Product Placement in Radio

I jokingly suggested this as the future in my novel "$everance" because it seemed so preposterous, but sadly, it's actually happening. And it's even more odious than my attempt at satire in the book.

Talk show hosts like Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, and Mark Levin are offering paid endorsements as part of the regular content of their show. Not as separate commercials, not identified as commercials, just part of the usual "the liberals are destroying this country" garbage they repeat over and over and over and over and over and over and over again. And they're being paid millions to do it.

Full details are here.

I don't suppose this bothers any of their listeners. It certainly doesn't bother their lapdog defender Talkers Magazine's Founder and Editor Michael Harrison, who twists himself into a pretzel defending it in the article.

It's beyond slimy as far as I'm concerned.

Hef's wedding is called off

He was scheduled to be married this Saturday, but yesterday Hugh Heffner announced that his wedding to 25-year-old Crystal something or other is off.

Not sure if she suddenly realized she was marrying someone 60 years older than her, or if he insisted on a prenup that negated her only reason for marrying him, or if there is some other more traditional reason for breaking up (like the fact that he has thirty other hot babes living in the house), but it's a sad story nonetheless.

Hef is "heartbroken." He spent the night last night, and I'm not joking about this, screening the film "Runaway Bride" for a small group of confidants.

Fun website to peruse

They call themselves White Trash Repairs.

Thanks to "BP" for sending me the link.

TV News

Salt Lake City NBC affiliate refuses to run new show about The Playboy Club.

Charlie Sheen negotiating a return to sitcoms with a mystery network (probably Fox).

Coming Wednesday: Tribune Redesign

Nearly everyone I know hates the new Tribune design inflicted on Chicago by the Randy Michaels era, and certainly the people at the Tribune have been hearing it.

That all changes on Wednesday when they reveal the redesign of the redesign.

Looking forward to it.

A solution for the FAA?

The Air Traffic controllers have been in the news quite a bit lately for things like falling asleep on the job. It's understandable--ask anyone that has worked ridiculous hours like they do. Someone like, say, a morning DJ. Morning DJs (and producers for that matter) have all sorts of tips for staying awake during unnatural hours.

Michael Smerconish wrote a great piece about that in this morning's Philadelphia Inquirer.

Media CEO pay

I've obviously mentioned this subject many times, but for a long time I felt like a tree falling in the forest. I wasn't sure if I could be heard or not.

That's not the case anymore. People are starting to notice the ridiculously out-of-whack salaries of media CEOs, particularly now that the media isn't performing that well.

Deadline New York is the latest to tackle the subject.

Here's a snippet...

"It's considered a red flag when any public company pays one of its bigwigs -- usually the CEO -- three times more than the average for the four other top executives which the SEC requires them to list. So I've taken proxy statements and done the computations and discovered that at least 16 of 35 companies failed that test. Often miserably. Nearly half of the media company compensation packages disclosed so far for 2010 show a startling degree of hero-worship as boards of directors pay their top dogs sums that far exceed what the pay was for other top execs in the company."

And for the record, I don't blame my colleagues in the media for not bringing this up. Remember, these people are their bosses. Calling out a boss publicly is a sure-fire way of losing your job.

Supreme Court asked to rule on FCC fines

The Obama Administration has asked the court to rule on whether or not the FCC has the right to fine broadcasters for indecency.

This should be a real test of the very right-leaning, but supposedly constitutionally-pure Supreme Court. Will they rule the way conservatives would like them to rule (which is pro-fines, anti-indecency) or will they rule the way libertarians want them to rule (which is anti-nanny state).

Should be fascinating.

Ann Marie Lipinski

Robert Feder has a great interview with the former editor of the Chicago Tribune, on the eve of her move to Harvard. Highly recommended.