"Chi-Town Rising" (2016)

Robservations on the media beat:

David Doebler

You may be thinking about Labor Day, but the folks at NBC-owned WMAQ-Channel 5 already have their plans for New Year’s Eve. For the second consecutive year, NBC 5 and Telemundo Chicago WSNS-Channel 44 will broadcast “Chi-Town Rising,” the outdoor countdown and music special live on December 31. “We’re thrilled that the city of Chicago is supporting this great New Year’s Eve celebration once again, and look forward to bringing the broadcast to our viewers who can experience the excitement from home and from giant monitors around the downtown area,” David Doebler, president and general manager of NBC 5, said in a statement Thursday. Last year’s event won the ratings for NBC 5, with 594,000 households tuned in at midnight. Continue reading →

Tribune Tower (Photo: Robert Feder)

The sale of Tribune Tower doesn’t mean WGN AM 720 will be moving its studios and offices any time soon.

Officials of the Tribune Media news/talk station assured employees Tuesday they’ll continue to work out of the landmark neo-Gothic tower at 435 North Michigan Avenue despite their parent company’s agreement to sell the property in a $240 million deal with Los Angeles-based developer CIM Group. Continue reading →

Brian Urlacher

Robservations on the media beat:

Former Chicago Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher has signed to headline a new weekly show on Comcast SportsNet Chicago. “The Hard Count with Brian Urlacher” will air at 10:30 p.m. Thursdays, starting September 15. Host Mark Schanowski, former Bears quarterback Jim Miller and former Bears head coach Dave Wannstedt will join Urlacher to discuss the team’s next game and break down the match-up from a defensive, offensive and head coaching standpoint. Also joining Comcast SportsNet as game day studio analyst is former defensive end standout Alex Brown. Continue reading →

Justin Roman and Doug Stylz

As Doug Stylz and Justin Roman are headed to new roles as country music morning hosts, they wrapped up 10 years as a Top 40 afternoon duo with more than one million loyal listeners in the Chicago area.

Nielsen Audio ratings released Monday showed Stylz and Roman’s afternoon show on CBS Radio Top 40 WBBM FM 96.3 in sixth place overall with a 3.9 percent share and a cumulative weekly audience of 1,021,700. Their last show on B96 aired August 12 — two days after the latest ratings survey concluded. Continue reading →

Larry Potash and Robin Baumgarten

Robservations on the media beat:

OK, it’s not the comeback of “Bozo’s Circus,” but it’s still pretty big: Tribune Media WGN-Channel 9 is finalizing plans for a two-hour, live primetime special showcasing Chicago’s “must watch” morning news. The special nighttime edition of “WGN Morning News” will air from 7 to 9 p.m. September 14. Larry Potash and Robin Baumgarten are main anchors of the top-rated show, which airs from 4 to 10 a.m. Monday through Friday. The ensemble also features Dan Ponce, Lourdes Duarte, Paul Konrad, Pat Tomasulo, Dean Richards, Ana Belaval, Erin McElroy, Demetrius Ivory, Marcus Leshock — and a cast of thousands. Continue reading →

Rob Johnson

Rob Johnson, veteran news anchor at CBS-owned WBBM-Channel 2, is laid up at home this week while recovering from knee surgery to repair a torn meniscus.

A CBS 2 spokeswoman said Johnson is expected back to work on Monday. Irika Sargent will be anchoring the 5, 6 and 10 p.m. newscasts solo for the rest of the week. Continue reading →

Peggy Kusinski

Veteran Chicago sportscaster Peggy Kusinski will be shifting gears after 16 years at WMAQ-Channel 5, the NBC-owned station announced Monday.

Starting next month, Kusinski will give up the daily sports reporting beat to work on investigative and in-depth sports stories for NBC 5’s newscasts and “Sports Sunday.” Continue reading →

Daily Herald

Robservations on the media beat:

Doug Ray

It’s about to become a lot harder to find a copy of the Daily Herald in Chicago. Sources said the suburban newspaper will cease delivery in downtown Chicago as of this weekend. “We have been studying each single-copy location for sales and have found that the paid circulation in the city was trending lower, thus removing boxes and locations where only a few are sold each day,” said Doug Ray, publisher and CEO of Daily Herald Media Group. “We believe the Daily Herald e-edition and web site will be attractive to those wanting newspaper content online and with the web site immediacy of our suburban news content.” The Daily Herald is owned by Paddock Publications, a privately held company based in Arlington Heights. Paddock recently acquired 12 daily and weekly newspapers in southern Illinois from GateHouse Media. Continue reading →

Terry Boers

It’ll be at least early October before Terry Boers returns to his afternoon show on CBS Radio sports/talk WSCR AM 670, the veteran Chicago radio personality said Wednesday.

Boers, 66, has been off the air since mid-June, when he underwent surgery for an undisclosed condition. At the time he said his recovery would take “around two months.” Continue reading →