Sirott, Dahl, Mancow, Cochran: Time to come clean on my cloudy crystal ball
Bob Sirott
A little more than a year ago, in my grandiose farewell column for the Sun-Times, I decided to go out with a bang. So I gazed into the future and foretold what would happen on the local television and radio beat “in the coming months and beyond.”
Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea after all. Of the seven predictions I made in that column, only three turned out to be spot-on, two have yet to be determined, and two were dead wrong. Here’s how my crystal ball fared:
- I predicted that Bob Sirott would replace Warner Saunders as 10 p.m. news anchor at NBC-owned WMAQ-Channel 5. “It’s no longer a question of if but when,” I wrote with supreme confidence. I was wrong.
Saunders did retire and Sirott was his heir apparent, having filled in admirably alongside Allison Rosati during Saunders’ lengthy absences for medical reasons. But when it came time to implement an agreement Sirott had signed only a few months earlier, his NBC bosses reneged and demanded to renegotiate the terms. Declining to accept less than he’d bargained for, Sirott chose to walk. The top job went to weekend anchor Rob Stafford instead.
“The last four years were very enjoyable,” Sirott said of his work at Channel 5. “And thanks to NBC’s generosity, I got to spend the summer traveling with my family, coaching my daughter’s softball team, and planting the seeds for new projects. I’m a very lucky broadcaster and have absolutely nothing to complain about.”
Still being paid by NBC under the multiyear deal that was already in effect, Sirott continues to host the one-hour weekday “Noon Show” and “The Sunday Night Radio Special” on Tribune Co.-owned news/talk WGN-AM (720). Through Don’t Blink Inc., the production company he formed with his wife, Marianne Murciano, Sirott has other projects in the works, including a series of interviews with Cubs legends.
- I was right on the money in predicting that “Superjock” Larry Lujack would make a comeback as morning star of “Hit Parade Radio,” an oldies format developed by veteran radio programmer and consultant John Rook. The 24/7 network, which also features former game show host and Los Angeles radio personality Wink Martindale in afternoons, is accessible on Wi-Fi Radio and the Internet.
- Although it hasn’t happened yet, I stand by my prediction that Richard Roeper will return to national television as host of a new movie-review show. The veteran Sun-Times columnist and former host of the syndicated “Ebert & Roeper,” is close to announcing deals that will have him reviewing movies in a solo capacity before the year is out.
Meanwhile, two of the understudies who filled in for Roger Ebert alongside Roeper — the Tribune’s Michael Phillips and the New York Times’ Tony Scott — replaced the ill-suited duo of Ben Lyons and Ben Mankiewicz on “At the Movies” last August.
- I blew the prediction on Spike O’Dell’s replacement when I wrote that Steve Cochran would move up from afternoons to mornings on WGN. Although station bosses assured me that Cochran was their first choice among all inside candidates, they didn’t tell me that they would offer him less than half of what O’Dell was making before he retired. Refusing to take the job for essentially the same money he was already getting for afternoons, Cochran turned it down.
WGN announced the following day that it was promoting John Williams from middays to mornings. Yet another shakeup followed six months later, when Williams moved back to middays (to replace Kathy O’Malley and Judy Markey) and Greg Jarrett, a newcomer from San Francisco, took over mornings.
A sign of trouble ahead for Cochran may have come from WGN program director Kevin “Pig Virus” Metheny, who once told him on the air: “I like you. I just don’t like your show.” Cochran is rumored to be on his way out when his contract expires in March.
- I correctly forecast that CBS Radio would pull the plug on Steve Dahl after his morning show on adult hits WJMK-FM (104.3) tanked in Arbitron’s redesigned Portable People Meter ratings. It’s costing CBS millions to keep Dahl off the air, thanks to a contract that still has a year to go. Nevertheless, he’s back behind a microphone now, podcasting a one-hour show each day from his basement.
- I nailed the return of Mancow Muller to Chicago radio after he’d been off the air here for two years. While continuing his syndicated morning show, Muller added midday duties with Citadel Broadcasting news/talk WLS-AM (890). He’s teamed up with Pat Cassidy, former morning anchor at CBS all-news WBBM-AM (780), from 9 to 11 a.m. weekdays. In ratings released this week, “Mancow & Cassidy” on WLS ranked 13th among adults between the ages of 25 and 54 with a 2.6 percent share.
- Despite my prediction of a resolution, the fate of the Museum of Broadcast Communications remains in limbo after six years. No one knows whether construction ever will be completed on the museum’s half-finished edifice at State and Kinzie. But museum founder Bruce DuMont keeps forging on in hopes of a miraculous infusion of money.
On a brighter note, this weekend he’s overseeing the National Radio Hall of Fame induction ceremonies, featuring such presenters as Rush Limbaugh, Dennis Miller, Willard Scott and Jonathon Brandmeier. The event will air live at 9 p.m. Saturday from the Renaissance Hotel Chicago on both WGN and WLS. It also will be streamed live on the Internet at www.radiohof.org.
06
11 2009
blogs.vocalo.org
I look forward to Bob Sirott’s return to television. The Steve Cochran prediction would be a tragedy for Chicago radio.
Mancow & Cassidy is an interesting show with an interesting combination at the mic.
As for the Museum of Broadcast Communications, they are doing great things online at museum.tv, as well as the return of the public programs they presented for years. Hopefully if their building is no longer possible to fund in this difficult economy, they will find a new home elsewhere.
Rob:
Other than a short, repeating demo on hitparaderadio.com….there is no actual
programming going on and the October launch of a radio network hasn’t happened
yet…as I can tell.
Lujack and Martindale might be lending their voices to short blurbs on the
internet streaming ‘listen now’ function, but the information is not current,
timely or fresh.
That prediction is not totally correct. Great to have you back!!
” But museum founder Bruce DuMont keeps forging on in hopes of a miraculous infusion of money. ” Meanwhile,”Craig’s Radio Hall of Fame” is fully funded and has already enshrined the king of all media!
Mr. Feder,
As you had done in your newspaper column, can you occasionally include Arbitron ratings for both the stations and specific time periods. I used to look forward to reading that and no one posts those anymore.
Glad you are back. Have bookmarked this page and come here first thing every morning. I think it says something about the direction of the media when one of Chicago’s best columnist is exclusively online — and I love it!
You know what I’d like to see? Seriously? A long, thoughtful piece about Chicago news reporters and anchors that walked away. Folks from the 1960s and 1970s and 1980s who said, “I’m done. I’m off to other endeavors.” None of the print outlets ever wanted to touch that one. I’d love to see a decent writer catch up with, say, a Peter Nolan, Susan Anderson, Jorie Lueloff, Bob Wallace, Don Craig, Jim Ruddle, Joan Esposito, Linda MacLennan, Peter Karl, etc., and simply…chat? I think of so many questions to ask. Readers would enjoy that sort of feature.
Go figure… after finally giving Steve Cochran an honest listen on WGN/Chicago earlier this year, it figures that he may be on his way out come March. Maybe the only hope will be that Pig Virus wears out his welcome at the Tribune prior to that.
Sam Zell & Pig Virus will kill WGN Radio. Steve Cochran is the ONLY thing worth listening to on WGN. Kaplan misses Waddell badly!! Garry Meier was horrible as a second banana with Steve & Roe, and Pig Virus hires him to do his own show?? Didn’t PV hear Garry’s CKG train wreck?? Evidently, no one else in town did either based on the ratings!!
Welcome back Mr. Feder. I would love to read you predictions for the coming year for WGN Radio!
Great to have you back reporting on Chicago Media – it seems there’s more news than ever to report in the quickly changing media landscape. Best of luck.
“When you defeat Rommel’s plan, you defeat Rommel.” …..aide to Gen Patton
Sirott and Cochran were the plan. Management just didn’t want to pay.
Don’t take 2 wrong for these. You were right.
As always, the cream rises to the top.
Just a quick note to tell you that I’m really glad to see you cranking out the columns again.
Welcome back!
This morning I freaked because I couldn’t find you. I found you & now you are a permanent link on my Link toolbar!
YIPPEE!! Still love reading you in the mornings. Just like ole times! I love Feder in the morning. Goes well with any morning beverage & eyes wide open and fingers poised over the keyboard for rapid fire responses!
ROTFLOL!!
The Museum of Broadcast Communications would be flourishing and bringing in tourists, researchers and students by the busload if former Gov. Blagojevich and his bagman, John Filan, lived up to their promises and assurances for modest funding. They didn’t and the MBC lies dormant.
There’s another hero, besides the heroic Bruce DuMont, in this story, and it’s Pepper Construction, the Chicago builder that kept working on the museum without payment but working out of civic pride, hope and Bruce’s optimism. If civic pride and determination count for anything, the Museum of Broadcast Communications eventually will open its doors to a bright future.
I love having my morning coffee with you again Mr. Feder. Loved your update on your predictions and most were on the money.
I agree with the comment on the Arbitrons. No one covered them like you.
Welcome back…it is refresing.
Mr. Feder, It’s great to have you back!
Bob Sirott deserves to be a continued presence on television. His knowledge of (and devotion to) Chicago topics is unparalleled, and he’s one of the few interviewers who actually listens to his guests.
I’ve listened to Hit Parade Radio for the better part of three days and haven’t heard a song repeat yet. According to the website unlike most of the so called “oldie” stations who are aimed at a younger audience, Hit Parade Radio is the music of the 50+ listener. It’s good hearing a variety like top forty once featured and though Superjock Lujack is in short blurbs, its good hearing his voice again.
People it’s PIG VOMIT mot VIRUS. But anyway, Rob, great to see you back
Holy Cow It’s Great to have you back!!