The Legend of Chickenman

Chickenman was an American radio series created by Dick Orkin. It spoofed adventure books and comic book heroes. The series was created in 1966 and originally aired on 1000 WCFL-AM, in Chicago, IL. It began as part of the Jim Runyon Show.  The show's protagonist, Benton Harbor, (presumably named for the Michigan town) was a shoe salesman who spent his weekends fighting crime. He also he hangs around the Police Commissioner Benjamin Norton's office and annoyed the Commissioner's secretary, Miss Helfinger.

CHARACTERS:

• Benjamin Norton, Police Comissioner, -  Dick Orkin
• Miss Helfinger, Comissioners assistant  - Jane Roberts
• Chickenman, Benton Harbor - Dick Orkin
• Chickeman's mother, Mildred Harbor - Jane Roberts
• Trooper 36-24-36 - Jane Roberts
• Narrator - Jim Runyon

Each episode began with a four-note trumpet sound from the song Thunderball and Chickenman's Buck-buck-buck-buuuuuck" chicken call. Orkin expected to run with the gag for two weeks. The original series eventually lasted over 5 years! That original 1966 series was released in 2003 as The Original, Complete & Unexpurgated Story of Chickenman, all 273, 2.5 minute episodes in a 14-CD set. Yes it is that popular. This was presaged by the 1966 LP The Best of Chickenman, released first on Spot records then ATCO. More here. Many LPs and posters read "exclusively on..." then a set of local call letters. There was nothing exclusive about Chickenman. By some reports, at it's peak the program was syndicated on 1,500 radio stations.

While the series was the brain-child of Dick Orkin he needed people to voice the parts.  Jane Roberts, a Chicago theater actress who worked at WCFL as the traffic reporter voices almost all the female parts in the series. Dick handled most of the men, Jim Runyon was the narrator. Jane's background was mostly in theater: Kraft Suspense Theatre, and a stretch at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago. Runyon has already been a DJ on WBHT, WHTN, WLW, WLWT, WTVN, WLWD, and KYW before he made it to WCFL.

Orkin began his radio career on WKOK in Sunbury, PA as a teenager. He worked part-time at WGAL while attending Franklin & Marshall college  He graduated in 1956 with a BA in speech and theater and headed for the Yale School of Drama to earn an MFA. He returned to Lancaster in 1959 to be the news director at WLAN. [SOURCE]  He headed off to KYW (back when it was in Cleveland) in 1963. He remained there until In 1967 when he moved to Chicago to work on WCFL. Runyon had already been there for 2 years. Runyon went back to KYW (then WKYC) in 1969. The two had worked at both stations together.

In 1973, Orkin began producing 52 special weekend episodes called Chickenman vs. the Earth Polluters. In 1976, a special LP was created by Orkin and ad man Bert Berdis: Chickenman Returns. This was followed by 65 episodes of an updated radio show in 1977, Chickenman Returns for the Last Time Again. In 1995, for the 30th anniversary of the series, Orkin brought Chickenman out of retirement for a tribute episode on This American Life. This was all in addition to the original 195 episodes. The man was nothing if not prolific.

Weirdly Chickenman never really went away. It is still played on a number of stations regularly AFRTS, 99.3 KPCH in Ruston, LA; 103.3 WFJV in Crystal River, FL, 101.1 WVRE in Dubuque, IA; 1430 WION-AM, Ionia, MI... a couple Canadian stations, and inexplicably several stations in Australia. For these feats and others, Dick Orkin was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame in 2014.

WLAN Postcard

I got a postcard in the mail. This one isn't a reproduction or an antique.. it might be the only new radio post card I've seen in decades. The station is WLAN 1390/96.9 a heritage Lancaster, PA station founded in 1947. The credit for the photo goes to Julie Vitto. More here.

Rushing Clear Channel

I recently read that Clear Channel(specifically CC Media Holding) reported a Q4 loss of $191.3 million for 2013. Compare that to their Q4 loss in 2012 of $43 million. In that same period, Clear Channel Outdoor reported a loss of $148.4 million. The rest of the year as not kind to them. For all of 2012, the company posted a loss of $424 million, compared to a $302 million loss in 2011.  [Source here] Liberal blogs jumped all over this with some dubious math blaming Rush Limbaugh. I'm no fan of his program but the link is dubious.

The connection they use is his salary. In 2008 Rush signed an 8 year contract for about $400 million. That's not his annual salary, that's his total gross revenue under the deal. He's not earning 50 million per year. He received a signing bonus of 100 million. So (300 ÷ 8 =37.5). His prior deal signed in 2001 was worth $285 million. So Rush landed a 35% raise with his renewal. But in the interval Clear Channel had some problems. Thomas H. Lee Partners and Bain Capital took Clear Channel private in 2008 and in the process racked up 200 million in debt. 

Clear Channel CEO Bob Pittman was quoted as saying “We are very pleased with our Company's progress in strengthening our businesses over the past year, and we look forward to continuing our momentum into 2013...”  I would not be nearly as optimistic after losing 700 million dollars. Moody's estimates that they will be in the hole 16 billion by 2016. Currently they are proposing selling their debt as notes for a total of $500 million that would be due in 2021. Ouch. Their problem is not overpaid talent, it's compound interest on debt.

It's just not accurate to suggest that dropping Limbaugh is a solution to this problem. His ad revenue is probably down, but he's not a money-loser. Despite the efforts of some activist groups such as StopRush, his program rolls on. The focus on his advertisers is savvy, but it doesn't hurt Rush personally. It hurts Premier radio Networks and the radio networks that carry his program such as Clear Channel and Cumulus. But none of those companies release quarterly numbers on ad revenue tied to his program and it's certainly not to their benefit to do so.

I was in Amish country recently and I found that at 2:00 PM I could hear Rush at 5 different spots on my radio dial: 910 WSBA-AM, 580 WHP-AM, 790 WAEB-AM, 830 WEEU-AM , and 1390 WLAN-AM. Those originate in York, Harrisburg, Allentown, Reading and Lancaster respectively. Those were just the ones that came in clearly on a car radio. A total of 600 affiliates still carry his show, nationally. So despite the price tag, those ad revenues are probably well into the black. I would expect that in 2016 when his contract runs out that Rush will have to take a haircut. But in the interim I don't expect any changes.