Erich Mancow Muller
Robservations on the media beat:
It's no April Fool's joke: Starting today there’ll be more of “The Mancow Morning Show” to love — or hate — as the case may be. Cumulus Media news/talk WLS 890-AM is moving up the start of morning star Erich Mancow Muller by 30 minutes to 5:30 a.m. WLS chose not to renew the contract for the syndicated “America’s First News,” which preceded the morning show. That's been the plan since Muller joined WLS in January, according to Marv Nyren, vice president and market manager of Cumulus Chicago. The show still ends at 9 a.m. Quoth The Mancow: “If you think I sucked at 6 o’clock in the morning, wait till you hear me at 5:30.”
Michael Ferro
The #MeToo saga of Michael Ferro continues to reverberate. One year ago Ferro "retired" as chairman of tronc (now Tribune Publishing) and stepped down from the board hours before Fortune published a scathing report that accused him of inappropriate sexual behavior toward two women. (Here is the link.) Last week writers Kristen Bellstrom and Beth Kowitt were cited for the piece in the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing 24th annual Best in Business competition. "This is the sort of steady, clear reporting that should help make sure an executive forever disappears from the public eye," the judges wrote. "The reporters won the confidence of the women whom Ferro assaulted, then put their stories into a compelling narrative that places the reader in the room."
Lakeshore PBS
The signal of Lakeshore PBS WYIN-Channel 56 is back on the air at last. Service has been sporadic at best since July when a violent storm knocked out the northwest Indiana station’s transmitter. Last week workers replaced a section of damaged transmission line near the top of the tower, which had been blocking the public television station from broadcasting. “We are proud to announce a resumption of broadcast service,” said James A. Muhammad, president and CEO of Lakeshore Public Media. “Testing is ongoing and we may have some more intermittent outages, but our hope is to be up to full power and operating at 100 percent very soon.”
Publicity Club of Chicago
Legendary rapper Tone Loc will perform during a special after-hours party following the 60th anniversary Golden Trumpet Awards ceremony and dinner June 6 at the Palmer House Hilton. Sponsored by the Publicity Club of Chicago, the coveted awards honor distinguished individual achievement for public relations and communications in 22 categories. Deadline for entries in this year's competition is April 17. (Here is the link.)
Friday’s comments of the day: Regine Schlesinger: Best wishes to Bob Roberts, a top-notch professional and a very nice man!
Sherman Kaplan: I agree, and echo Regine Schlesinger's comments. . . . You do seem a bit young to walk away from the biz, but I am sure you have laid out your tracks for a smooth ride ahead . . .