Linda Yu
With the May sweeps officially ending Wednesday, Linda Yu will go straight from the newsroom back to the operating room.
The veteran Chicago news anchor, who recently marked her 30th anniversary at ABC-owned WLS-Channel 7, will undergo a third surgery Thursday to repair a broken leg she suffered in a traffic accident while vacationing in Florida last January.
Yu, 67, will be off indefinitely from the 4 p.m. weekday newscast she co-anchors with Alan Krashesky. Continue reading
John Williams
Breaking news: John Williams will return to middays and Garry Meier will lose his afternoon slot in a new weekday program lineup to be unveiled Wednesday at WGN AM 720.
Williams, a mainstay of the Tribune Broadcasting news/talk station for 15 years before he left in December 2012, will be heard from 10 a.m. to noon on WGN, starting Tuesday. He’ll broadcast from Minneapolis, where he continues to host afternoons at WCCO. Continue reading
Joe Knowles
In what Chicago Tribune editor Gerould Kern described as “important leadership changes,” new editors were named Tuesday to oversee the newspaper’s sports and business sections.
Joe Knowles, a 38-year veteran of the Tribune, was named associate managing editor/sports. A former sports news editor of the paper who went on to launch RedEye and serve as co-editor of the tabloid, Knowles most recently has been the Tribune’s associate managing editor for editing and presentation.
Michael Kellams, a 16-year Tribune veteran who has been associate managing editor/sports since 2009, has shifted to associate managing editor/business. He succeeds Mike Lev, who has joined the editorial board of the Tribune. Continue reading
Erin Kennedy
It’s showtime for Erin Kennedy as WBBM-Channel 2 tries yet again to compete for morning news viewers.
Kennedy, just in from in Cleveland, debuts Monday alongside Kris Gutierrez on the CBS-owned station’s chronically anemic morning newscast. Airing from 4:30 to 7 a.m. weekdays, it’s been trailing the ratings for years.
Until Kennedy’s hiring was announced May 6, CBS 2 had gone 12 months without a permanent morning anchor team in place. Billboards around town promoted Megan Glaros weather and Derrick Young traffic instead, all but ignoring the news product itself. Continue reading
Here’s a look at Chicago’s most popular nighttime stars, according to radio ratings released this week for the period from March 27 to April 23.
Following are the top-rated shows as measured by Nielsen Audio among all listeners age 6 and older from 7 p.m. to midnight Monday through Friday, followed by share of audience. Continue reading
Zoraida Sambolin
When news broke last month that Zoraida Sambolin was returning to WMAQ-Channel 5 as morning news anchor, longtime viewers of “NBC 5 News Today” were overjoyed. “Too good to be true!” wrote one on this site. “Welcome back, Zoraida. You've been dearly missed,” wrote another. Many more agreed.
But perhaps no one was happier than Sambolin herself. After two years at CNN in New York (interrupted by a battle with breast cancer), the Chicago native was thrilled to be back home with family and reclaiming her old job at the station where she’d spent a decade. Continue reading
Craig Ferguson
While WLS-Channel 7 is certain to keep “Windy City Live” on its weekday schedule at 11 a.m., and WCIU-Channel 26 will continue “You & Me This Morning” at 6 a.m., could there be another locally produced daytime talk show coming to Chicago television this fall?
WGN-Channel 9, which already airs 54 hours a week of live local news, is considering jumping into the daily talk show business, too. Continue reading
Mark Elfstrand
Two prominent Christian radio talk hosts are trading places on competing Chicago stations.
Mark Elfstrand, who hosted mornings for nearly 15 years at Moody Radio WMBI FM 90.1 until he was forced out last November, is joining Salem Communications WYLL AM 1160. Starting May 20, he’ll be on from 4 to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday. Continue reading
Clark Weber and Ron Riley (1966)
Clark Weber and Ron Riley, two legendary personalities from the golden era of WLS AM 890 in the 1960s, will reunite for one night only to reminisce about the Beatles, the British Invasion and Top 40 radio.
The former rock ’n’ roll disc jockeys will appear together at a benefit June 24 for the Lotus Foundation, the nonprofit founded by Ringo Starr to support charitable social welfare projects. Sponsored by WLS FM 94.7, the event at Chicago's Hard Rock Cafe will be in conjunction with the Ringo Starr Art Show With a Little Help From His Friends. Continue reading
Here’s a look at Chicago’s most popular afternoon stars, according to radio ratings released Monday for the period from March 27 to April 23.
Following are the top-rated shows as measured by Nielsen Audio among all listeners age 6 and older from 3 to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, followed by average share of audience. Continue reading