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Published on Wednesday, 20 June 2012 12:20
Today's News & Notes features a "baker's dozen" of news items from the local media beat, including: WVAZ/WGCI/WGRB/WVON teaming up to help stop the ongoing senseless violence; John Williams visits the new Salvation Army facility; Rick O'Dell and other former Smooth 87.7 staffers bring back the Sunday Brunch; Svengoolie goes to the rodeo; "Green Screen Adventures" wins an Emmy; WCIU-TV & WGN-TV sign on to air new syndicated shows; Waddle & Silvy team up with Jay Cutler for a fundraiser; Lenny McAllister launches a new site; Darren Davis gets another Clear Channel promotion; Sludge gets a new part-time job; Jim Moran gets a new wife; and the sad passing of programmer Pat Evans. All of the details are just below.
* * Four radio stations are teaming up for a very special radio presentation tonight. Clear Channel's WVAZ-FM/V103, WGCI-FM, and WGRB-AM/Inspiration 1390 AM, along with Midway Broadcasting's WVON-AM (which leases its frequency from Clear Channel), will all host a discussion about gun violence in the city. The quadcast special is called "Stoppin' The Hits" and will be heard on all of those stations starting at 6:00pm. The special is scheduled to run one hour. It will be coming live from the "Clear Channel Media + Entertainment Coca-Cola Lounge" at Clear Channel Chicago's offices (233 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago). Guests that will be speaking include Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy, Chicago Urban League President & CEO Andrea L. Zopp, WVAZ-FM's Ramonski Luv, WGCI-FM's Tony Sculfield, WGRB-AM's Sonya Blakely, WVON-AM's Matt McGill, and WVON-AM's Warren Ballantine.
* * Normally, the WGN Radio Hometown Voices Tour brings one of its personalities to a suburban location once a month to do a live remote and learn more about the town. On Friday, the WGN Radio Hometown Voices Tour travels all the way to... Chicago. Yes, the Tour is not even leaving the city limits this month. It is for a good reason, though. To celebrate the Grand Opening of the Salvation Army Ray and Joan Kroc Corps Community Center, John Williams will be broadcasting live from the facility, located at 1250 W. 119th Street in Chicago, this Friday afternoon from Noon until 3:00pm.
* * WLFM-LP/Smooth 87.7 may be nothing but a fond memory now, but that doesn't mean the Sunday Brunch doesn't live on. This coming Sunday, June 24th, much of the staff from Smooth 87.7 will be reuniting for a special Sunday Brunch show. It will be returning once again to the Parrot Cage Restaurant, located at the South Shore Cultural Center (7059 S South Shore Drive, Chicago) from 10:00am-2:00pm. Taking part for this exceptional reunion show will be Rick O'Dell (former WLFM DJ/PD/MD), Bill Cochran (former WLFM DJ/imaging voice), Scott Adams (host of "The Sounds of Brazil"), and Alicia Adams (former WLFM marketing manager). More than that, those in attendance will be able to meet with Nick Colionne, the popular Smooth guitarist/vocalist, who will also do a live performance. Obviously, this very special Sunday Brunch will not be heard on the radio, since no radio station in town has yet decided to bring this format back to the airwaves, but it still can be enjoyed live and in person (with a great breakfast/lunch buffet, too). Those interested can call the Parrot Cage at 773-602-5333.
* * WCIU-TV/Me-TV movie host Svengoolie will be making appearances this weekend at the Little Boots Rodeo, taking place Saturday & Sunday near the intersection of Arlington Heights Road and Devon Avenue in Elk Grove Village. Sven will be there meeting with fans on both days from 1:00pm-3:00pm. More information on the event can be found
HERE.
* * The multi-award-winning children's show "Green Screen Adventures" has added yet another award for its trophy case... and this one's a biggie. This week, Weigel Broadcasting "Green Screen Adventures" won an Emmy Award at the 39th annual Daytime Emmy Awards ceremony in Beverly Hills, CA. The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences honored the program for Outstanding Achievement in Makeup. Locally, the programs airs on WCIU-TV, Me-TV, and This TV on weekend mornings and on Me-Too on weekday mornings.
* * The CBS-TV sitcoms "Mike & Molly" (based in Chicago) and "2 Broke Girls" will be syndicated for repeat airings starting in Fall 2014 and Fall 2015, respectively. Chicago's WCIU-TV has signed on to carry the sitcoms here.
* * After an almost 20 year absence, Arsenio Hall will be returning to doing a national late night TV talk show. Aresnio Hall signed on with CBS Television Distribution (CDT) to do the show. CTD then partnered up with Chicago-based Tribune Broadcasting to help cover the costs of the show. As part of the deal, Tribune Broadcasting was given first choice of placing the show on its television stations, which it immediately did in all its markets. That means that when the show premieres in September 2013, it will be appearing on Chicago's WGN-TV, airing from 10:00pm-11:00pm, pushing back the station's late night block of syndicated sitcom repeats by one hour. Unlike the situation when Arsenio Hall last hosted a late night talk show (1989-1994), he will now be up against a crowded field of competitors, something he did not have to face before. At that time slot, he will be going head-to-head against high-rated local newscasts and the big late night shows of "Nightline" (ABC), "The Tonight Show" (NBC), and "The Late Show" (CBS). He will also face competition from "The Daily Show"/"The Colbert Report" on Comedy Central and "Conan" on TBS, which all share similar target audiences.
* * Even though the
new "Jay Cutler Show" on WMVP-AM/ESPN 1000 isn't scheduled to begin until early September, there will be a Launch Party for the show next month. On July 12th, there will be the "Jay Cutler Foundation Launch of 'Jay Cutler Show' on ESPN Chicago." The live event will be held at Bevy (215 W. Ontario, Chicago), starting at 7:30pm. Hosting the party will be Cutler, and his new show co-hosts from ESPN 1000, Tom Waddle and Marc "Silvy" Silverman. Other Chicago Bears players and local celebrities, including Jay Cutler's fiance and soon-to-be mother of his son, Kristin Cavallari, will be in attendance. Tickets are $125 per person or $1,250 for a 5 person VIP table, which includes a bottle of champagne and an autographed football. The event is a fundraiser, with all proceeds going to the Jay Cutler Foundation, which is an organization that seeks to improve the quality of life for underprivileged children with diabetes. Tickets can be purchased
HERE.
* * Former WVON-AM talker Lenny McAllister has unveiled his new website,
LennyMcAllister.com. On the new site, fans can easily keep up with McAllister's television appearances, speaking engagements, podcasts, and much more.
* * Darren Davis, the former Senior Vice President of Programming for Clear Channel Radio Chicago, has been promoted within the corporate ranks of Clear Channel yet again. It was
announced this week that Davis has been upped to Vice President Of National Programming Platforms for all of Clear Channel Media + Entertainment. In this role, Davis will work closely with Tom Poleman, President of National Programming Platforms, to oversee all programming on a national level (instead of local programming), programming on iHeartRadio, preparing its entire inventory of 850 stations for national advertising, and live events. Davis has been programming with Clear Channel since 1992. Up until the start of this year, Davis lived & worked from Chicago for many years, until he moved to Dallas to be with his partner, who has a syndicated morning radio show from there.
* * As mentioned
HERE last month, former WZZN-FM/WKQX-FM/WRCX-FM host Sludge competed in an radio production imaging contest called "Iron Imager" in April, put on by a company called Benztown Branding. Over 120 people from around the world competed, submitting their work using their library of sound effects and beds. Sludge was one of the last two finalists -- and the only American one, as the other finalist was from Ireland. In the end, Sludge took second place. Benztown was so impressed by Brian "Sludge" Haddad, that they have just added him to their company roster of voice over and imaging specialists. Sludge continues in his full-time role as the Creative Director at Philadelphia's WIP-FM.
* * Congratulations to Jim Moran, who wed his best friend Elizabeth this past weekend! Moran was the nine year veteran of Shadow/Metro Traffic, whose voice had been heard on news & traffic reports on such Chicago stations as WBBM-AM, WUSN-FM, WIND-AM, WLS-AM, WZZN-FM/WLS-FM, and NextMedia's suburban stations. He stepped away from his radio work last year when he was elected at Village Trustee for his hometown of Libertyville, IL.
* * Former WMET-FM Program Director Pat Evans passed away last week at a hospice in San Francisco due to complications from lung and bone cancer. A veteran programmer, she had also worked in New York for a few years (at K-Rock, placing Howard Stern in mornings for the first time and really kick-starting his national fame), but is best known for her many years in San Francisco radio. Evans was 55 years old.
