Category: Chicago Media

News and analysis pertaining to the Chicago media scene – Chicago’s news/talk radio, Chicago television newscasts, Chicago print and and online journalism

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Friday night video searching on YouTube

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So I was searching YouTube specifically for an American Coach Limousine television commercial (don’t ask), and while I found what I was looking for, I had to do a double take after observing the two female actresses at the beginning.

They look very familiar. Looks alone, I may not have recognized them, but when combined with those mannerisms, I immediately flashed back to the old Eagleman commercial from the 1990s.

Those are the same women, right? Now, I’d really like to know for sure.

I suppose there are worse things I could be doing on this Friday night…

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Sirott and Murciano joining WGN Radio full-time; plenty of options for how to fit them in

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News broke yesterday that Chicago news veteran Bob Sirott is joining WGN-AM 720 full-time, with his wife (and former Fox 32/WFLD-TV “Fox Thing in the Morning” co-anchor) Marianne Murciano. The two are expected to host either a midday or an afternoon show, beginning in the next few weeks.

While the addition of Sirott and Murciano personally doesn’t have me that excited, I am happy that the new station management is making a bold effort to greatly improve the station (which is a far contrast from six, seven months ago following the departure of John Williams). Considering Sirott is still a full-time news anchor (at WFLD/Fox Chicago, at least for now), and based on previous talk shows they have done together, I see the possibility for a rather vanilla type of show by avoiding the more interesting and relevant political or social discussions. I hope they aren’t going to play it too safe.

With the recent departures of Carol Roth (12 – 1 p.m., Mon-Fri) and Turi Ryder (10 p.m. – 1 a.m., Mon-Thurs), the station’s schedule currently has Jonathon Brandmeier on from 6 to 10 a.m., Mike McConnell from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Garry Meier from 3 to 7 p.m. and David Kaplan and friends from 7 p.m. to midnight. To fit Sirott and Murciano into the lineup, WGN has a few options. They can shorten McConnell’s show, and schedule them to begin at either 12 or 1 p.m, and go until 3. I don’t see anything later in the day as a realistic option. I just can’t see the station removing Meier from afternoon drive at this point.

Other rumors, as hinted by Larz at ChicagolandRadioandMedia.com, suggest McConnell could be out in the coming weeks, which would leave a large void in the schedule. If McConnell indeed does leave, it would make sense for Sirott and Murciano to occupy a portion of his current on air time, though not all five hours. The station may be planning to fill the remaining void with either Steve Cochran (who filled in last week and this week for Brandmeier) or Brian Noonan (currently hosts Sunday evenings and was recently removed from the evening sports show he co-hosted with Kaplan).

Cochran was a long time fan favorite at the station, so him returning full-time in some capacity would make a lot of sense. On the other hand, Noonan is also well liked and can be considered a rising star who rightfully deserves a daytime slot.

Ideally, what I would like to see is for WGN to fit both guys in by removing both McConnell and Brandmeier. Cochran while filling in for Brandmeier these last few days has sounded so good and natural, while Brandmeier seems out of place and out of touch with the times. A day-time lineup with Cochran in the morning, followed by Noonan in late mornings, Sirott and Murciano in the early afternoons, followed by Meier would make for a swell lineup.

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Forgetting that radio is a visual medium

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A Chicago radio station I frequently listen to is airing a spot (radio slang for a type of commercial) that bothers the heck out of me.

The spot was recorded by a producer who works for one of the station’s most prominent show, though the spot can air at anytime during the day or night.

In this particular spot, the producer endorses a hair care product. She mentions that as a result of her using the product, she regularly receives compliments from listeners on how great her hair looks.

I have two problems with this.

1. She doesn’t often speak on the air so it is unlikely that anyone other than a devoted listener to the show even knows of her.

2. Even if she was on the air more, radio is not a visual medium. It is highly unlikely that people walking along Michigan Ave. or around a random mall in the suburbs are going to recognize this person and tell her how great her hair looks.

In the grand scheme of things, this isn’t too big of an issue because most listeners won’t pick up on this. Excusing my radio nerdom, my full-time job involves marketing, so I also see this spot as somewhat odd from the vantage point as someone who works in marketing.

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Back on WGN Radio, Steve Cochran providing an easy, relaxed listen in the morning

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Steve Cochran

When long-time WGN-AM 720 host Spike O’Dell retired in December 2008, the coveted morning show was supposed to go to then afternoon host Steve Cochran. After that didn’t happen due to a few circumstances, he would be shown the door some 18 months later.  The rest of the radio hell WGN experienced through 2010, and then again at the start of 2013 is well documented. The arrival of Jimmy de Castro as the station’s new president and general manager in May came with high expectations that things will slowly be made right.

Perhaps the most monumental amends took place last Tuesday when the sound of Steve Cochran was heard once again on the AM 720 airwaves. After quitting his previous gig at WIND-AM/560 The Answer, Cochran was free to turn up on WGN where he is now filling in for the vacationing Jonathon Brandmeier.

Bummer… Cochran is only filling in?

Cochran should be the new morning host at WGN. And I say this as someone who ironically didn’t care for him much when he previously hosted afternoons. While Cochran’s high level of wittiness and the urge to be funny is sometimes distracting, he is also highly intelligent and can do a decent job at discussing the day’s most relevant news happenings. I also like his reasonable, realistic perspective on the news, especially on politics.

His interactions with news anchor Andrea Darlas (recently promoted from late afternoons/ early evenings to mornings), Orion Samuelson and Dave Eanet (or last week, Jordan Bernfield) have a tendency to result in impromptu and oft-entertaining discussions. The show has a fine blend of news talk and slight silliness. The news talk isn’t too in-depth or too serious while the silliness is not quite off the rails.  The entire listening experience is easy and relaxed — exactly what I want while driving to work.

Cochran’s level of discussion and performance is quite the contrast to Brandmeier. I usually can’t listen to Brandmeier for more than two minutes. I don’t think he is either funny or relevant. Even if I could get remotely interested in one of his topics, he kills the momentum by badgering it to death, often seeking re-clarification over some tiny tidbit that was obvious to the audience ten minutes ago.

The day after the Boston Marathon bombing, he had interviewed one of the runners who was lucky enough to have finished the race prior to the blast. The first question he asked her was how long she had been married. He later congratulated her for simply finishing the race because… you know… the marathon route sure does have a lot of hills. The day after the tornado rampage in Moore, OK, Brandmeier is playing the wicked witch theme from the “Wizard of Oz” while discussing the devastation of the town.

Thankfully, Brandmeier wasn’t on WGN the day after Sept. 11, 2001. Is it too far fetched to imagine him asking one of the rescue firefighters “so… did you still slide down the pole after learning the Trade Center was under attack?”

I doubt Cochran quit his job at WIND — a full-time radio gig in Chicago — just to be a fill-in guy at WGN. While Cochran for now continues to host a midday show at KTRS-AM 550 in St. Louis (weekdays 10am-12pm), I would bet money that he is back at WGN full-time in some capacity by the end of the year.

If I had it my way, Cochran would have replaced Brandmeier as the station’s new morning host by yesterday.

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Chicago Tribune goes in-depth on city’s thousand-plus shootings in first half of 2013

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Over 1,000 shot in Chicago so far this year. Today’s Chicago Tribune profiles a sample of the stories surrounding such victims.

The trends have been positive this year, with the number of shootings and homicides running below last year’s tragic spike, but similar to other recent years. The regular weekly statistics released by Chicago police include the number of shooting incidents, not the number of victims. Even if an incident involves multiple victims, it is counted as a single shooting. But the Tribune analysis focused on the number of victims.

The circumstances behind this violence is far more complicated than a bunch of hoodlums having nothing better to do than joining a gang. As always, society will ignore the underlying problem(s).

Either that, or we just don’t know how to fix it. I’m not sure which, though I lean towards the former.

The Tribune also has a database pinpointing the victims and locations of all shootings from the first-half of this year. Or just remember the URL, chicagotribune.com/shootings.

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Media using tragedy to engage audience, boost social media activity

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Once upon a time, a long time ago, I “liked” the WLS-TV/ABC 7 Facebook page. For much of the duration, the page was great for providing Chicago area news, weather and any other tidbits of interest — exactly why I “liked” it to begin with.

Of late, I started becoming annoyed with pages like ABC 7, or any other, that have gone a bit heavy with encouraging their followers to “like” or “share” a given status…

I get that active social media management means you want as many people to “like” or “share” your page or the content on your page as much as possible. The level of annoyance crossed the line when I thought ABC 7 was using (deliberate or not) the sympathy surrounding the death of the 19 Arizona firefighters as part of their social media strategy…

I don’t want to see it. I’m not interested in seeing tragedy be used as a means to engage an audience. I understand such strategy happens all the time to a much greater extent in the real world, but with Facebook(!)… it especially strikes me as sleazy.

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Megan Glaros is on vacation; returns next week

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I’ve received a few inquires regarding the absence of meteorologist Megan Glaros from WBBM-TV/CBS 2’s morning news this week.

While I assumed she was enjoying a well deserved vacation, I can understand why CBS 2 viewers might think there was more to her absence, considering that the station surprisingly parted ways with Susan Carlson a mere three weeks ago.

Just to double check, I asked Glaros if she would be back next week. She tweeted the following:

And there you have it…

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Mitch Rosen keeping Score: Declines WGN program director job, stays at WSCR

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Mitch Rosen

Mitch Rosen, program director at WSCR-AM (670 The Score)

By the end of Jimmy de Castro’s first day as president and general manager of WGN-AM 720 on Monday, Bill White had been relieved of his duties as program director while Mitch Rosen (pictured, right) was the leading candidate to replace him.

While we now know that Rosen, program director at WSCR-AM/670 The Score is not going to WGN, the waters around Tribune Tower have quickly become turbulent (quite the contrast to what I said on Sunday when suggesting de Castro would not impose immediate change).

While Rosen declining WGN is newsworthy, the decision to stay at the Score may be more prominent. It shows a tremendous amount of confidence by Rosen to both the Score and parent company CBS Radio.  With the volatility that has become so common in radio these days (and CBS Radio being no stranger to such behavior), I don’t see how Rosen declines such an opportunity without first knowing that his current position is not only secured, but that he’ll be able to continue operating with the freedom and flexibility he’s had for the better part of four years.

As a passionate radio fan, I can’t help but find myself at the edge of my seat when thinking about today’s corporate radio culture. In January, a “Secret Squirrel” post on Mike Anderson’s STLMedia.net blog noted that CBS Radio was on the verge of selling their St. Louis cluster of stations, including KMOX-AM 1120 to Cumulus Media. The very thought of that happening was enough to ruffle the feathers of those within the St. Louis radio bubble. Not helping, I’m sure, was the recently formed alliance between CBS Radio and Cumulus in the launching of the CBS Sports Radio network. If the CBS Radio/Cumulus deal happened in St. Louis (it hasn’t), what kind of ramifications might that have in other markets where CBS Radio has an abundance of stations?

As for Rosen, I had mixed emotions about him possibly taking the WGN job. With WGN and the Score being the two Chicago stations I listen to the most, I found myself wondering which station would benefit the most by having him. Rosen has proved he is capable of managing big named personalities and egos, while also having a pulse for what works in today’s radio environment.  While I hesitate to give him full credit for the Score’s modern day ratings success (I think the arrival of Dan McNeil and the leftover staleness at ESPN 1000/WMVP-AM were huge catalyst), I came to the conclusion that perhaps, Rosen has done all he could at the Score and was ready for a new challenge.

That certainly would have been justification for taking the job. Now that challenge is left for someone else.

While the search for WGN’s new program director continues, I am left with one question… does de Castro have a plan B?

For more about Mitch Rosen, I highly suggest listening to the interview he did with the “Radiogirl” Margaret Larkin from earlier this year.

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Podcast: The Blowtorch Soundoff on Jimmy de Castro’s first day at WGN Radio

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Speculation is running rampant ahead of Jimmy de Castro’s first day at WGN-AM 720 tomorrow as the new president and general manager. Many seem to think he will come right in and make an abundance of changes in the first week, if not on day one.

As I discuss on the podcast, that is last thing de Castro should do. There is especially one important long-term decision that de Castro will first have to make, if it hasn’t been made already.

[Note: The podcast is still an experimental feature for the website. While I’m unsure if I will continue doing these, I do know I have a lot of work to do to improve my speaking ability. Perhaps, that is the reason why I hesitate to make these a permanent fixture to the website. I hope to get better.]

Approximate Podcast Length: 6 minutes

Use the player to listen now, or click the download link to save it to your computer or mobile device.

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Score Shuffle: Barry Rozner and Matt Spiegel should have a permanent show on WSCR

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One of my favorite WSCR-AM/670 The Score hosts is someone who isn’t even with the station full-time. Barry Rozner, columnist at the Daily Herald, co-hosts “Hit & Run” each Sunday and regularly fills in for various shows on the Score. Rozner is highly intelligent and able to convey his vast amount of insight and opinions without the added pompousness or hostility commonplace in talk radio these days.

While Rozner has been paired with several Score hosts, my favorite pairing is when he’s with Matt Spiegel. Together, the two hosted “Hit & Run” each Sunday morning the last several years during baseball season. Unfortunately, Spiegel opted not to host the Sunday morning show this season due to increased family obligations (Spiegel’s day job is co-hosting the Score’s midday show with Dan McNeil).

I was reminded how good Rozner and Spiegel sound together when the two worked a Memorial Day shift earlier this week (Rozner was filling in for McNeil). Their individual personalities differ enough to separate them, but not enough to where they awkwardly clash. Their pairing blends the prim and proper Rozner with the more loose-fitting Spiegel. It’s almost like a check-and-balance system. It just works.

Ideally, the two would have a regular weekday show on the Score — assuming Rozner is able to or would want to add full-time radio to his plate.

Just for fun, below is the lineup I would like to see implemented at the Score:

  • 5 a.m. to 8 a.m. –  Mike Mulligan and Brian Hanley
  • 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. –  Barry Rozner and Matt Spiegel
  • 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. –  Dan McNeil (more on this further below)
  • 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. –  Terry Boers and Dan Bernstein

The current pairing of McNeil and Spiegel is not bad, but it isn’t my favorite. Simply put, the two are just too much alike — in personality and delivery. Ideally, McNeil would be paired with someone with a bit more contrast.

If the Score were to implement a Rozner and Spiegel show, an alternative partner for McNeil might be Ben Finfer, who currently is the show’s producer and a regular fill-in host for Spiegel. Perhaps, another possibility may be John Jurkovic — current co-host of WMVP-AM/ESPN 1000’s midday show and former afternoon co-host with McNeil — whose contract at his current station is believed to be expiring this summer.

The rest of my proposed line-up shuffle trims an hour from each existing WSCR show, while also pushing the start of McNeil’s show to 11 a.m., instead of his current 9 a.m start. I still can’t get used to listening to Mac in mid-mornings, after many years of listening to him in afternoons.

From a business perspective, there is hardly any reason for the Score to consider amending their current lineup — ratings wise, the station is dominating against ESPN 1000. I get that the bottom line is the main consideration for programming, but in this case, I wish Mitch Rosen, the Score’s program director, could make a proactive move for the sake of enhancing the station’s lineup.

It’s a case of taking something that is already good, and making it better. Such a concept is rarely executed in radio these days. Too many program directors and corporate owners are content at playing it safe.