Newcity

After three decades as a weekly and biweekly alternative newspaper covering Chicago arts and culture, Newcity is transforming into a monthly magazine.

The 31st anniversary issue to be published Wednesday will be the last of its kind on newsprint. Starting in March, Newcity 3.0 will return as a glossy monthly. Continue reading →

WGN Studios (Photo: Google Maps)

Tribune Media has sold the historic studios of WGN-Channel 9 and surrounding property to a Chicago real estate developer.

Sources said R2 Companies was expected to close Tuesday on the $22.2 million acquisition of the 132,000 square-foot building and 10-acre lot at 2501 West Bradley Place near Western Avenue and Addison Street in the North Center neighborhood. Continue reading →

Pat Hughes

Robservations on the media beat:

Chicago Cubs broadcaster Pat Hughes has been named winner of this year’s Ring Lardner Award for Excellence in Sports Journalism in the broadcast category. Also cited are sportswriter and author Dan Jenkins in the print category, and the late Joe Mooshil, an Associated Press sportswriter for 42 years, in the posthumous category. Named for the world famous sportswriter, humorist and satirist, the awards will be presented April 13 at Union League Club of Chicago, 65 West Jackson Boulevard. Proceeds from the event will benefit the Union League Boys & Girls Clubs. For tickets call (312) 765-0405 or see www.ulbgc.org. Continue reading →

John Williams

All hail “King John.” So long, Kathy & Judy.

John Williams, a mainstay of WGN AM 720 since 1997, will return to the Monday-through-Friday lineup with a new two-hour afternoon show, the Tribune Broadcasting news/talk station announced Monday.

Starting March 13, Williams will be on from 1 to 3 p.m. weekdays. The Saturday show he has hosted from 1 to 3 p.m. will move to a new time slot — from 10 a.m. to noon — replacing the team of Kathy O’Malley and Judy Markey. Williams also will continue his weekly podcast.
Continue reading →

Todd Cavanah

Todd Cavanah, longtime program director of Top 40 WBBM FM 96.3, is adding day-to-day programming responsibility over country WUSN FM 99.5, CBS Radio Chicago announced Friday.

The US99 position has been vacant since last December when Jeff Kapugi was forced out after five years as program director. At the time the company said it planned to hire a new program director for the station. Continue reading →

Roger Simon and Marcia Kramer

Robservations on the media beat:

The great Roger Simon, a Chicago original who became one of America’s best political columnists, is calling it a career. Simon, 68, is telling friends that he and his wife, Marcia Kramer, a free-lance editor and former copy desk chief of the Washington Post, are retiring from journalism at the end of the month to enjoy other pursuits. Since 2006 Simon has been chief political columnist for politico.com. The South Shore native and University of Illinois graduate spent 12 years as an investigative reporter and columnist for the Sun-Times, where Kramer worked as a copy editor. Simon also was a columnist for the Baltimore Sun, White House correspondent for the Chicago Tribune, political editor of U.S. News & World Report and chief political correspondent of Bloomberg News. In 1999 Simon and Kramer were inducted in the Chicago Journalism Hall of Fame. Continue reading →

Richard Steele

“The Barbershop Show,” a weekly community conversation unlike any other on Chicago radio, has gone out of business.

Produced by Vocalo, Chicago Public Media’s alternative channel, the show originated from Carter’s Barber Shop in North Lawndale and aired live at noon Fridays on Vocalo. It repeated Sundays on WBEZ FM 91.5 and in podcast form. Continue reading →

Peter Liguori

Peter Liguori, who led the restructuring and transformation of Tribune Media and the spinoff of its newspaper division into the entity now known as tronc, is stepping down after four years as president and chief executive officer of the Chicago-based broadcast and entertainment-focused company.

His resignation, effective the first week in March, was announced Wednesday. Continue reading →

For as long as I can remember, it’s been my practice to report on the annual revenues of Chicago radio stations.

Around this time every year, I update readers on “Chicago radio’s cash register,” listing the annual revenues of the top 30 or so local stations and comparing their year-to-year sales figures.

It’s the best way I know of to gauge the strength of the market overall and the relative success of radio groups, stations and formats. Continue reading →

Mark Konkol (Photo: WTTW/Chicago Tonight)

Mark Konkol, the Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter who helped put DNAinfo Chicago on the map, has parted ways with the hyperlocal digital news operation.

Konkol said Monday he was grateful for his four-year run as the website’s star columnist, but was ready for new challenges — including an upcoming cable documentary series. Continue reading →