Robservations: TV news goes live with NU false alarm

Chuck Goudie, March 14, 2018 (Photo: ABC 7)

Robservations on the media beat:

Northwestern University tweet

Chicago television stations broke into their regular afternoon programming Wednesday for live coverage of the lockdown at Northwestern University. It began after Evanston police received a call about a shooting at a graduate residence hall and dispatched a SWAT team to search the campus. With their helicopters in the air, TV newsrooms augmented sketchy reports with calls from NU students and staff members, who vividly described their experiences during the harrowing two-hour ordeal. One Medill senior told NBC 5’s Dick Johnson she had “confirmed information” that shots were fired in the area. To his credit, ABC 7’s Chuck Goudie raised serious doubts early on about whether there was any gunman at all. By 4:30 p.m., police determined there was no shooter and the initial call was a hoax. Continue reading →

Robservations: Anthony Ponce parks at Fox 32 morning show

Anthony Ponce (Photo: "Backseat Rider")

Robservations on the media beat:

Anthony Ponce, who quit his job as reporter and weekend morning anchor at NBC-owned WMAQ-Channel 5 to become a Lyft driver, is returning to TV news. He’s joining Fox-owned WFLD-Channel 32, where he’ll anchor “Good Day Chicago” from 4 to 6 a.m. weekdays with Natalie Bomke. Ponce left NBC 5 in 2016 to launch “Backseat Rider,” a podcast in which he interviews his Lyft passengers. He’ll continue to host the podcast and use segments from it on “Good Day Chicago.” A graduate of Indiana University and Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, Ponce will be competing against his brother, Dan Ponce, who's morning news anchor at Tribune Broadcasting WGN-Channel 9. Their father, Phil Ponce, hosts “Chicago Tonight” on public television WTTW-Channel 11. Continue reading →

Robservations: No-show Garry Meier throws fans for a Loop

Garry Meier

Robservations on the media beat:

It was hardly a surprise that Garry Meier was missing from The Loop’s four-hour star-studded send-off Friday, hosted by Steve Dahl and simulcast on Cumulus Media’s WLUP FM 97.9 and WLS AM 890. Dahl told listeners he made numerous efforts to get Meier to participate in the once-in-a-lifetime broadcast. Although it’s been 25 years since the breakup of Steve & Garry, Meier apparently remains as bitter and angry as ever. (Here is the link to Dahl’s show.) What was a surprise was that Meier backed out of a well-publicized agreement to appear on David Plier’s tribute to The Loop early Sunday morning on Tribune Broadcasting’s WGN AM 720. A couple of hours before the taping, Meier texted Plier that he was canceling, Plier said. (Here is the link to Plier’s show.) Meier could not be reached for comment. Continue reading →

Robservations: Steve Dahl to ‘lock up’ The Loop today

Steve Dahl (1979) (Photo: Paul Natkin)

Robservations on the media beat:

Steve Dahl

It’s probably fitting for Steve Dahl to be the last live voice we’ll hear on The Loop. The Chicago broadcast legend and Radio Hall of Famer, who rose to stardom four decades ago on WLUP FM 97.9, will preside over an official send-off for the classic rock station today. It comes on the eve of its takeover by Educational Media Foundation and switch to contemporary Christian music just before midnight Saturday. To mark the passing, Dahl’s afternoon show on news/talk WLS AM 890 will be simulcast on The Loop. Both stations broadcast from Cumulus Media studios. Among Dahl’s special guests will be fellow Loop luminaries Sky Daniels and Kevin Matthews. “I’ve been trying to wrap my head around WLUP switching from ‘Where Chicago Rocks’ to ‘Where Chicago Prays,’” Dahl said. “The Loop bounced radio waves around this city and into listeners’ brains for 40 years. Luckily, the curtain never comes down in the theater of the mind, so in that sense it will live on. I am honored/concerned I’ve been given the keys to lock the place up. Have you seen my keys?” Continue reading →

Robservations: 101 WKQX picks up The Loop’s Tim Virgin

Tim Virgin

Robservations on the media beat:

There’s life after The Loop for Tim Virgin. The sale this week of WLUP FM 97.9 brought an end to the personalities on the classic rock station, which will flip to a contemporary Christian music format under new owners, starting Saturday. So after four years as afternoon host at The Loop, Virgin has moved to alternative rock sister station WKQX FM 101.1. He’ll host afternoons there, too, bumping Walter Flakus to evenings. It’s the third time around for Virgin, who worked at the old Q101 in the late ’90s and again from 2009 to 2011. The Loop’s evening host James VanOsdol remains with Cumulus Media as digital chief and host of “Demo 312” Sunday nights on 101 WKQX. Continue reading →

Mancow, suddenly unplugged: ‘The Loop meant something’

Erich Mancow Muller leaving WLUP studios Tuesday

In the 24 years he’s been in Chicago, Erich Mancow Muller was never one to shy away from cameras or microphones. Until Tuesday.

As he left WLUP FM 97.9 for the last time, the normally garrulous broadcaster walked past TV news crews waiting outside his studio. Later in the day he turned down multiple requests for interviews on radio shows and in other media. The sale of The Loop and the sudden demise of his morning show was still too raw and too upsetting even for a notorious publicity hound like Muller. Continue reading →

The Loop ends rock era today

WLUP studio

Confirming the sale of WLUP FM 97.9 to Educational Media Foundation, Cumulus Media has announced it will end the classic rock station’s current programming today and will cease operating The Loop later this week.

As reported earlier, Educational Media Foundation is buying the station from Merlin Media for $21.5 million and converting it to a noncommercial contemporary Christian music station under its syndicated K-Love brand. The new format will debut Saturday, marking the end of a 41-year run for the iconic radio rocker. Continue reading →

Rock radio shocker: Christian broadcaster buying The Loop

The Loop 97.9

WLUP FM 97.9, the fabled classic rock station that’s home to morning host Erich Mancow Muller and four decades of radio history, is being acquired by a nonprofit Christian broadcasting company, according to an FCC filing Monday.

Educational Media Foundation has agreed to buy The Loop from Merlin Media for $21.5 million and plans to convert it to a noncommercial contemporary Christian music station under its syndicated K-Love brand. Pending government approval, the deal will mark the end of a legacy that began when owner Phil Chess of Chess Records flipped the call letters from WSDM to WLUP in 1977. Continue reading →