Showdown Over ‘Smackdown’

• Michelle “Showbiz Shelly” Menaker famously co-hosted The J Show on Entercom Top 40 WBBM-FM (B96)/Chicago for the better part of a decade — until the end of March, when she and co-host J Niice were cut loose. Last week Shelly was hired to do middays on iHeartMedia Top 40 rival WKSC (103.5 Kiss FM). One of her other new duties is to share her long-running daily pop culture quiz, the “Showbiz Shelly Smackdown” at 7:45 daily on Kiss FM’s Fred + Angi morning show, hosted by Christopher “Fred” Frederick and Angi Taylor

Well, not so fast… according to veteran Chicago media journalist Robert Feder, Shelly’s former employer took exception to her using that particular segment name and someone made a phone call. B96 PD Todd Cavanah called the move “standard and contractual. We own the name… it’s really simple.”

Respectfully begging to differ, Kiss morning co-host Fred cracked the mic and commented, “I think it’s a low blow. I think it’s a low, low blow… So dumb. Get a life, guys. Focus on your issues over there, right?”

Menaker, who smartly owns the trademark on the “Showbiz Shelly” name, commented, “I’m trying to put a positive spin on it, right? Maybe this is a good opportunity. It’s a new chapter. Maybe it’s a good time for a new name for it.”