Weekend Update

Who Will Replace Julius Genachowski as FCC Chair? A hot topic of discussion and speculation centers on who will replace Julius Genachowski as Chairman of the FCC. There appears to be something of a consensus that Core Capital Partners Managing Director Tom Wheeler is viewed as the leading candidate. Whoever is named to succeed Democrat Genachowski will likely be paired with a nominee to replace Republican Commisioner Robert McDowell who announced he's leaving the Commission only two days before the long expected announcement from the departing Chairman. Politico notes that "nominations for critical agencies like the FCC are often paired, making it easier to get the confirmation through the Senate if there is one Republican and one Democrat." Although Wheeler is widely discussed as the "leading candidate" for FCC Chairman, his is not the only name being mentioned. "The discussion of filling Genachowski’s seat has become a sort of parlor game in Washington, and there hasn’t been any indication of what direction the White House would go in naming a successor," says Politico. "While Wheeler, 66, is founder of Component Repair Technologies -- an aerospace maintenance company -- he has deep roots in the technology policy world, having headed both the National Cable and Telecommunications Association from 1976 to 1984 and the Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association from 1992 to 2003." Wheeler, notes Politico, "also has connections to President Barack Obama, working on his campaign and on the Obama-Biden Transition Project's Agency Review Working Group." If there are other candidates, who are they? Names being mentioned include current FCC Commissioners Mignon Clyburn and Jessica Rosenworcel. Others being mentioned are Karen Kornbluh, former ambassador to Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development; Blair Levin, former FCC chief of staff and primary author of the commission's National Broadband Plan; and National Telecommunications and Information Administration chief Larry Strickling. And writes Politico, "The most often mentioned successors to McDowell include Ray Baum, a senior aide to Rep. Greg Walden (R-OR), and Neil Fried, senior telecommunications counsel to the House Energy and Commerce Committee." Meanwhile, if Genachowski exits "in the next few weeks" -- as he said he would on Friday -- and it takes months to have a replacement nominated and then approved by the Senate, who will fill the Chair's chair? Veteran radio/media reporter and analyst Tom Taylor writes, "The prediction here is that for the first time, we’ll have a female interim Chair, probably Commissioner Mignon Clyburn. She may have the gavel in her hands for many months." Illinois Radio Stations Silenced by Transmitter Site Fire Two Clinton, Illinois, radio stations (with three signals) were silenced by a fire in their former transmitter building Friday afternoon. The stations are now back on the air, reports www.DewittDailyNews.com. Transmission cables for WHOW-AM 1520 (and FM 92.3 via a translator), as well as WEZC-FM, all ran thru the building formerly used as their transmitter building, located next to the stations' 325-foot tower. Transmitters were moved to the main studios in June 2010. As a result of the fire, all three signals went off the air at 4:15 Friday aftenroon. Engineers along with a tower climber from Baker Antenna Service were on the scene Saturday morning to begin the work to get the stations back on the air. WEZC-FM (95.9) returned to the air Saturday morning at 11:45, at low power covering about a 20-mile radius, instead of its normal 40-mile coverage, while station officials replace its main transmission line to get the station back to full power. WHOW's 92.3 FM signal came back on the air at its full power at 2:40 Saturday afternoon, and WHOW-AM returned to the air at low power at 4:30 Saturday afternoon. It's expected that WEZC-FM will be back to full power within 30 days, and WHOW-AM's 5,000-watt regional signal will be back to full power within 60 days. Both stations will require replacement of transmission cable. Format Flip Coming at WUIL-FM/Champaign-Urbana? "U-Rock 107.9" WUIL-FM, Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, is expected to soon drop its Rock format and re-brand with a change of call letters to WKIO-FM. That would return those calls to the market where they have a colorful history on other frequencies. But what exactly that means for the format is still a topic for speculation. Lance Venta reported that owner DWS Inc. applied for new WKIO call letters for the station and matching 1079WKIO.com and WKIO1079.com domains. The pending programming change, meanwhile, is a topic of speculation at RadioDiscussions.com, where some think it could mean a Classic Hits format. The WKIO call letters were last used in the market on 92.5 FM airing Classic Hits. Further back in time, WKIO had been a Top 40 station on a different frequency. Kent posts at RadioDiscussions, "I seem to remember K-104 was a top-40 station in the 80's. The WKIO calls stood for 'Keep It On' as 'Keep It On K-104' was its positioner." Venta notes that if the current WUIL-FM "were to drop Rock completely, it would be the second station in the market to do so this year. 105.9 WGKC dropped Classic Rock for Country 'US 105.9' in January." That leads us to speculate that perhaps rather than Classic Hits, "U-Rock 107.9" might be planning a flip to Classic Rock to fill that void in the Champaign-Urbana market. Chicago's WBEZ-FM Names Business Reporter as PM Interim Host Chicago Public Media's WBEZ-FM picks the station's business reporter Niala Boodhoo to host "The Afternoon Shift," 2-4pm, for the entire month of April, taking over as interim host from the exiting Rick Kogan. As we previously reported, Kogan said he'd end his interim hosting at the end of this month to get back to "other things he'd placed on the back burner." It was reported that he had hoped to be named the new permanent host by now, but a decision was still pending. Now, it's reported that Boodhoo is a finalist for the permanent position which has been vacant since Steve Edwards stepped down last September. Robert Feder at Time Out Chicago writes, "Insiders say [Boodhoo is] a finalist for the permanent position." Boodhoo, notes Feder, spent 10 years as a business reporter for the Miami Herald, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel and Reuters. A graduate of Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan, she holds masters degrees from Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism and Florida International University. NABEF Sets Career Day 2013 Will Address Social Media, Salary Negotiations and Effective Networking The NAB Education Foundation (NABEF), in partnership with the Broadcast Education Association (BEA), will host the annual NAB Show Career Day on April 10 at the Las Vegas Hotel. Each year, Career Day links media companies with prospective hires from more than 1,000 professionals, college students and entry-level job seekers interested in a career in broadcasting. "Career Day provides new and experienced broadcast professionals with valuable exposure to media companies from across the country," says NABEF President Marcellus Alexander. "It’s ideal for job seekers looking to work in the broadcast communications space." We're told that representatives from a myriad of broadcast and media companies will be available to answer questions from anyone interested in job opportunities and internships. This year’s recruiters include Clear Channel, ESPN, Fox, Gannett, Production Hub, Sencore Inc., Star Radio Group, and more, says NABEF. In addition to the Career Fair, job seekers will have access to one-on-one career coaching sessions as well as informative sessions focused on career development. This year’s sessions will include: Social Media in the Job Hunt, Moving on Up Through Networking, Dress for Success "Fashion Show" by Laura Rubeli, and Negotiating Your Best Salary. For more on each of those, see this NAB news release. Pre-registration for Career Day is available for attendees, and admission is free with the registration code CF13. Both registrants and non-registrants of NAB Show may attend. Companies interested in registering as a recruiter for the event must complete the recruiter registration form. All registered recruiters will receive Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) credit for participating in Career Day. The NAB adds, "For additional information on purchasing booth space or participating as an attendee, visit the NAB Show website or contact NAB Show website or contact Isabelle Tilghman."