRT, WKQX (now Q-101), WLUP (now K-Love), WCKG (now the FM simulcast of WBBM News Radio), and The River. So […]
Media: September 2025 ⢠John Owens’ Passion Project
You may not realize it, but you have either read or watched the work of John Owens if you lived in Chicago any time over the past 35 years. He wrote for The Chicago Reader (including a front page piece at the young age of 21) and the Chicago Tribune (for 28 years). But […]
Media: July 2025 ⢠40 Years of Steve Bertrand
A few weeks ago, WGN Newsman Steve Bertrand celebrated his 40th anniversary at WGN Radio. He was kind enough to sit down and chat with me about his tremendous career. IE: 40 years. I donât want to say thatâs a long time, but they were filming âFerris Buellerâs Day Offâ on your first […]
Media: June 2025 ⢠Swany Leaves 101.9FM The Mix
WTMX (The Mix) recently announced that midday personality Lisa Allen was leaving the station. The announcement added âalong with three other staffers.â When I read that, I had a bad feeling, so I called my old friend John âSwanyâ Swanson, my co-author of The Radio Producerâs Handbook, and asked him if he was one of […]
Media: May 2025 ⢠Triton College Radio Celebrates 50 Years
50 years ago, college radio was thriving. Every major college or university had a college radio station, and most universities had a radio/TV department. Those college radio stations were the breeding ground for the hugely popular radio industry, spawning radio stars, up-and-coming musical artists, and a whole generation of hitmakers. Sadly, across the country, college […]
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