WGN gets new TV boss from Cleveland

Greg Easterly

Greg Easterly

Tribune Broadcasting is reaching out to its station in Cleveland to fill the longstanding vacancy for president and general manager of Chicago flagship WGN-Channel 9.

Moving up from the 19th largest market to the third is Greg Easterly, a 17-year veteran of WJW-TV, Cleveland’s Fox affiliate. Tribune Co. picked up WJW last December as part of its $2.7 billion acquisition of 16 stations owned by Local TV Holdings. Easterly spent his first 10 years at the station as news director before he was named general manager in 2007. Continue reading

Dupree’s ‘Piece of the Game’ goes national

Don Dupree

Don Dupree

A locally produced sports memorabilia show that began as a series of specials on Tribune Broadcasting WGN-Channel 9 has just landed a national distribution deal.

Chicago TV veteran Don Dupree, creator and executive producer of “A Piece of the Game,” announced this week that he’s signed a deal for his show to be available in 65 million households. Starting later this spring, it will air on Comcast SportsNet outlets in Chicago, Philadelphia, New England and the San Francisco Bay area and on Fox Sports regional networks throughout the rest of the country. Continue reading

Chicago radio’s top 10 midday champs

Drive-time gets all the attention, but the most loyal radio listening happens during the middle of the day when people are at work or otherwise occupied.

Here’s a look at Chicago’s top 10 midday shows (as measured in February by Nielsen Audio among all listeners age 6 and older from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday), followed by average share of audience. Continue reading

Former CLTV news chief joins Fox 32

Jill Manuel

Jill Manuel

Jill Manuel, former news director of Tribune Broadcasting’s CLTV, is returning to Chicago to become assistant news director at Fox-owned WFLD-Channel 32.

Announcement of her hiring Thursday came just 10 days after Manuel was released from WEWS-TV, the ABC affiliate in Cleveland, where she had been news director since 2008.

Effective April 15, she succeeds Chris Myers, who resigned last January after two years as assistant news director at Fox 32 to join Al Jazeera America in Los Angeles. She reports to Tom Doerr, vice president and news director. Continue reading

‘Editor’s dream’ Ontiveros leaving Sun-Times

Sue Ontiveros

Sue Ontiveros

Sue Ontiveros, a versatile editor, talented writer and respected mentor to fellow journalists, is resigning after 30 years at the Sun-Times.

Ontiveros told colleagues Monday that she will step down April 1 as deputy features editor, the post she has held since 2006. She will continue her association with the newspaper by writing a weekly editorial page column about social issues and blogging about nutrition, fitness, wellness and food for suntimes.com on a free-lance basis. Continue reading

ABC 7 turns I-Team into daily enterprise

Chuck GoudieWhile much of what passes for news on local television has hit the skids, fortunately there’s still something to be said for solid, old-fashioned investigative reporting in Chicago.

Exhibit A is the I-Team at WLS-Channel 7, where chief investigative reporter Chuck Goudie, a 34-year veteran of the ABC-owned station, heads a franchise that has expanded its brand, doubled its personnel and elevated local TV to a new competitive level in recent months. Continue reading