Date Archives → February 2020

Robservations: Voting under way for Illinois Rock and Roll Museum Hall of Fame

Illinois Rock and Roll Museum Hall of Fame

Robservations on the media beat:

With the opening of the Illinois Rock and Roll Museum on Route 66 in Joliet set for this summer, voting is under way on the first Hall of Fame class. Charter members have until February 14 to cast their ballots in five categories — including competition between Larry Lujack and Steve Dahl as disc jockeys, and WLS and WXRT as radio stations. (Here is the link.) The inaugural Hall of Fame induction ceremony will be March 29 at the Renaissance Center in Joliet. Billed as "a vibrant and dynamic cultural center, spanning age, race and musical genres," the museum is being completed at a three-story, 15,000 square-foot building at 9 West Cass Avenue (at "the crossroads of Route 66 and the Lincoln Highway") in downtown Joliet. Continue reading →

Robservations: CBS 2 eyes launch of 24/7 streaming news service in March

CBS 2 Chicago

Robservations on the media beat:

Look for CBS-owned WBBM-Channel 2 to roll out a 24/7 streaming news service this spring. Branded as CBSN Local, it will feature locally anchored programming, live breaking news coverage and archived, on-demand local news content. Already operating at CBS stations in New York, Los Angeles, Boston, San Francisco, Minneapolis and Philadelphia, it's an outgrowth of CBSN, the streaming video news channel originated by CBS News and CBS Interactive in 2014. Derek Dalton, president and general manager of CBS 2, said he expects to launch CBSN Local here by the end of March. Considering that the station's news operation is already stretched to the limit, I'd love to know how it will allocate resources for the new venture. Continue reading →

Robservations: Bill Leff and Wendy Snyder launch podcast for Cumulus

Bill Leff and Wendy Snyder

Robservations on the media beat:

Bill Leff and Wendy Snyder, who were forced out as midday co-hosts at Nexstar Media Group news/talk WGN 720-AM in November, just launched a podcast for Cumulus Media Chicago. There are no broadcast plans for "The Bill and Wendy Show" at this time, but it's a foot in the door for the duo at WLS 890-AM, the Cumulus news/talk station. On Monday Leff couldn’t resist taking a shot at WGN for its recently added Sunday morning showcase for Frank Sinatra tunes. "Wendy and I will do a podcast with new episodes coming several times a week,” Leff said. “Our listeners talked us into it. It's going to be crazy fun. Then, on the weekends, we'll play Sinatra music. But not Frank Sinatra. Frank JUNIOR. Maybe some Nancy too. That's still up in the air. Sinatra. All day Sunday." Continue reading →

The Score's Brian Hanley lands at ESPN 1000

Brian Hanley

Eighteen months after he was forced out as morning co-host at Entercom sports/talk WSCR 670-AM, Brian Hanley has landed a part-time gig at the competition — Good Karma Brands ESPN sports/talk WMVP 1000-AM.

As a weekend and fill-in host on ESPN 1000, Hanley will take on an initial role as co-host of the new "ESPN 1000 Hockey Show" from 9 to 10 a.m. Saturdays, starting this weekend. Continue reading →

Robservations: Steve Dahl’s Super Bowl moment can be summed up in three words

Bill Murray

Robservations on the media beat:

Steve Dahl

In case you missed it, Chicago radio legend Steve Dahl made a brief cameo appearance in Jeep’s Super Bowl commercial starring Bill Murray Sunday night. Or at least Dahl’s voice did. In the parody of the 1993 movie “Groundhog Day” filmed on location in Woodstock, Dahl was the second voice on the radio heard uttering: “It’s Groundhog Day!” as Murray wakes up. (Here is the link.) “Proud to be part of such a great commercial,” Dahl said, promising to tell how it came about on his dahl.com podcast today. The version I heard is that Dahl had been asked to do the original voiceover in the movie but insisted on his partner, Garry Meier, being featured as well. The producers said no dice. A few months later, Steve & Garry broke up. Well, that’s show biz!
Continue reading →