The Media Notepad: The Drive’s Bob Stroud calls it a career
Plus: Fox 32 talent exodus continues; CNBC opens a new studio inside CBOE; Rogers shut down AM stations in Canada
There were changes at Hubbard Broadcasting’s The Drive (WDRV/WWDV-FM) over the last week, with longtime personality Bob Stroud announcing his retirement after more than 40 years in Chicago radio.
Among one of the first voices heard on the station when it launched in March 2001, Stroud had cut back his schedule in recent years, reduced to his 10 at 10 segment, picking ten songs to play at 10 a.m centered around a year or a particular theme. On his final segment June 30, Stroud featured songs from the Beatles, Jim Steinman, Jimmy Buffett, and the Blues Brothers’ Sweet Home Chicago. He began the segment at the former WLUP-FM in 1993 (The 10 at 10 feature will continue on The Drive without Stroud.)
Stroud began his career in career in 1977 at a Sarasota, Fla. station, and arrived in Chicago two years later at the former WMET-FM (now WCHI-FM/Rock 95.5) and since worked at WLUP-AM, WXCD-FM (now WLS-FM), WXRT, before landing at The Drive.
Meanwhile, The Drive added new nighttime personality Lauren “Lern” Elwell, who’ll voice track the shift from St. Louis sister station KSHE-FM, where she’ll remain middays and on KPNT-FM’s morning show.
“I am beyond thrilled to be back in the state where my radio journey began”, she said in a statement. “I’ve always loved working in rock radio, and adding the legendary WDRV call letters to my career is incredibly exciting. I can’t wait to connect with listeners across Chicago, work alongside this amazing team, and make some unforgettable memories.”
Elwell replaces the syndicated Alice’s Attic with host Alice Cooper, which was dropped by the station.
Fox 32 (WFLD-TV) has lost another anchor – this time, its Dawn Hasbrouck, who stunned viewers June 30 when she announced she was stepping down from the chair. Hasbrouck had been with the Fox-owned station for sixteen years, anchoring the Good Day Chicago morning show in 2010 and succeeded Robin Robinson as co-anchor of the 9 p.m. newscast in 2013, and adding the 5 p.m. shift when that newscast launched three years later.
Hasbrouck is the latest person to exit the station in recent months; in June, longtime anchor Slvyia Perez also announced her departure. Others who left recently include Lou Canellis, Paris Schutz (both went to NBC 5), and Tina Nguyen, who announced her departure on Instagram after two years.
Hasbrouck’s ex-co-anchor Scott Schneider was fired in March, as was reporter Nate Rodgers last year.
But there are some additions: Fox 32 announced on Wednesday the hiring of Devan Kaney as the new Bears beat reporter, succeeding Cassie Carlson in the role, as she was promoted to main sports anchor to replace Canellis. Kaney was previously at sister station WTXF Philadelphia, and also added Sam Panayotovich to the sports team. This comes as VP Of News Content Sean O’Hair continues to overhaul the news department.
CNBC is back broadcasting from Chicago, as the Versant-owned network opened a new studio inside the CBOE Global Markets trading floor.
Similar to what they they have inside the New York Stock Exchange, the Jack Morton-designed studio is right into he middle of the action near the S&P 500 index options pit. The studio is part of a multi-year deal Versant and CBOE made four months ago, in an effort to expand CNBC’s coverage of the options market.
On June 25, CNBC’s Kelly Evans and Brian Sullivan inaugurated coverage from the new studio, which also included Chicago correspondents Rick Santelli, Phil LeBeau, and Oliver Renick, who’ll be the regular anchor at the studio, reporting throughout the day, branded as CNBC @ CBOE.
Launched in 1973 by the Chicago Board of Trade (whose building once housed WCIU-TV, which aired the Stock Market Observer), CBOE stands for Chicago Board Options Exchange, and still has an open outcry trading floor, which means yes, they still yell and trade on the floor like they did at NYSE before computers took over.
Guests on the two-hour broadcast included Ariel Investments co-CEO John Rogers; Ryan Sports Development CEO Pat Ryan, Jr.; and Chicago Fedral Reserve President Austan Goolsbee.
CNBC was part of the spinoff of NBCUniversal’s old cable networks into Versant, which was made official January 2. Last week, Comcast announced it was spinning off NBCUniversal back into its own company.
More proof the United States isn’t alone in seeing traditional media properties struggle for revelance: On Monday, Rogers Communications in Canada announced they were closing six AM radio stations in Canada: two each in Vancouver and Calgary; one in Halifax, Nova Scotia; and another in Kitchener, Ont. Four news stations are being shuttered, with one sports talk station each in Calgary and Vancouver. Rogers plans to return all six licenses to the CRTC.
The Vancouver station, CISL-AM, carried Canucks hockey games; those will shift to a yet-to-be named FM music station Rogers owns in the market. Rogers opted not to find a new home for Flames games in Calgary as CFFR-AM goes dark, meaning the team won’t have a radio home for next season, as it currently stands.
The news was part of layoffs at the Toronto-based conglomerate, with 230 jobs eliminated. It was reported that all six ceased broadcasting Tuesday morning.
“The media business continues to face headwinds driven by declining advertising revenue and changing audience habits,” a Rogers Sports & Media spokesperson said in a statement. “These changes are part of our plan to focus our investment in areas that will drive growth long-term.”
This follows a pattern of AM shutdowns north of the border, with rival Bell Media pulling the plug on stations in Vancouver, Calgary, and Hamilton, Ont. three years ago.
It’s not lost on anyone that on the same day, Rogers announced it was buying the rest of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment it didn’t own for $4.3 billion, meaning the conglomerate will have a sports monopoly in Toronto, with the Blue Jays, Raptors, Maple Leafs, and others in their stable (just ask Cubs fans how they felt about the Tribune Co’s. 27-year ownership of the team, which produced only two playoff wins and zero World Series titles.)
Much like the U.S., media companies in Canada are struggling with changes in how viewers and listeners are consuming content. In the states, the number of AM stations fell seven percent from 2015 as smaller stations went dark and surrendered their licenses to the FCC. Some newer car models – especially electric vehicles, aren’t including AM radio. Congress has proposed legislation mandating AM radios in newer cars, but so far, legislation has stalled.