Must-See List For Chicago Radio Visitors

From Robert Feder:

I’m sure the folks at the NAB and RAB will do their usual fine job of lining up lots of programs and panels for the three-day event next fall. But if anyone is thinking of arranging a “radio tour” of Chicago for the conventioneers and other radio geeks who’ll be in town with them, here are a few locations they might consider:

■Tribune Tower, where Col. Robert R. McCormick launched WGN Radio 86 years ago with a pledge to make to make it “the outstanding station of America” — and where the frat boys running it today have turned it into their own personal playground. (On a panel at last week’s NAB/RAB Radio Show in Washington, WGN program director Kevin Metheny spoke of the “inertial momentum” of the station he inherited and the necessity to change the product “respectfully.” Later he was quoted as saying: “We often shoot ourselves in our own feet . . . you can’t do this job without having a certain confidence level that can be annoying to other people.”) The era between them — when WGN Radio was Chicago — was personified by a gracious gentleman named Ward Quaal, who died the other day at 91.

■Clear Channel Communications’ state-of-the-art studios at Illinois Center, where six radio stations in the nation’s third largest market are operated side-by-side with smoke and mirrors — and lots of voice-tracking. (Here’s a joke overheard at last week’s Radio Show: “Q: What’s the difference between a Clear Channel station and the drive-thru at McDonald’s? A: The kid at the drive-thru is live and local.”)

■The Merchandise Mart, longtime home of WMAQ Radio, historic studios of “Amos ‘n’ Andy,” “Fibber McGee and Molly” and other classics of radio’s golden age, and the Chicago flagship of the NBC Radio network dating back to 1931. It all came to an inglorious end in 2000 when subsequent owner CBS Radio dropped WMAQ’s call letters and turned 670 AM into sports/talk WSCR. (Radio emanating from the Mart today comes courtesy of Emmis Communications’ Loop and Q101 — at least until the troubled company finds a buyer to take the stations off its hands.

■The Museum of Broadcast Communications (and home of the National Radio Hall of Fame), which might be, could be, possibly will be open by the time the convention comes to town.

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