Hugh Hill

They don’t make reporters like Hugh Hill anymore.

A giant of Chicago journalism for 43 years, he practically invented the role of political reporter on local television news and played it longer and with more gusto than anyone.

Hill, who died Friday at 89, interviewed every U.S. president from Truman to Clinton and covered every Chicago mayor from Daley to Daley. His in-your-face style of interrogation and remarkable institutional memory made him a legend. Continue reading →

OK, let's get this straight: First WLS-Channel 7 drops its top-rated 11 a.m. news program after more than 20 years, becoming the only major station in town without a newscast between 9 a.m and 4 p.m. on weekdays.

And now the ABC-owned station adds an hour of news at 5 o'clock in the morning on Saturdays and Sundays, boasting that it offers "the most weekend TV news in Chicago." Continue reading →

Barry Mayo

Twenty-five years ago today, WVAZ FM 102.7 signed on with an urban adult-contemporary music format that had never been heard here before. “We will be a major player,” predicted founder Barry Mayo.

He was right.

Today V103 is the top-rated station in Chicago with a 6.2 percent share and an audience of more than 1.1 million. Revenue for the Clear Channel outlet exceeded $20.8 million in 2012. Among its stars are Steve Harvey, Doug Banks and Herb Kent.

Here is my Sun-Times column of Oct. 19, 1988 — one day after V103 debuted. (Posted with permission.) Continue reading →

Joel Lisinski

What would you call this guy?

His real name is Joel Lisinski. On the radio in Milwaukee, he's Joel Sheridan. And now that he's been hired as nighttime personality on WUSN FM 99.5, he's about to get a new identity. Continue reading →

Floyd Kalber (1984)

Seventeen years after "Eyewitness News" disappeared from Chicago television, it's making a comeback.

Just in time for the November sweeps, if all goes as planned, WLS-Channel 7 will go back to branding itself as "Eyewitness News," the station's well-known franchise from 1969 to 1996.

"The reality is ['Eyewitness News'] still has a very strong identity with this station — even though it was dropped a number of years ago," said John Idler, president and general manager of the ABC-owned outlet. "It's still very important to our viewers, and they associate it with ABC 7. That's principally why we're bringing it back." Continue reading →

Evan Allen-Gessesse and Niccole Thurman

With the launch of a new national series next week, Chicago's WTTW-Channel 11 is living up to its name as a "Window to the World."

"Local, USA" is billed as a 13-part documentary series showcasing segments from public television stations across the country along with the work of independent producers and other content creators. Each half-hour episode will explore a particular theme.

Premiering at 5 p.m. Oct. 21 on the World Channel and locally at 11 p.m. Oct. 24 on WTTW, it marks WTTW's first national series in years and its first in partnership with World, the digital channel produced and distributed by WGBH-TV in Boston, WNET-TV in New York and American Public Television. Continue reading →

Bob Sanders

Long before Bob and Marianne, Steve and Johnnie, or Don and Roma, there was Bob and Betty Sanders — Chicago radio's quintessential husband-and-wife team. And listeners loved them.

"Bob and Betty were the epitome of comfort radio," said veteran broadcaster Steve Dale, who was their producer in the 1980s. "The influence that they had was undeniable. They were at the top for a reason."

A trusted and admired voice on WBBM AM 780 for decades, Bob Sanders died Sunday near Lake Geneva, Wis., after a long illness. He was 89. Continue reading →

If you're not already sick of hearing, seeing and reading about the 10th anniversary of the Bartman debacle, there's one more look back you might not want to miss.

At 9 p.m. Tuesday Comcast SportsNet Chicago premieres "5 Outs . . ." — a 90-minute documentary on the collapse of the Chicago Cubs in the 2003 National League Championship Series. Included are interviews with everyone involved in the Cubs' heartbreaking loss that season. Everyone except infamous fan Steve Bartman, of course. Continue reading →

The redesign of Chicago magazine in print and online marks the first complete makeover of the publication since 2007. And it's a beauty.

From its bold new logo and new tag line ("Big City, Big Stories") to its sharp new typography, layout and organization, the monthly magazine and chicagomag.com have been reconfigured and reimagined from top to bottom with the November issue.

Now fully integrated with its namesake publication, the streamlined and engaging website operates as efficiently on a mobile device as it does on a desktop. (There's still a glitch or two to be fixed. The link to Carol Felsenthal's articles about politics take you to a menu of unrelated posts.) Stand-alone blogs, such as "The 312" and "Style Sheet," have been eliminated in favor of stories organized by subject area. New video and photo features also are being added. Continue reading →

Alison Scholly

(This post has been updated to include a statement received late Sunday from SAG-AFTRA.)

The federal government shutdown is delaying an effort by editorial employees of WBEZ FM 91.5 to secure union representation through the Screen Actors Guild‐American Federation of Television and Radio Artists.

Thirty-nine staffers at the public radio station presented a petition late last month to Alison Scholly, interim CEO of parent company Chicago Public Media, seeking recognition of SAG-AFTRA as their bargaining agent. The move was first reported by the public media website current.org.

But nothing can happen until the request is accepted by the National Labor Relations Board, which has been shut down since Oct. 1. Once the petition is accepted, the NLRB may proceed by scheduling a union authorization vote. Continue reading →