August 2015 - Page 2 of 2 - The Dudek Abides

Local Ratings For PGA At Whistling Straits Double Last Year

Posted August 17, 2015 by Duane Dudek

Weekend ratings suggest major interest in the PGA championship played in our own backyard.

Overnight ratings for WDJT-TV (Channel 58) during the CBS telecast of the 97th PGA championship rounds at the Whistling Straits course in Haven, Wisconsin were approximately double those over last year’s telecast, which was played at the Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Ky.

Obviously local viewers felt invested by the fact that the championship was played nearby.

The numbers below were updated to reflect final ratings:

Now As Then “U.N.C.L.E.” A Poor Man’s James Bond

Posted August 14, 2015 by Duane Dudek

Sequels and reboots and remakes. Oh my!

It’s enough to make you cry “U.N.C.L.E.”

The original “The Man From U.N.C.L.E.” TV series was a narratively quaint and visually dull affair enlivened by two personable and charismatic performers – Robert Vaughn as Napoleon Solo and David McCallum, now on another acronym-titled show “NCIS,” as Ilya Kuryakin.

They were a salt and pepper pair – Solo was dapper and dark haired, Ilya more brooding with a tan fringe on top. The new film version of the show, opening Friday, is the opposite – visually spunky but with characters played by actors so interchangeable its as if the roles are being played by twins.

Packer Pre-season Game Earns a Wow Rating

Posted August 14, 2015 by Duane Dudek

How hungry are people for football?

Thursday night’s pre-season game between Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers and the New England Patriots earned a 28.9 rating on WTMJ-TV (Channel 4) for an audience of approximately 258,134 TV households.

That is 107,000 more television homes than watched the first pre-season game last year. A rating point is the equivalent of 8,932 TV homes.

Perversely Thursday’s game earned its lowest ratings in the first quarter, when Rodgers and New England quarterback Tom Brady were still playing.

MPTV’s “Black Nouveau” Wins Top NABJ Award

Posted August 13, 2015 by Duane Dudek

“Black Nouveau,” on WMVS-TV (Channel 10), won first place in the National Association for Black Journalists association “Salute to Excellence” awards, for an episode on HIV.

Milwaukee Public Television announced the award Thursday. The show enters its 24th season Sept. 16.

The winning episode, which aired in November of 2013, profiled two HIV-positive African Americans. It was produced by Everett L. Marshburn. The show also had three other finalists in the competition.

“Black Nouveau,” one of the longest running local series looks at challenges affecting African Americans. Last year it won three first place documentary and public affairs awards.

Bill Maher Puts Scott Walker In the Cross-Hairs

Posted August 10, 2015 by Duane Dudek

Screen shot HBO

There is plenty of political daylight between uber liberal comic and talk show host Bill Maher and ultra conservative consultant Mary Matalin, but they have one area of agreement – cruelty to animals.

They have worked together on campaigns to save endangered species and on Maher’s HBO show “Real Time,” both expressed outrage at the killing of Cecil the lion by the Minnesota man Maher called “Dentist the Lion Killer.”

But in his closing remarks Friday Maher distanced himself from Matalin by tying the issue to campaign financing.

“Stanford Prison Experiment” about power and violence

Posted August 7, 2015 by Duane Dudek

Things spiral out of control rather quickly in “The Stanford Prison Experiment.” And while the lurch from zero to 60 feels narratively convenient, real life suggests this is how such things often play out.

This dramatic recreation of a 1971 psychology experiment is based on controversial research into human behavior in prison conducted by Professor Phillip Zombardo.

He paid students $15 a day to pose as prisoners or guards, put them in a mock jail in the basement of a campus building, and watched on camera as things escalated.

Local Female Broadcasters Have Stalkers, Seek Restraining Orders

Posted August 6, 2015 by Duane Dudek

Stranger danger looms over the lives of local female broadcasters like a dark unknown.

“There is a reason we have a gate with barbed wire around the station,” one broadcaster said.

Almost every woman working in local radio and television that I contacted had a tale or two of being stalked or harassed by overzealous listeners.

“Stalking is a huge concern for many females in the business, especially cyberstalking since social media makes so much information available,” said one broadcaster.

“I’ve been lucky enough not to have to deal with it, though it is still scary going into work at 2 or 3 a.m. or leaving work at 11 p.m. and not knowing who may be waiting.”

State Native New Morning Anchor At WDJT, Replaces Kuester

Posted August 5, 2015 by Duane Dudek

Nate Kuester, WDJT-TV (Channel 58) morning news co-anchor beside Jessica Tighe, is leaving this month for a job as weeknight anchor at KNWA-TV in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

Kuester will “return to his roots.” Both he and his wife have family in the area, according to the station.

He is being replaced by Kathryn Chappell, who became morning anchor of WNDU-TV in South Bend, Ind. in 2013.

She is a native of Lake Geneva and UW-Madison alum.

She will anchor weekday newscasts from 4:30am to 7am alongside Jessica Tighe starting Aug. 10.

WKLH posts morning show job opening to replace Caine

Posted August 5, 2015 by Duane Dudek

“Are you an entertainer with the chops to share the stage with a proven, polished morning veteran in Milwaukee and hold your ground? Do funny, warm, witty, and edgy describe your on air persona?”

Then WKLH-FM wants you.

To replace Carole Caine, the 29 year morning show co-host whose contract was not renewed.

The former Classic now Hometown Rock station has posted an opening for her job on the website of Milwaukee Radio Group, owned by Saga Communications. (See the ad below).

Saga chairman Ed Christian recently confirmed the station is looking for someone to replace Caine as partner to Dave Luczak, the station’s talented morning show announcer.

Scripps’ Wexler named among radio’s 40 “most powerful”

Posted August 3, 2015 by Duane Dudek

Steve Wexler, E. W. Scripps vice president of radio, was named one of the “most powerful” people in the industry, according to the trade publication RadioInk.

Scripps’ also promoted the news on its own website.

Wexler squeaked into the top 40 at number 38.

Wexler grew up in the former Journal Broadcast Group.

In 1976 at the age of 16 he was hired as a gofer for announcer Jonathan Green and would ride his bike to the station.

He rose to the position of executive vice president of radio and television for the group which included WTMJ-AM (620) and WTMJ-TV (Channel 4).

The Dudek Abides

Archive for August, 2015

Local Ratings For PGA At Whistling Straits Double Last Year

Like this:

Now As Then “U.N.C.L.E.” A Poor Man’s James Bond

Like this:

Packer Pre-season Game Earns a Wow Rating

Like this:

MPTV’s “Black Nouveau” Wins Top NABJ Award

Like this:

Bill Maher Puts Scott Walker In the Cross-Hairs

Like this:

“Stanford Prison Experiment” about power and violence

Like this:

Local Female Broadcasters Have Stalkers, Seek Restraining Orders

Like this:

State Native New Morning Anchor At WDJT, Replaces Kuester

Like this:

WKLH posts morning show job opening to replace Caine

Like this:

Scripps’ Wexler named among radio’s 40 “most powerful”

Like this: