Playing media catch-up

Man, how long has it been since yours truly has written a post around here? Well, this is what happens when you get sick and have Writer’s Block at the same time (or, yours truly has just been lazy.) Anyway, yours truly is revved up (or more like riled up) and ready to go – here are some thoughts on some recent media news stories:

– Chicago TV has reached a new low – again. On Thursday, WFLD aired a rather controversial segment during its 9 a.m. newscast for some diet pill – which it paid WFLD to get on the show (known as pay-to-play), according to a report by Robert Feder. A few days earlier, WGN-TV pre-empted the 9:30 a.m. portion of its morning newscast to air a Get Covered Illinois infomercial, selling President Obama’s health care plan.

As you know, I’ve always been in the corner of broadcasters. But stuff like this makes it harder and harder to defend these guys. With the FCC looking to crack down on JSA/SSA agreements and looking to take away more spectrum, this is not the time for pulling head-scathing stunts like this. But maybe a little head-cracking is what these broadcasters need. Then again, with the Illinois Government the one buying the WGN time for Get Covered Illinois….

– Congrats to Sarah Michelle Gellar and others who canceled their Vogue magazine subscription after the editors decided to put Kim Kardashian on the cover with the latest embarrassment to come from our town, Kanye West.

There was a backlash from readers, but of course, people who whore themselves out to Big Media like Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour don’t care about you or me. In fact, it’s Big Media who is doing nothing but foisting Kim and Kanye on us 24/7 (maybe that’s why there’s backlash – we’re sick of them.)

More over, I was surprised the Vogue shoot wasn’t photobombed by fellow Chicago embarrassments Jim Belushi and Jenny McCarthy – she could’ve given Kim some advice on what to do when her child gets sick – telling Kim vaccinations really turn kids into vampires, while Belushi could’ve given West tips on how to act like more of an arrogant ass.

– The latest Nielsen Audio report has showed Tribune Broadcasting’s The Game (or WGWG-LP) stalled at the starting gate , ranking 30th overall, according to one local media website. And it’ll likely stay at the starting gate with boneheaded moves like this: The Game hired former Chicago Bears GM Jerry Angelo as a “football expert” to contribute to the Kap (David Kaplan) and Haugh (David Haugh) show on Wednesday mornings.

During his tenure as Bears GM, Angelo presided over a team that made the playoffs only three times, including a Super Bowl appearance in 2007. Yep, that qualifies him to be an “expert”.

If you think Angelo is going to give any credit to his former employer, think again: according to a local media website, Angelo is still seething over his 2012 firing by the Bears. Recently, Angelo ripped into QB Jay Cutler and during his first radio appearance, praised many teams and players throughout the NFL – with the exception of the Bears.

In fact, Angelo joins a long list of distractors critical of the day-to-day management of the team – rivaling perennial screw-ups the Oakland Raiders, Cleveland Browns, and Detroit Lions in the same regard – including former Bear Brian Urleacher, various ESPN personnel, and even some in the local sports media.

If Angelo thinks working for the Bears was a joke, then he’ll soon find being employed by Chicago media is much worse (see first story above.) Besides, it’s not like the McCaskeys and Jimmy de Castro share the same mindset…

– After jumping to a 2.6 rating locally for its second episode, CNN’s new Chicagoland documentary plunged 38 percent in its third week on the air to a 1.6 rating Thursday night, according to Lewis Lazare at Chicago Business Journal. In addition to facing Scandal, Chicagoland also had to face NCAA Basketball Tournament coverage over various channels Thursday night, and competing with missing Malaysian plane coverage on other cable news channels didn’t help either – nationally, Chicagoland dropped to a series-low 172,000 viewers, down 54 percent from its own Malaysian missing plane coverage lead-in.

Despite the predictable structure of Chicagoland, the series has created a heroine in Elizabeth Dozier, the principal of beleaguered Fenger high school – a positive role model lacking in many communities, as opposed to the two back-stabbing sellouts pictured above.

– Finally, ending with something on a positive note: and it’s from The CW! The network new 100 opened with a 0.9/3 among adults 18-49 and 2.73 million viewers. While that may not seem like much, the series was up 13 percent from its Arrow lead-in and was the highest-rated time period premiere since Life Unexpected in 2010. In addition, 100 improved on The Tomorrow People’s time period share in 18-49 by 133 percent and 114 percent in total viewers.

Tomorrow People has since moved to Monday, where the chances of surviving through …. um, tomorrow is getting less and less.