Wednesday, March 30, 2016

Media Notes

I haven't prattled on about Johnny Carson in a while.  Still loving the reruns on WNEP2.  something jumped out at me recently.  Carson was one of the country's biggest television stars, yet he really had the touch for talking to common folk.  There was a lot of that when the Tonight show was 90 minutes long.

I'm still upset over CBS possibly selling its radio division.  There are some really great stations in there.  An industry newsletter says CBS Radio News is under the CBS News umbrella, and not CBS Radio.  The service should continue, as-is.  CBS and ABC are the last of the great radio news operations.  FOX puts out a very good product.  CNN did, until it got out of the radio business.  Here's a question for radio geeks.  do you remember when ABC Radio had six networks, each with a newscast geared toward a specific format? There was Information, Contemporary, FM, Rock, Direction, and Entertainment.

It doesn't look like Comcast and the YES Network will come to an agreement any time soon.  Comcast claims YES wants too much money.  I can live without Yankees games, but Comcast, can you refund the money from the part of our bill that was going to YES?

Speaking of Comcast, I had an internet issue recently.  The woman at customer service was fantastic.  She systematically found my problem by eliminating all possibilities, until we hit the bullseye.

You know what bugs me?   When people establish blogs and don't update them.

CBS gave James Corden a combination first anniversary/carpool karaoke show.  I'm not sold on Corden as a talk show host, although his Late Late Show does have its moments.  He's a charming, talented chap.  The carpool karaoke segments can be outstanding.

Mother Angelica passed away on Easter.  She built quite the media empire.

I recently visited my old radio stomping grounds.  Look for a blog entry or two in the days to come.

Announcer Kevin Harlan said "Syracuse rose from the dead on Easter Sunday" during a basketball game over the weekend.  Stupid?  Yes.  Bad taste?  Yes.  Career ending?  It shouldn't be.  I've always enjoyed his work.

Former CBS News correspondent Eric Engberg died this week.  Old school tough.

CNN has hired former NBC Meet the Press moderator David Gregory to do political analysis.  I saw some earlier guest appearances.  Good stuff.  Meet the Press wasn't his thing.  This could be a very good fit.