Museum Of Broadcast Communications

I liked this a lot more than I expected to based on reviews. First of all, when I went admission was only $ 6, not really sure why but I won’t complain! The staff member at the admission desk was literally one of the nicest people I have ever met. On the radio floor it was interesting to read about many radio stars. I think both floors are very well done and interesting. Maybe not the most modern or interactive but still fun.

We recently came to the MBC to see «Assassination Theater» and we really enjoyed the items on display that show the evolution of local television in Chicago. Old clips of shows like Garfield Goose and many of the soap operas were so fun and interesting to watch. Lots of great pictures on the walls made killing time before the performance so enjoyable.
The theater is set up nicely too… small capacity but every ticket holder can have an intimate experience. I was not a fan of this particular play… it was overly scripted and very hard to follow with the myriad of facts they spouted constantly. The actors were great and the story was interesting but this topic didn’t make for very interesting theater.
Also the staff at the MBC needs some customer service training… they managed the very small crowd by barking orders at everyone… about forming lines and taking seats. One example. «I’m going to have to ask you to leave the floor» when we took the elevator up from the first floor ticket booth to wait upstairs — as if we were trying to break into a secured area. When we went back down the elevator and took the stairs up… we ended up in the SAME area. All of this ordering around was a bit too heavy for a Saturday night so if you’re planning a visit — be prepared.

Assassination Theatre
The museum and theatre are combined for an interesting look back. There are posters and radios dating back to famous radio personalities. The old radios on display are what my parents had sitting on the fridge. It was so much simpler in those days. Just turn on the radio to a few selected stations.
As for the play, it also is a throw back to the Kennedy assassination and the mountains of investigations as to who did it. It is presented in a somewhat clear fashion with minimal props and staging. This is not a Broadway production. I found it thought provoking. It is clearly a passion of the director, Gary Griffin.
Tickets are readily available. Don’t pay full price as it is open seating and plucking more money down does not get you a better seat. Purchase at the door for the best price.

We went to see ‘association’ last evening, the play was excellent.
However, the seats were cheap and uncomfortable especially for seating now than 2 hours. I believe they would want their customers to be comfortable.

I’d gone to this place for years when it was in the Cultural Center. It was my favorite small museum in Chicagoland — great quirkiness, but oh-​so-​sweet. I’d moved out of state around the time that they closed up that location, and by the time they settled into the new place in the shadow of Marina City, I was comfortably ensconced in my California life, and rarely came back to Illinois. But that all changed last week: on a trip back for the marathon, I made sure to finally check it out.
Out of all the places I was visiting, I was most excited about re-​visiting the MBC. I knew it had a big building now, and I could hardly wait to see what they did with it. Until I found that the answer was nothing. It was pretty much like they took the old MBC exhibits and moved them a little northwest. They had a stunning opportunity to build something new and great, and decided «eh, the old way is good enough.» This is some tough love, but I’ve worked many years as a museum professional, and have visited literally hundreds of museums in the last decade or thereabouts. I can’t think of any place I’ve ever visited where a new location looked so sad, old, and uninspired as the MBC. It’s like after all they went through to get the new building online, they ran out of steam.
Now, don’t get me wrong: I think that the contents of the MBC are still pretty great. I love visiting Charlie McCarthy, love Fibber McGee & Molly’s closet (a thing I reference occasionally that literally no one understands), love Bozo and Garfield Goose up on the TV floor. And the one thing that I thought was new, besides the temporary exhibition, the section on Svengoolie, made me smile, too. And I thought that the idea of an exhibition called «The Life and Times of Gary Coleman» was hilarious. It’s solid stuff worth a visit. But if it has barely changed even in spite of the move, what’s to make someone come back again and again?
As for the temporary exhibition on advertising icons, a YouTube quality clips and a lot of promotional giveaways on display does not typically an exhibition make. I was excited about that, too, but also left wanting.
As I was writing this, I hopped on their website. I wondered what their mission is. Is it as staid and stoic as the galleries, or are they not living up to their vision? If this *is* their vision, I think they should aim higher. It’s such a wonderfully strange and unique resource — but it’s desperately in need of modernization, more interaction, better design, etc.
And that mission? Their goals are «to collect, preserve, and present historic and contemporary radio and television content as well as educate, inform, and entertain the public through its archives, public programs, screenings, exhibits, publications, and online access to its resources.» «Content» is an interesting word choice because it places emphasis on their archives above all else. There’s a bit of usage in the radio floor, with some interactive clips. (The clips, however, were short, an the one I checked out cut off mid sentence.) But if «content» is so foregrounded in this mission, then MBC needs to write a grant to foreground it in the galleries — where a huge part of the grant funds, I would imagine, would likely go to rights clearance so that these clips and bits can be displayed publicly. Take the leap, MBC. It’ll be good for you.
In short: I still remember the MBC fondly. But I can’t see any reason I’d need to go back, if this is how it *still* is. All those years of construction talk could be likened to going to see the wizard.

If you were born in the early 80s or before, this place is full of nostalgia. I recall us saying a few times «I remember that!» and having flashbacks to various parts of my childhood. There are plenty of exhibits to visit, and there is even a broadcast of 80s commercials. I would suggest watching it through (you’ll know because it constantly loops.)
I got a great deal on this through a groupon. I’d definitely go back again.

This facility offers a lot of photos, clips, recording and artifacts, along with probably too much signage. Although most of the exhibits don’t really succeed in telling a story, there are many items of interest, and if you’re old enough to remember them, you will find them interesting.

If you are in Chicago and have a chance to visit this museum, you are in for a treat.
When you walk in they have door from the Oprah show, there are many shows that were exclusive to Chicago, but so much more history at this museum.
Beautiful displays, and you can be a news caster on the actual set…
Can not wait for the Svengoolie display being unveiled on October 10^th!

I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I enjoyed my afternoon here. This is a good place to kill a few hours. One floor is devoted to radio and another floor is devoted to TV. The Radio Hall of Fame is shockingly dull and low rent. The TV floor is much better.
Being a TV history nerd, I was delighted to see more artifacts and exhibits from television. It was cool to catch a few reruns in private screening rooms (I watched commercial free episodes of «Diff’rent Strokes,» «Silver Spoons,» and «Good Times»). The news area is very cool with broadcast news reports of historic events like JFK’s assassination.
All that said, I’d like to see more. The museum can do better.

As a huge radio and TV nerd, I was disappointed by the new MBC.
I closely followed the long saga of the museum’s planned move and construction of the new building. I remember the old MBC in the Chicago Cultural Center – in fact, I spent an entire day viewing tapes in their archive on the last day the old location was open, 12/​30/​2003. This is a much larger, higher-​profile location. It was originally supposed to open in 2005 but encountered numerous delays along the way and did not reopen until mid-​2012. I bought a few items when they had their «garage sale» fundraiser in 2004; an old WMAQ radio sign that I bought from the MBC currently graces a wall in my living room.
The Radio Hall of Fame plaques need some updating. I have realistic expectations, and I understand the Hall of Fame can’t update someone’s plaque the day after they die or switch radio stations. But Casey Kasem hasn’t hosted American Top 40 in 10 years. Dick Biondi hasn’t been on WJMK since 2006. Bruce Morrow departed WCBS-​FM after its 2005 format change. Howard Stern’s plaque doesn’t even have the right call letters (it says KXRK/​New York).
Other than the Hall of Fame plaques, there isn’t much on the radio floor besides a bunch of old radios. Lots of space, not much being done with it. The most interesting thing here besides the plaques was the former WGN radio studio, but to most people, it probably just looks like old furniture. The museum should set this up so visitors can record their own short radio shows. It looks like it’s connected to a working studio on the other side of a window. And why not have a rotating Chicago radio history exhibit?
The TV floor had a lot more than the radio floor, but I was still underwhelmed. WGN-​TV is clearly a partner of the museum, since they had every item of Bozo, Garfield Goose, and Ray Rayner memorabilia you can imagine. The Gary Coleman exhibit was probably the most interesting thing up there. No one was manning the former ABC7 set, and I saw no signage indicating its capabilities, so I couldn’t tell if they had it set up so you could do a mock newscast.
We didn’t go up to the fourth floor because the front desk clerk didn’t tell us anything was up there. Other Unilocal reviews make it sound like it’s just a giant screening room. Perhaps they could use it as working museum space instead.
Part of my excitement for the new museum involved the new digital archives. I had read they were digitizing their entire collection and making much of it available online. I don’t even know where the archive terminals are. We didn’t see them anywhere, and the front desk clerk didn’t mention them at all. A few years ago, I tried to search for some of the same video clips I had viewed on VHS in 2003, and I was unable to view any of them online. There’s currently no link to the archives on the MBC site. Googling for «museum of broadcast communications archives» turned up an article from nearly a year ago with an email from their archivist saying they were having «server issues.»
I hoped for more interactive exhibits. The only interactive thing I saw was a Radio Hall of Fame touchscreen which hadn’t been updated since 2011. There’s not much for kids at this museum.
The museum store was closed the entire time we were there. The front desk clerk locked the doors behind us when we left at 4:30, a half-​hour before the posted closing time. We were the only people in the museum on a beautiful Saturday afternoon in Chicago.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame had a MUCH better radio exhibit. If the MBC is looking for inspiration, please send someone to Cleveland to see what they’ve done.
This looks like a good place to host an event, and if that’s a key part of the MBC’s revenue, I get that. However, it ought to be a museum first. I love museums, but it’s hard for me to recommend this one in its current state.

So, apparently a lot of these reviews are from people who haven’t really been to the museum, but went for a Unilocal sponsored event. Well, I guess as an out of town visitor, I can give a unique approach with my review.
I guess for me, it’s a little pricey for what you actually get to see. Sure, it was amazing to see stuff from The Bozo Show such as costumes, show props, and the Grand Prize Game… and Cuddly Duddly! The set from Meet the Press was there, as well as a local tv stations news set and a revolving exhibit centered around Gary Coleman… but that was about it. The 3^rd floor had this stuff on it, the 2^nd floor was basically plaques from the American Radio Hall of Fame (Sure it was cool to see a plaque dedicated to Howard Stern and Garrison Keillor… but thats all it was. a plaque)
And that was about it. So, if you are a huge fan of The Bozo Show… I think it’s worth it just for the memorabilia or the memories… but other than that, $ 12 is a stretch.
Oh, and Oprah’s doors from her set are there… but that wasn’t worth the price of admission :)

DISCLAIMER: I was not here to visit the museum but rather for an event held at the venue.
In terms of the dinner at this event, overall, the food was great! The brussel sprouts were under cooked, but everything else was delicious. The staff was super friendly and efficient with the setup and tear down of the chairs and tables needed for the different portions of the event, but incredibly slow when it came to food service. They only served the food one table at a time rather than attacking a few tables at a time. It almost seemed like they were training their staff at this event, but that’s just a guess. They also could have been short handed that night — who knows.
Overall the venue is really neat. Lots of space, a great place to hold a fun conference, and right in the heart of downtown Chicago.

The Museum of Broadcast Communications isn’t as well advertised to Chicago visitors as other museums in the city are, but after much research, I found out that it was still a pretty up-​and-​coming thing at their new location. I wasn’t expecting much going in but was pleasantly surprised at the amount of collectables and old artifacts (yes, I am calling a radio an artifact) they had in for display. For a TV/​radio/​news junkie that I am, this museum was such a joy to experience. We went during the Gary Coleman exhibit and it was really neat to see all of his fan mail and the drawings/​sketches/​books he wrote as a kid. I love the tv character murals that splashed across the walls. I especially enjoyed the mini-​exhibitions that were in a rooms with chairs and tv showing a variety of montages. There was one on reality television, one on historical news days and one on just 80s cartoons! All I was missing was a big bowl of cereal and I would be right where I was growing up. I’d say $ 12 is a bit steep for the price but I would recommend it to anyone that loves entertainment! The workers were nice, but there were very few of them. I saw one at the front desk (I believe he was some sort of mall-​cop-​type though), one at the gift shop and another in the room where you can pretend to be a weather forecaster. Over all a good experience, I would definitely come back!

I came to the museum for a couple of reasons. One to see what had changed from the old museum as it was in the Cultural Center, and two, to attend an event about the TV show «Lassie,» hosted by Jon Provost, the original Timmy. A good friend of mine has referred to me as Timmy from Lassie grown up, so I had to see if there was any resemblance. The museum itself is a beautiful big new building, and I think a renovation of a former parking garage; but the museum experience is kind a of too big, boring and suburban. One of the things I liked about the old museum was the studio where you could tape yourself being a news reporter. While there is a radio studio on the second floor here, it’s unclear what purpose it serves. The collection old radios is fun, but the the other second floor exhibits are just very pedestrian placards about old radio personalities. I just thought of an exhibit I attended once at the Cultural Center about Ronco products which had all the products from the old ads, plus monitors showing all the old commercials. In other words, curated in a way which was very fun and stimulating, as I’ve come to expect with the talent in Chicago. And this museum was a disappointment from that respect. As far as my similarities to Timmy from Lassie, there are few. Jon Provost is a couple years older and ten inches shorter than me. And he has a mustache. (Turns out I look more like the grown up «Dennis The Menace.») So Chicago has spoiled me for its prowess with cultural production and whimsy and creativity, and this museum of media seems like it could be so much more. I’ll have to pay it a visit again sometime in the future.

Great location for a venue and great views from all the windows.
If the opportunity arrises to hold something here I highly recommend it. The space is in a good location and offers multiple levels to have your guests enjoy the view and ambiance.

It’s a cute little museum. I’m not from Chicago so the local radio/​TV shows didn’t ring any bells for me, but it was fun to see all the puppets and props. I liked the old radio displays. Unfortunately, there were a couple of other events going on, including a group of people filming for something (I’m not clear what) and they wouldn’t allow us to see a good chunk of the third floor until they were done. This included the room where you can pretend to be a newscaster, which was a bummer because I was really looking forward to that. We didn’t know how long they would take, but after about 10 – 15 minutes with them continuing to shoo people away from the area, we just left.
Now I’m sure these things happen, but the reason I’m taking off stars (I would have rated this a solid 3.5 or 4) is that nobody at the front desk warned us about this. If they had said something we’d have gone up to the third floor first instead of not getting to see everything. I’m not sure if the front desk knew about it, but I assume they did because there was another group of people dressed up in suits doing something else (interviews?) so obviously this is a hot spot for events.
I’m pretty irritated that apparently paying customers (Oh, and I’m not sure it was worth $ 12 either) can be prevented from seeing everything if something more important is going on and they aren’t even informed about that chance in advance. So just know that if something else is going on, you may not get to see everything in the museum despite paying for it. I almost wanted to ask for a partial refund, but it seemed petty in retrospect so we just left.
Very disappointing…

went here for the Veep event and honestly, I had never thought chicago had a museum like this before. Walked up the stairs and entered a large banquet room– very beautifully laid out. The walls had the greats of radio with a blurb about them. Also, there seems to be a much larger space above and they may have the whole building– there was a huge theater on the 4^th floor where we saw the première screened.
I need to check out this place again when there isnt an event on

I was really excited when I heard this museum has finally opened couple of weeks ago. I was really disappointed — certainly not worth the $ 12 entrance fee.
The exterior of the building is very modern. Upon entering, the minimalist lobby was just blah. You were greeted by the attendant, after she put her book down onto the table instead of a grand entrance desk– like other museums have. The interior is very modern and white walls and white floors. No maps of the layout. She did inform that I could either take the elevator or the stairs to the second level to begin the tour. I opted the stairs (good cardio).
Upon reaching the second level, you are greeted by a lot of black scuff marks on the white floor that has only been open for couple of weeks. The «media tree» was very interesting of wiring, items of the past. Then you enter the actual «museum». There must of have a luncheon since there was a crew breaking down tables and chairs. You will walk past a wall of various radios of the past. You turn the corner, more radios of the past. On the walls, there are pictures of famous radio personalities both from Chicago and the major markets. Make sure you bring your reading glasses. I also noticed on each panel, there were the headphone emblem. Where there headphone option??? Then you will walk past the boom box exhibit. You will walk past and read about some iconic puppets of the 60s.
Then you proceed to the third floor. This floor was more interesting. An early WGN camera was there to view, Make it simple the following exhibits were on display: Ray Raynor’s puppets Bozo, and Meet the Press set. More photos to read. View my pictures — that is the museum.
The fourth floor must be a screening room since it was not available.
To bad this «museum» didn’t merger with the Chicago Historical Museum for a true Chicago experience.

I attended the viewing of the new show VEEP.
Food and drinks were served upstairs… all very good.
Then we took elevators to the 4^th floor to view the show on a big screen.
This place has black and white photos everywhere of famous stars from the radio and some tv… I even saw a pic of Ronald Reagan from when he did radio… pretty cool.
This is a cool venue for a party or reception.
Bike parking to the south of the entrance.

What a wonderful place for a party.
Or just for a visit.
But. tonight I was lucky enough to attend a Private Party
put on by H.B.O. for Julia Louis Dreyfus’s new show
titled «Veep».
This museum is a walk back in time, with wonderful displays and
Information from years gone by and now regarding Television,
Radio, Sports.
I was in a lovely banquet room and the walls were filled with posters
and other artifacts.
There was a wonderful room filled with old televisions and radios also.
Up on the 4^th floor was where the screening was held…
looked just like a theater to me!
I wish I could say I had been here before tonight but.
I had’nt…
But. this museum brought back so many great memories from my past.
Regarding both Television and Radio.
What a Tremendous Experience and a really Cool Place!
You should definitely check this place out…
And. Harry Carey’s is right up the block.:)
Just loved it!