Lin Bolen died. She was head of NBC daytime programming back in the 70's. Among Bolen's claims to fame-- she canceled Concentration and the original Jeopardy. In an odd quirk, Jeopardy was a Merv Griffin production. Merv's NBC contract called for him to get first crack at a replacement if Jeopardy was canceled. That show turned out to be Wheel of Fortune. Bolen is also credited for trying to "young up" NBC's game show offerings and expanding some afternoon soaps to 60 minutes. I read where she was a big Tom Kennedy fan, as am I.
After leaving NBC, Bolen started a production company. She got one game show on the NBC schedule. It was called Stumpers. It didn't last long. It was like Password, but contestants had to choose from a list of three pre-selected clues. It wasn't a great show. Allen Ludden did the best he could with it.
Ed McLaughlin also died recently. He was a radio executive. Part of his retirement package was two hours of satellite time. McLaughlin thought talk in the afternoon would work. He scoured the country looking for the right person to go national. McLaughlin found a guy working in Sacramento. His name was Rush Limbaugh. They launched with a few dozen stations. Within a few year's time, they were up to 500. Ed McLaughlin and Rush Limbaugh saved AM radio.
Regardless of what you think of Limbaugh's politics or personal life, you have to admit he is a skilled and gifted broadcaster. Unfortunately, even after all these years, they still haven't come up with a decent substitute when Rush is off. When I hear a guest host, I ask Alexa to go to another channel.
Listening to Rush on a major market station, with a solid news department, adds to the experience. Personal favorites are WBT in Charlotte, NC and WCBM in Baltimore.
