 |
This Issue from John Kuczaj:
• FCC Rule Changes
• Say What?
• Musings
FCC Rule Changes
Last issue, I went over a few FCC rules that were probably going to, and subsequently did, change. For Chicago, it means that a TV broadcaster would be able to purchase the Sun-Times or the Daily Herald. Also, one entity could own up to three TV stations. When last I checked, Univision had an option to buy 49% of Channel 62, making it the most likely broadcaster to go for the triopoly first, but don't count Rupert Murdoch out of the bidding for Channel 26 that will eventually happen.
- While I think the FCC made some logical decisions, I most definitely do not agree with a lot of their thinking.
Raising the ownership cap to 45% of the US from 35% is only stop-gap, in the hopes of placating the large owners who were already above 35, but below 45. Since the FCC is not bright enough to justify this arbitrary number, I hope the cap will ultimately settle at 49.9%. At that level, the FCC could justify that in the public's interest, one company should not have the power to control programming in half or more of the US. Then again, no one has ever called the FCC a think-tank.
- Leaving the "UHF Discount" in place is ridiculous. Before most people got their TV via cable, the FCC would count ownership of a UHF station as ½ credit because those stations had weaker signals and some people had trouble tuning them in with indoor antennas. Today, with 65-70% of the country receiving their TV thru cable, the UHF discount is silly and as TV transitions to digital, the UHF discount becomes moot. Keeping the discount in place now makes no sense, except as a favor to hose owners who will stockpile UHF stations & have their ownership grand fathered after the discount is removed. Right now, as we speak, The Paxson TV Group owns 61 TV stations in 60 markets covering 65.4% of the US but with the FCC's UHF discount, they are only credited with covering 31.4% of the US. Ridiculous.
Last time I mentioned a roundtable discussion we had on "Nude Hippo: Your Chicago Show" with Alderman Bernard Stone. I went into it hoping to go on the offensive and aggressively go at Alderman Stone. Then he arrived and I helped him step up onto the stage and realized that such a display would not look so good. Never enter into a battle of wits with an unarmed opponent, right? It was an interesting session if only because it revealed some skewed thinking by the Alderman and the City Council. Early on, we pressed Stone on the motivation for the Chicago City Council to pass a resolution urging the FCC to keep the rules the same as they were. He talked of small towns that had 1 or 2 radio stations owned by big companies like Clear Channel and manned by no one, and how in emergencies they were useless to the community. He also spoke of liberal media companies having too much control and influencing the population. Uh-huh. He essentially conceded that a rules change would affect Chicago little (he even dismissed my thought that Murdoch could by the Sun-Times eventually) but the rules should still remain. At a commercial break, Drew Walker & looked at each other and wondered why the CHICAGO City Council cared so much about smaller media markets. Unfortunately, we weren't able to call Stone on that point as the segment ended. Stone seems like a nice guy, but his ideas (and the city council's) didn't make any sense to me. I get the impression that he's got a "Stella Foster" behind the scenes, working just as much as Kup's "assistant" does.
I agree largely with what Michael Copps had to say about the 2002 Biennial Regulatory Review. Check out his dissenting comments.
Say What?
As many of you know, I've railed against poor transportation reporting in the past. Prime offenders seem to be journalists who never use the system or have very little knowledge. I'm not sure which applies to Robert Herguth, but his article in Monday's Sun-Times ('What are the odds?' Train tied to 2 deaths in 3 days) ticked me off. Apparently, cars 3431-3432 were involved in both fatalities, and now they're looked at as "death cars".
Herguth wrote: "Typically, each Brown Line car is permanently attached to another. They operate as a two-car unit--as was the case Monday night--or are temporarily linked with other pairs, as was the case Thursday."
Okay, so it's just possible that those sentences were just badly written, but I'd wager that the writer has little knowledge of the CTA & its operations. Since 1950, ALL CTA cars (with some exceptions on the Skokie Swift) have been "married pairs" or 2 cars permanently attached to each other. This is not a Brown Line innovation. It's how things are done on all CTA lines. The CTA then runs 2-car, 4-car, 6-car or 8-car trains depending on the ridership demands. It is possible that the writer might have been making things simplistic for those readers unaware of CTA operations. If that's the case, then the sentences were just poorly written. However, it reads to me like he asked some specific questions to a CTA spokesperson that didn't elaborate or wasn't pushed to elaborate with answers ("Q: Are all the Brown Line trains attached in pairs? A: Yes, they are")???
Some may think I'm nitpicking, but I'm just a taskmaster on accuracy in reporting (my demands for accuracy in opinion is more lenient). Whatever you think, I wish that every journalist in Chicago would make themselves smarter about the CTA by visiting www.Chicago-L.org which is a very comprehensive web site by Graham Garfield who's not affiliated with the CTA.
Musings
My last issue was May 28th, and I stated that I would be getting on a consistent schedule soon. So far it's consistently erratic, which sucks, I know. However, I just moved into a new casa and things should soon get back to normal--whatever the hell normal is. Since Press Box comes out on Thursdays, Hot Type Thurs/Fri & the Red Face now appears on Fridays, I'm thinking I'll put the CME out every Tuesday-starting July 1. In the meantime, I'll touch on some old, yet relevant stuff this ish.
I made a slightly cryptic reference last ish about something cool happening on Channel 32's 9pm show. That was Mark Suppelsa filling in for Robin Robinson, which meant two white guys anchoring the news for a few nights--Suppelsa & Walter Jacobson. Of course, since I prefer to judge people by the content of their character rather than their gender or the color of their skin, it REALLY meant that Channel 32's most talented anchors were paired with each other for a few fabulous nights. I thought the chemistry was great and the novelty of two guys doing the news was a nice change. The ratings didn't seem to be affected much, but that's expected because 32 couldn't promote it ahead of time to see if the audience would respond. I certainly responded by paying attention to the entire show, instead of the first 10 minutes, The Bottom Line & Walter's Perspective. Yeah, but who am I, right?
Have you checked out Drew Walker's DJ Headlines web site lately? He's got a new look for the site and I'm very jealous. I'd steal the design if it wouldn't be so obvious. Anyway, it's a good, quick daily read.
Nancy Pender was profiled in last July's Chicago Magazine as one of "Chicago's Most Eligible" and a few weeks ago she got married. Damn, what a turnaround! I take back any bad things I've said in the past about Chicago Mag...they get RESULTS!!! Seriously...how do I get on that list?
A couple weeks ago, Mancow appeared on Bob Sirott's "Friday Show" promoting his book. Funny story: Tony Lossano, El Jefe of Nude Hippo: Your Chicago Show (Thursdays at 7pm on Chicago Comcast cable channel 25) told me not too long ago about guests he'd been trying to get for the show. He asked Mancow, and the response he got back was something like Mancow wouldn't do the Nude Hippo because "...they are in bed with Steve Dahl" whatever THAT means. Isn't that funny? Oh, I forgot the punch line. Who did Bob Sirott have on the Friday Show debut AND feature again for this guest's 25 years in radio anniversary? Yeah--Steve Dahl. One of Bob's favorite guests. Who's in bed now?
CMEmail: Garry Jaffe tells me that there's a box with free RedEyes in front of the U of Chicago administration building at 58th & Ellis. The paper inside had "COMP" printed over the price. They odd thing was that as he walked around the U of C campus, all the other RedEye boxes charged a quarter, even though some were near the free one. Garry asks, "Why is the Trib giving the bosses at U of C a free paper & nobody else on campus?" The answer is, of course, that the RedEye is targeted to 18-34 year-old commuters who use public transportation because they have lots of loose change with which to buy RedEye for news and Ramen noodles for dinner. The U of C administration, though, are much older and do not carry monetary denominations less than a $50 bill, thus the Tribune does them a service by comping their daily dose of cool.
I'm sad to see Cynthia Santana leave Channel 2. Not sure she got a fair shake, despite her creative pronunciation of Kup's name. Well, at least she's being replaced by a husband & wife anchor team. Historically, husband & wife anchor teams have done incredibly well in the ratings in Chicago (Remember when Mary Ann Childers & Jay Levine were #1 on Channel 2 and Bob Sirott & Marianne Murciano were #1 on Channel 32? No? That's because it never happened), so this looks to be a smashing move by Channel 2. Can't wait until they bid against no one for the services of Diann Burns (See Tom Hicks of the Texas Rangers for this kind of business stupidity). If she ends up the highest paid anchor (or even just female anchor) in Chicago, then we'll know for sure that the Channel 2 rocketship is still aimed squarely into the ground.
Did you catch Mike Downey's June 17th column, "Tribune a tower of power when slighting Sox"? As a Tribune employee (non-newspaper division), I found the conspiracy explanation hilarious. The "Charlotte Johnsons"? Hee hee hee. Funniest team name idea since the NFL's "Tennessee Men". Think about it.
Channel 32 was promoting Mark Suppelsa suggesting that since he switched to Channel 32, so maybe you should too. I have a hard time believing Channel 32 has THAT many anchor jobs open.
Other than today, the last time I heard the term "gay sex" so often was during a discussion about ESPN's "Around the Horn" with Max & Jay.
Next ish: My very delayed wrap-up of the May sweep stories and my insights about the Sammy Sosa cork story. Check it out on July 1st!
IN THE CURRENT CHICAGO RED FACE:
- Daley reneges on campaign pledge, proposes superheroes handle gang crime
- Spike Lee files wrongful-name lawsuit against Lee Jeans, USA Volleyball
- TCAA: Say No to Speed
- East Niles Throw Gang Signs
- Dems Magical Makeover
- NAACP to picket Sox-Cubs series this weekend
- JAY MERRYMAN: Jay Williams will be missed
- Cool Again: Isaac Washington
Check it out at: www.chicagoredface.com.
Chicago Media Examiner e-mail delivery
If you'd like to receive the CME via e-mail, click here to subscribe. Whenever a new issue of the Chicago Media Examiner comes out, it will be e-mailed to you automatically.
Take a look at the new, hip: Chicago Red Face
Take a look at the previous issue: Wednesday, May 28
Take a look at the issue before that: Wednesday, May 7
Published biweekly...or so.
Contributions welcome--e-mail an article to the editor
|
|
|
|
