‘Positive and optimistic,’ Don Wade to undergo chemotherapy
WLS-AM (890) morning star Don Wade will undergo chemotherapy and radiation treatments following his recent surgery to remove a growth from his brain, according to a statement released Wednesday.
“I’m going to do everything the doctors tell me to do to beat this thing,” Wade, 71, said in the statement. “Nothing has altered my most positive and optimistic attitude. When they say jump, I say: 'How high?’ ”
Mancow on the move: New studio, new producer
Robservations on the media beat:
- Mancow has left the building: After four years at 190 North State Street, Mancow Muller this week packed up and left the studios of Cumulus Radio, where his syndicated morning radio show originated. Taped shows are airing this week while Fox Chicago completes new studios for Muller at 205 North Michigan Avenue. If all goes as planned, Muller is expected to simulcast from 6 to 8am Monday through Friday on Fox-owned WPWR-Channel 50, starting October 22. Hired as director/producer of the new Mancow is Don DuPree, former executive producer of Ebert & Roeper and former assistant news director at CBS 2. DuPree said he hopes to “bring something different and very entertaining to morning television.” In the Chicago area, Muller’s radio show airs from sunrise to 11am weekdays on west suburban WCKG-AM (1530).
On balance, WBEZ removes ‘Smiley & West’ from lineup
Car Talk’s Tom and Ray Magliozzi aren’t the only recent realignments to Chicago Public Media’s weekend programming. Citing concerns about fairness and balance, WBEZ-FM (91.5) has dropped the weekly talk show hosted by Tavis Smiley, the PBS late-night interviewer, and Dr. Cornel West, the Princeton University professor.
Distributed by Public Radio International, Smiley & West had been airing at noon Sundays on WBEZ before it was canceled at the end of September.
Quick Takes makes hasty exit from WBEZ blogs
Robservations on the media beat:
- Zay N. Smith, the former Sun-Times columnist who resurrected his popular Quick Takes feature last May on the blogs of Chicago Public Media’s WBEZ-FM (91.5), is on the move again. Starting Wednesday, Quick Takes will appear three times a week on BeachwoodReporter.com, the blog edited and published by Steve Rhodes. As he did for 13 years with QT at the Sun-Times, Smith serves up quirky news items, political punditry and random observations mixed together with his wry commentary. “I'm looking forward to setting up shop at the Beachwood Reporter,” Smith said. “Always keep in mind that a writer needs only one thing in life, which is all the readers he can get.” Confirming that Smith’s blog was dropped after five months, a Chicago Public Media spokesman said: “In developing the blogger ensemble, we're looking for multimedia contributors who offer an interesting and unique take on life — art and culture, politics, sports, headline news and so on — in the Chicago region.” No word yet on the fate of Punching Up Chicago’s News, the WBEZ daily news blog originated by Justin Kaufmann and written since August by Marcus Gilmer. Gilmer signed off last Friday to join the Sun-Times as digital editor/blogs and traffic.
- I could have sworn it was only a week or two ago that Randy Michaels denied a report here that GTCR, the private equity firm that bankrolled Michaels’ Merlin Media, was looking to sell its stations. (I believe his exact words were: “Merlin Media is not for sale.”) On Monday, Merlin Media announced the sale of WRXP-FM, its station in New York, to CBS Radio for $75 million. Even so, Michaels still insists that for-sale sign is just an illusion: “This change allows us to increase focus on operating a successful company, he wrote in a memo to his staff. “Merlin is not for sale, and is looking at possible additions to our portfolio. Let’s focus building the Chicago and Philadelphia stations into great, profitable brands and great places to work.”
Exec resignation signals change in strategy at ABC 7
Look for ABC 7 to begin promoting its top-rated newscasts and other programs more aggressively than it has in years.
Tom Hebel, a 15-year veteran of the station, resigned Friday as vice president of programming and creative services. The move signals a change in strategy under John Idler, who took over as president and general manager of ABC 7 last June.
BTN spotlights Chicago rower’s life-changing journey
The courageous odyssey of a Chicago woman who sailed the perimeter of Lake Michigan alone in a rowboat is the subject of an inspiring documentary to premiere Monday.
Cameras from Chicago-based TeamWorks Media recorded the journey of Jenn Gibbons earlier this year as she overcame unimagined physical and emotional challenges to achieve her goal and raise awareness and money for breast cancer research.
Seriously, why do we need anchors to tell us how they feel?
The lead story on the 10 o’clock news one night last month was about a 5-year-old Highland Park girl who was killed when a car jumped the curb and struck her while she was walking on the sidewalk with her mother and two brothers.
“Certainly feel for the family,” NBC 5 news anchor Rob Stafford told viewers.
About a week later, his co-anchor, Allison Rosati, voiced a story about a study recommending that babies be allowed to cry themselves to sleep.
“Hard for a lot of parents to do that,” Stafford chimed in.
Memo to WBEZ: Call off search; give the job to Kogan
Robservations on the media beat:
- In case you missed it, here’s the link to Rick Kogan’s opening monologue last week as host of The Afternoon Shift on WBEZ-FM (91.5). The veteran Chicago Tribune columnist agreed to serve as interim host of the show (from 2 to 4pm weekdays) while the Chicago Public Media station seeks a permanent replacement for Steve Edwards. If you’ve got five minutes, give his introductory essay a listen and hear for yourself what makes him unique in all of Chicago media. I know it’s only supposed to be a temporary gig, but after hearing Kogan’s impressive first week on the show, I say they should call off the nationwide search now and give him the job for keeps.
- This should be good: Sun-Times columnists Roger Ebert, Carol Marin, Mary Mitchell, Richard Roeper, Neil Steinberg, Mark Brown and Steve Huntley will be live tweeting during the presidential debate Wednesday night.
WLS host Don Wade comes out of surgery ‘really well’
As WLS-AM (890) morning star Don Wade was recovering at home from brain surgery, he and his wife, Roma, could take an added measure of comfort from an unexpected source — the Arbitron ratings.
In figures released Monday for the period from August 16 to September 12, the Cumulus Media news/talk station ranked No. 1 in morning drive (from 6 to 10am weekdays). The first-place finish and 7.0 percent share among listeners age 12 and older was the best performance by Don Wade & Roma in more than four years, according to WLS executives. Not bad for the longest running morning team in Chicago radio.
WLS-FM switches from oldies to ‘Chicago’s Classic Hits’
Robservations on the media beat:
- When WLS-FM (94.7) debuts its all-star lineup of Chicago personalities Monday, it’ll also boast a revamped music playlist along with a rebranding as “Chicago’s Classic Hits.” “It is clearly a shift of format from oldies to classic hits,” Jan Jeffries, senior vice president of programming for Cumulus Media and program director of WLS-FM, said in an interview Sunday. “There will not be any radio station like this one.” He pointed to a playlist spanning ’60s to ’80s rock featuring Bryan Adams, Journey, John Mellencamp, Chicago, Doobie Brothers, Eagles, Supertramp, Styx, Blue Oyster Cult, Fleetwood Mac and Bruce Springsteen. “We still will play a lot of the music that we’ve always played, but it’s no longer oldies. We will not use that word.” Above all, the presentation will be unique, Jeffries said. “We will be fresh to the market and will have instant relevance that is unduplicated. And that will be compounded by the fact that we have the most legendary [talent] lineup in Chicago — no question about it. Probably in the whole country.”
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