Sportscaster Bill Campbell will get the person of the year award from the Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia, and is he surprised. "I wonder how they came up with me," Campbell, 84, in the business since he was 17, told me yesterday. "I'm honored and flattered."
The Pioneers' Gerry Wilkinson says the choice of honoree had been narrowed to Campbell and South Jersey-bred daytime talk queen Kelly Ripa , but "we went with the one with the better legs."
The Pioneers - mourning the death yesterday of longtime WCAU talk-show host Ed Harvey at age 92 - will install six vets into its hall of fame at the Nov. 21 banquet: Cathy Gandolfo of 6ABC, George Michael , formerly of WFIL; Bob Pantano , host of WOGL's Saturday Night Dance Party ; Dave Schratwieser of Fox29; Mike Strug of NBC10, and Ukee Washington of CBS3.
Speaking of awards: NBC10's Edie Huggins , who died Tuesday, was to accept the Board of Governors' Award from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences on Sept. 13 at the Mid-Atlantic Emmy Awards gala. She'll get a special posthumous presentation, NATAS says.
And we see that Oprah Winfrey carries only so much clout. The documentary "A Walk in Cuba" by CN8's Art Fennell beat out "Oprah in South Africa: A Dream Fulfilled" by Chicago's WLS-TV for a Salute to Excellence award from the National Association of Black Journalists. Soul stuff The Philadelphia Soul and the Arena Football League are crowing about the TV ratings for Sunday's championship game. The league says the Soul's 59-56 win over the San Jose SaberCats may have been the most-watched AFL game ever in Philly. It pulled a 5.3 rating and an 11 share on 6ABC, or 154,000 households. Compare that to last year's title, which drew a 1.0 rating/2 share here. Nationally, it was the most-watched ArenaBowl since 2005. City officials say today's 3 p.m. Soul celebration outside of City Hall on Dilworth Plaza will not be a parade. It will start as a motorcade from Sixth and Market Streets, as police will escort owners Jon Bon Jovi , Craig Spencer , Leo Carlin Jr. and Ron Jaworski , coaches and cheerleaders west to City Hall. Bon Jovi is still promising a Bon Jovi concert. He suggested it might be tied to the ring ceremony and banner-raising - which if history is a guide will be in February, at the start of next season.
Briefly noted Comcast SportsNet studios at the Wachovia Center will be under construction for the next month, so Daily News Live and SportsNite will originate from the center's AT&T Pavilion. The sets will be relocated to the newsroom on Aug. 9 and 10 for the Neil Diamond concert and Aug. 13 for American Idol Live . The new studios, with new sets, will debut Aug. 25.
Philly Pops-ter Peter Nero will visit this Sunday morning's WJJZ (97.5) jazz brunch hosted by Michael Tozzi on the Moshulu on Penn's Landing. Nero will talk about his Gershwin show at the Mann on Aug. 13.
Alan Tu , a longtime producer of Marty Moss-Coane's Radio Times on WHYY (90.9), has been promoted to head a new 'HYY online program called It's Our City . Patty Leswing , a 10-year veteran of Fresh Air , is moving to Radio Times .
MTV is seeking young women who are pregnant for a series to show what pregnant women are experiencing in their everyday lives. Interested: e-mail Sara Napoli at sara.napoli@mtvnmix.com .
Contact columnist Michael Klein at 215-854-5514 or mklein@phillynews.com . See his recent work at http://go.philly.com/michaelklein .