Midwestern radio ties yield pilot for TV


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Posted by Bud on January 06, 2010 at 12:52:56:

Liberal Jerry Springer takee on conservative Bill Cunningham in Tribune Co. program test

Melissa Harris
CHICAGO CONFIDENTIAL | Chicago Tribune
January 6, 2010


Tribune Co. executives Randy Michaels and Sean Compton may be bringing some of their shock-jock radio connections to television.

The Chicago-based media company will soon air a pilot for a TV series featuring liberal Jerry Springer and conservative talk radio host Bill Cunningham in a few Midwestern markets. The show is a political version of ESPN's "Pardon the Interruption," in which two sports analysts argue with each other for a half-hour.

"We'd go at it a minute or two, a bell would sound, and then we'd go on to the next one," Cunningham said. "At the end, we'd each have a 60- to 90-second commentary."

Compton, Tribune's senior vice president for programming, said that if he approves the show, it may air on the company's local television stations and "hopefully" others. It would not air on Tribune-owned WGN-Ch. 9.

"We're going to run the pilot in the next two weeks, and if it rates, we're going to jump all over it and try to put together a deal," he said. "This is part of our quest to get back into original programming. Tribune was there once before, and with today's technology, it's a lot easier to do than it has ever been."

The Cincinnati Enquirer first reported the taping. The pilot was filmed at the Fox affiliate in Cincinnati, where the players first met. In 1983, Michaels hired Cunningham as a host at WLW-AM. The station's parent company later merged with Jacor Communications, where Compton started in the mail room, Cunningham said.

"How I met Sean was I said, 'Hey boy, get me some stamps' -- that was Sean Compton," said Cunningham, who briefly became the subject of national scorn for repeatedly using Barack Obama's middle name, Hussein, while warming up an audience at a John McCain rally in Cincinnati. "I've always been nice to people below me, and now (Sean) is way above me. Michaels started at the top and went higher."

Michaels today is CEO of Tribune Co., owner of the Chicago Tribune.

Cunningham, Compton and Michaels knew Springer, Cincinnati's former mayor who had become a local television powerhouse, anchoring the evening news on WLWT and winning Emmy Awards for his commentary. Springer's notorious TV show sprouted from those segments.

Compton described the latest effort as "an intelligent risk" because Springer and Cunningham have "a lot of chemistry" and decades of broadcast experience.

"They're the extreme opposite in terms of opinions, but they can fight and still hug at the end of the match," he said.

Chicagoans call on White HouseIn the last three months of 2009, the White House released three visitor lists, totaling nearly 30,000 names, including many prominent Chicagoans -- from Oprah Winfrey to then-Chicago 2016 President Lori Healey and Bettylu Saltzman, the woman who introduced the president to senior adviser David Axelrod.

Here are some others who haven't been mentioned in the national press:

Lee Rosenberg, CEO of the Chicago music label LRSmedia and the president-elect of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, visited the White House seven times last year. He and leaders of other Jewish organizations met with the president July 13.

Tom Balanoff, president of the Service Employees International Union Illinois Council, visited twice, once to attend the St. Patrick's Day reception and another to attend an event for the vice president. Balanoff was one of many SEIU executives in the logs.

Abbott Labs CEO Miles White visited twice for group meetings to discuss health care reform, an Abbott spokeswoman said.

Cook County Commissioner Forrest Claypool visited his friend and former business partner Axelrod twice. Claypool, who is not running for re-election, is president of a health care consulting company, Rise Health.

United Airlines CEO Glenn Tilton met with Valerie Jarrett on Sept. 29 to discuss air-traffic control. Tilton is chairman of the Air Transport Association.

Public relations exec Marilyn Katz and community development expert Robert Weissbourd attended an urban policy summit at the White House in July. Katz also represented the National Railway Equipment Co. at a meeting on the future of rail; traveled to give Jarrett an award she couldn't come to Chicago to accept; and discussed anti-war issues with an Obama staff member. She noted that was before the president announced a troop buildup in Afghanistan.

For the visitor database go to www.whitehouse.gov and search for visitor records.

Melissa Harris, who after reviewing the logs, feels like the only Chicagoan who hasn't visited the White House, can be reached at mmharris@tribune.com or 312-222-4582.


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