{"id":17467,"date":"2018-03-29T06:00:15","date_gmt":"2018-03-29T11:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.robertfeder.com\/?p=17467"},"modified":"2018-03-29T09:42:33","modified_gmt":"2018-03-29T14:42:33","slug":"robservations-back-chicago-drex-marks-spot-b96","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/2018\/03\/29\/robservations-back-chicago-drex-marks-spot-b96\/","title":{"rendered":"Robservations: Back in Chicago, DreX marks the spot at B96"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

<\/a> WBBM FM 96.3 studio<\/p><\/div>\n

Robservations on the media beat:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Kevin \"DreX\" Buchar<\/p><\/div>\n

Kevin Buchar,<\/strong> the radio personality known as DreX<\/strong> who hosted mornings for eight years on iHeartMedia Top 40 WKSC FM 103.5, is coming back to Chicago. Sources said he\u2019s expected to sign on next week at Entercom Top 40 WBBM FM 96.3,<\/a>\u00a0where he will replace \u201cThe J Show\u201d (Jamar \u201cJ Niice\u201d McNeil<\/strong> and \u201cShowbiz\u201d Shelly Menaker<\/strong>). After DreX left Kiss FM in 2010, he briefly hosted evenings at KGO in San Francisco. Most recently he\u2019s been off the air, living in San Antonio. In the latest Nielsen Audio survey, B96 tied for 18th in mornings with a 2.4 percent audience share.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Chicago Sun-Times<\/p><\/div>\n

Too bad the Sun-Times<\/a> had to mar the rollout of its redesigned <\/a>newspaper and website Wednesday. In a letter to readers <\/a>explaining the makeover, the Sun-Times took a gratuitous shot at the Chicago Tribune for recent\u00a0layoffs<\/a>\u00a0in its newsroom. \"Our competitors just laid off their lone reporter in the nation\u2019s capital, as well as their White Sox and Blackhawks beat writers,\u201d the paper gloated. \u201cMeanwhile, here at the Chicago Sun-Times we keep giving you trusted voices on those beats.\u201d Hey, it\u2019s not as if the struggling tabloid hasn\u2019t laid off scores of journalists. People in glass houses?<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Tom Skilling<\/p><\/div>\n

Another accolade for Chicago\u2019s superstar weatherman: Tom Skilling,<\/strong> who this year marks his 40th anniversary as chief meteorologist at Tribune Broadcasting WGN-Channel 9, has been named 2018 Broadcast Pioneer by the Illinois Broadcasters Association.<\/a> The award will be presented at the organization\u2019s annual conference June 5 in Normal, Illinois. \u201cNobody can deny Tom Skilling has paid his dues . . . and then some,\u201d Dennis Lyle,<\/strong> president and CEO of the IBA, said in a statement.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Doug Glanville<\/p><\/div>\n

Doug Glanville,<\/strong> the former Cubs centerfielder, ESPN baseball analyst and author of The Game From Where I Stand,<\/em> has joined NBC Sports Chicago<\/a> as its primary multi-platform Cubs expert. He\u2019ll appear with host Leila Rahimi<\/strong> and Ozzie Guillen<\/strong> on \u201cBaseball Night in Chicago,\u201d the network\u2019s new Chicago-focused baseball show leading into every weeknight Cubs broadcast on NBC Sports Chicago. Glanville also will be a regular game night panelist on \u201cSportsTalk Live\u201d and make regular appearances on \u201cCubsTalk Podcast.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Rick Telander and Rick Morrissey (Photo: Rich Hein)<\/p><\/div>\n

Sun-Times sports columnists Rick Morrissey<\/strong> and Rick Telander<\/strong> have launched a weekly podcast on all things sports \u2014 and other subjects too. \u201cThe Two Ricks: Unfiltered,\u201d <\/a>produced by Sun-Times Media Productions, will be uploaded every Friday and accessible online as well as on Apple Podcasts and Google Play Music. (Here is the link.<\/a>) \u201cVery few topics and opinions will be out of bounds,\" Morrissey said in a statement. \"And what we don\u2019t know, Telander will make up.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Loyola Ramblers<\/p><\/div>\n

For years the Loyola Ramblers<\/a> have been without an outlet for their games on Chicago radio. Will that change now that they\u2019re headed for the NCAA Final Four? Veteran sportscaster and production company owner\u00a0Bill Hazen<\/strong> tells Tom Taylor Now<\/a> he\u2019s not so sure. \u201cRight now, nearly a dozen Chicago radio stations are operating in bankruptcy,\u201d Hazen said. \u201cThe search is for quick cash, not new ideas or community involvement. Were Loyola to win it all, I don't know if the Ramblers will be able to solve the problem going forward, at least not on a major Chicago station.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wednesday\u2019s comment of the day:<\/a> Michael O'Connor:<\/strong> Does anyone else think it\u2019s hypocritical for WGN to invite people to its Walk of Fame that the company fired previously, often in shallow, brutal manners?<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Robservations on the media beat: Kevin Buchar, the radio personality known as DreX who hosted mornings for eight years on iHeartMedia Top 40 WKSC FM 103.5, is coming back to Chicago. Sources said he\u2019s expected to sign on next week at Entercom Top 40 WBBM FM 96.3,\u00a0where he will replace \u201cThe J Show\u201d (Jamar \u201cJ... Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17467"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17467"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17467\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17487,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17467\/revisions\/17487"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17467"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17467"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17467"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}