The Museum of Broadcast Communications in Chicago, which officially opens to the public this year, is getting a financial boost.
Comcast, NBC News and Chicago’s NBC 5 have pledged $2.7 million worth of aid to the museum, it said. It comes in the form of cash and advertising time donations.
The museum’s principle presentation area will be called the Comcast NBCUniversal Center, according to a release. There will also be cooperation between the museum and the local NBC channel, NBC 5.
Separately, the museum in Chicago said it will be saluting Jack Benny on Feb. 4 in a live broadcast in conjunction with WDCB(FM)-produced retro program “Those Were the Days.”
Benny was a radio great heard from the early 1930s to the late 1950s, first on NBC and then CBS. He remained so popular that CBS ran the radio program for two years in reruns after it ended in 1955. Of course Benny was also a TV and film star as well.
“Those Were the Days,” a weekly production of WDCB in Chicago, declared February Jack Benny month and will feature clips from the various iterations of Benny’s radio show, including famous moments such as the “Your money or your life!” skit.
Tickets ($20) are available, proceeds help the museum. The museum also runs the National Radio Hall of Fame.
