Grand Rapids Radio: What’s Next For Chris & Emilee?

Emilee and Chris

Christian radio personalities Chris and Emilee, who disappeared from WJQK-FM in Holland last week, soon will reveal the next step in their careers.

According to mline.com, the former hosts of “The Chris & Emilee Show,” formerly heard on JQ99-3 FM in West Michigan, promise they have something to announce on Monday.

“Our hope is a lot of people connected with us will continue to be a part of our life,” Chris Danielson said on Friday.

“The Chris & Emilee Show” suddenly disappeared March 25 from WJQK-FM after some four years on West Michigan radio.

Disappointed fans have commented this past week on the radio station’s Facebook page as well as on “The Chris & Emilee Show's” Facebookpage.

Chris and Emilee Danielson, who came to West Michigan in 2009 from Arizona, posted this note on their Facebook page on Thursday:

“Many questions about what is next for us and why this happened. We believe people who invested in us and allowed us to be a part of their lives are entitled to some answers.”

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North Carolina Simulcast Drops Talk For All-News

Two Class A FMs WNTB 93.7 FM Topsail Beach and WLTT 106.3 FM, Bolivia, NC, previously known as The Big Talker FM are flipping to all-news.

As of Monday, April 1, listeners of 93.7 FM and 106.3 FM will hear Port City Radio, an all-news station that is partnered with the news website Port CityDaily.

Just last month, Chad Adams, the Big Talker's most popular on-air personality, announced his retirement from the station for personal reasons.

"Chad was truly irreplaceable," said Beau Gunn, manager of the station. "With his departure we decided it was time to take the station in a new and exciting direction."

Gunn said Port City Radio is modeled after all-news format stations like WTOP in Washington, D.C., and 1010 WINS in New York, which provide 24-hour news along with local news and sports updates throughout the day.

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Emotional Kansas Fan Breaks Down On WHB

Michigan stunned Kansas in the Sweet 16 Saturday, staging a 14-point comeback in the second half before winning the game in overtime.

The collapse prevented Kansas from what looked like a sure place in the Elite Eight, and left more than a few Jayhawks fans feeling jilted.

One emotional fan who attended the game called into TJ Lambert at 810 WHB and broke down on air.

Indy Radio: WIBC’s Ed Wenck Leave Air for Sales

Ed Wenck

Indianapolis radio personality and former stand-up comedian Ed Wenck is out as afternoon drive-time guy on WIBC-FM 93.1.

But Wenck hasn’t left the building, according ibj.com.  In fact, he’d be happy to sell you an ad on sister station WFNI-AM 1070/FM 107.5 “The Fan.”

In one of the more unusual recent staff changes at local Emmis Communications Corp. stations in recent years, Wenck has joined the sales staff of sports talker The Fan. He said he wanted an opportunity to be more entrepreneurial, while still exercising some creativity.

The move “is something I wanted to do," Wenck told IBJ on Friday. "I’d spoken with the guys here about a year and a half ago [about a change]."

Wenck took the WIBC afternoon slot in early 2010 after being part of the “Wank & O’Brien” show on Emmis country station WLHK-FM 97.1.

To some listeners, the newsier time slot might not have seemed the best showcase for Wenck’s comedic talents. In the late 1980s and early '90s, Wenck opened for comedians including Drew Carey, Ray Romano and Dennis Miller.

“I want to thank Ed in particular for his hard work over the last three years on WIBC. He stepped into a completely new and difficult format and fully embraced the challenge,” David Wood, WIBC’s new program director, said in a memo to Emmis staff.

Temporarily filling Wenck’s on-air slot is WIBC’s Ray Steele.

Wenck, 50, said he expects to still be on the air occasionally as a fill-in personality and in commercials.

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NJ Station To Air LA Angels Baseball

Cumberland County, N.J., residents can follow Millville's Mike Trout every game for free on the radio this season.

According to USAToday, WSNJ-AM 1240 will broadcast all 162 Los Angeles Angels games after reaching an agreement with Major League Baseball and the Angels to re-broadcast KLAA-AM's feed from Anaheim. The station will air a 30-minute pregame show, the entire game and a 15-minute postgame show.

WSNJ also broadcasts in Salem County, southern Gloucester County, southwestern Atlantic County, the northern shore of Delaware and the southeast corner of Pennsylvania.

"(Trout) doesn't just reach people in Millville, he reaches the whole area because he's a South Jersey kid," said Carl Elwood, general manager of Quinn Broadcasting, which owns WSNJ. "He's a good, clean-cut South Jersey kid popular all over the area."

WSNJ was approached about broadcasting the games when MLB Network was doing a spot on Trout in Millville during the offseason.

"They contacted us and offered us a deal," said Elwood, adding the agreement didn't cost them any money directly.

The station already features a daily morning spot called the "Mike Trout Report," which it started last year to talk about Trout's daily progress in the majors.

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A Comedy Classic Originated On Radio

Who's On First: 75 Years Later

In February 1938, Abbott and Costello joined the cast of The Kate Smith Hour radio program, and the sketch was first performed for a national radio audience on NBC that March.

Jimmy Fallon and Steve Higgins reflect on the 75th anniversary of the Abbott and Costello sketch "Who's On First."

Syracuse Radio: Chiefs Drop Radio For iNet

The Syracuse Chiefs (AAA) will broadcast all 144 of its games on the Internet only in 2013, breaking away from the tradition of baseball on the radio that seeps as deeply as pine tar on a bat.

Syracuse Chiefs general manager John Simone announced the creation of the Syracuse Chiefs Baseball Network as the team's new broadcast home. The Chiefs are believed to be the first team in Triple-A baseball to air its games solely on the Internet.

"We look at it as we have an opportunity to do something different and new,'' Simone said told the Syracuse Post-Standard. "This is something we're doing to reach more people. There is no signal problem (on the Internet), and then as technology continues to evolve, it's something that's moving fast. We just thought this is time to do it. Why not be the people who do things first?''

The network will be available on syracusechiefs.com and via one click on an app for iPhone, Android and other smart phones. The app, which is free, is expected to be available by the time the Chiefs open their season April 4 at Lehigh Valley.

Simone said the team has been considering this move for three years. He said the decision, which was approved by the team's board of directors, will save the team money, allow it to control and create new content and make it available to fans around the world.

For the past two seasons, the Chiefs have been carried by Cumulus-owned WSKO The Score AM-1260. Simone said the two sides tried to negotiate a deal for this season, but couldn't reach an agreement.

The general model in minor league sports is

that teams purchase air time from stations and then slot their games into those windows. The teams then try to recoup that investment by selling ads during the games and keeping that money themselves.

The Chiefs paid The Score $25,000 for air time last season. Simone said that's money than can now be put toward advertisements promoting the team across different media outlets. The Chiefs can also get better demographics of their listeners via the app and then, in turn, make more effective sales pitches to its potential sponsors.

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Chicago Radio: WVON Goes Retro For 50th

Chicago's WVON-1690 AM celebrates its 50^th Anniversary Monday airing blasts from the past all day long.  The station goes back in time to its 1960s heyday, when WVON-AM was #1 in Chicago with actual airchecks from the day.

According to CR&M, the station will air classic shows from such influential superstar DJs as Herb Kent, Bill "Butterball" Crane, Lucky Cordell, E. Rodney Jones, and Pervis Spann, among others. The original classic 1960s Rhythm & Blues and Chicago Soul music and many of the original commercial will air, as well.

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R.I.P.: Guitarist Hugh McCracken Dead At 61

Hugh McCracken

Renowned session guitarist Hugh McCracken died on March 28th at age 61 of Leukemia. McCracken will be forever remembered for his stellar work on Paul McCartney's 1971 Ram album -- including the Number One hit, "Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey"; John Lennon's 1971 classic "Happy Xmas (War Is Over) -- along with Lennon's final 1980 recordings on his Double Fantasy and Milk And Honey albums, which included "(Just Like) Starting Over," "Woman," "Watching The Wheels," "Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy)," and "Nobody Told Me"; Paul Simon's Still Crazy After All These Years and One Trick Pony albums; Roberta Flack's "Feel Like Makin' Love"; Hall & Oates' "She's Gone"; Bob Dylan's Desire (uncredited); Billy Joel's The Stranger and 52nd Street; Steely Dan's Katy Lied and Gaucho albums, among many, many more.

Among the numerous heavyweights McCracken frequently recorded with were James Taylor, Aretha Franklin, the Monkees, the Left Banke, B.B. King, Gordon Lightfoot, the Archies, Van Morrison, Freddie King, Janis Ian, Barbara Streisand, Art Garfunkel, Gary Wright, Loudon Wainwright III, James Brown, Yvonne Elliman, Pure Prairie League, B.J. Thomas, Bette Midler, Don McLean, Jackie DeShannon, Ashford & Simpson, Foreigner, Blood, Sweat & Tears, Phoebe Snow, Neil Sedaka, Laurie Anderson, Yoko Ono, Nils Lofgren, Carly Simon, Gladys Knight & The Pips, Chaka Khan, Graham Parker, Jimmy Buffett, Carl Perkins, Neil Diamond, and dozens upon dozens of others. In addition to his session work, he also co-produced a pair of Dr. John's late-'70s albums, 1978's City Lights and 1979's Tango Palace.

Wings drummer Denny Seiwell posted on his Facebook page: "Hugh was one of a kind, a very gentle man with a heart as big as his talent. I'll miss his pauses on our phone conversations. Hell, I'll miss everything about him. One of my fondest memories was recently sitting in the apartment with Hugh while he picked up his acoustic and played along to 'Uncle Albert.' Only 40 years ago but remembered the part."

Out takes of Hugh McCracken and John Lennon plus a Queen interview where they talk about Hugh.

R.I.P.: NOLA Sportscaster Bruce Miller Was 81

Bruce Miller

Longtime New Orleans sports broadcaster Bruce Miller, whose career included many years covering the Saints and serving as the play-by-play voice of Tulane University football, died Wednesday.

He was 81, according to a posting at the WWL website.

Colleague Ken Trahan, who worked with Miller at several radio stations, first reported Miller’s death.  Miller’s family told Trahan that he died at home after suffering a heart attack.

“An unassuming man who never courted fortune or fame, Miller simply went about his business on a daily basis, using his God-given talent with his terrific pipes to serve two generations of area fans in many capacities,” remembered Trahan.

“Bronco Bruce,” as his longtime broadcast partner Wayne Mack called him, worked for many years at WDSU-TV and radio, as well as at WGSO Radio and WWL 870 AM Radio, where he retired in 2000.

But it was his role as the voice of Tulane University athletics for which he may have been most revered.  From 1959 to 1977, serving as play-by-play announcer on radio broadcasts for Tulane football games.

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R.I.P.: Chicago Personality Johnny Von Was 54

Johnny Von

Veteran Chicago radio personality Johnny Von passed away on Friday.

He was only 54 years old.

According to Chicago Radio& Media, John Vondruska, best known by his radio name of Johnny Von, was found dead in his own bed on Friday by a family member. He quietly passed away in his sleep. An exact cause of death is not yet known.

What makes his passing so shocking to those who knew Johnny Von was that he was in peak physical shape and seemingly in great health.

A fitness enthusiast, he was found working out at the gym almost daily. A highly devoted religious man, Von did not smoke or drink.

Since January 2012, Johnny Von had been the Sports Director for WCKG AM 1530 and Q101.com.

Previously, Johnny Von worked at various other stations in Chicago, including WLUP-FM, WMVP-AM, WLS-AM/FM, as well as Peoria's WKZW-FM. He hosted or co-hosted sports talk shows on Internet radio and podcasts, including "NFL Now!" Von also briefly served as a fill-in sports reporter for WFLD-TV.

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