WBEZ

Nine months after he came back to WBEZ 91.5-FM as chief content officer, Steve Edwards is putting his mark on the daily programming lineup of the Chicago Public Media station.

Starting Monday, a revamped schedule at WBEZ will feature five new shows and an expansion of news designed to bring “new voices, fresh personalities and diverse perspectives to Chicago’s airwaves.” (Here is the link to the revised lineup.) Continue reading →

Michael Ferro (Photo: Christopher Michel)

Robservations on the media beat:

As a parting gift to Michael Ferro, tronc paid out its former chairman’s entire three-year, $15 million “consulting fee” in a single payment, it was disclosed Wednesday. “The company fully expensed the $15.0 million contract in the first quarter,” tronc reported to investors, resulting in a net loss of $14.8 million. “The quarter was negatively impacted by a charge related to the acceleration of the accounting for the consulting agreement with our former nonexecutive chairman,” Terry Jimenez, tronc’s chief financial officer, said in a Chicago Tribune report. Ferro abruptly resigned as chairman March 18 — hours before he was accused of sexual misconduct by two women in a Fortune magazine takedown. One month later, he cashed out all nine million of his tronc shares for $208.6 million. The undisguised greed of Ferro’s $15 million consulting agreement proved a rallying point for journalists who organized the Chicago Tribune Guild and won newsroom staffers their first bargaining rights in the Tribune’s 171-year history. Continue reading →

Sinclair Broadcast Group

Robservations on the media beat:

WPWR/CW 50

Before it’s all over, Sinclair Broadcast Group may wind up operating two television stations in Chicago. The Maryland-based company disclosed today that it has an option to buy the license for CW affiliate WPWR-Channel 50 from Fox Television Stations for $15 million. (Fox bought WPWR from Fred Eychaner’s Newsweb Corp. for $425 million in 2002. The broadcast signal was sold in the FCC spectrum auction last year.) Sinclair already is poised to take over WGN-Channel 9 and WGN 720-AM as part of a deal now valued at $4.6 billion to acquire Tribune Media. Although it plans to divest ownership of the WGN properties, Sinclair would retain control over the stations’ operations — including news, programming and sales — under joint sales and shared services agreements. Continue reading →

Chicago Jewish Star

Robservations on the media beat:

It’s over and out for the Chicago Jewish Star after 27 years of publication. Billed as Chicago’s oldest independent Jewish newspaper, the Skokie-based biweekly cited “an industry-wide decline in advertising revenues” for shutting down the family-run operation Friday. Winner of six Peter Lisagor Awards for excellence in journalism, the paper is a finalist for two more in this year’s competition. “We wanted to make what we did matter,” founding editor Douglas Wertheimer wrote in a farewell editorial. “We never ceased trying to do our best.” Continue reading →

Chicago Tribune Guild

Robservations on the media beat:

Tronc

The parent company of the Chicago Tribune reversed itself Sunday and said it voluntarily would recognize the union representing newsroom employees at its city and suburban publications. “The company has agreed to recognize three Chicago-based collective bargaining units and looks forward to productive conversations with union representatives,” tronc said in a statement. “As we move ahead, we need to be united as one organization with an important purpose — to help the company transform and thrive as a business, and to serve our readers world-class journalism.” As a result, the Chicago Tribune Guild will receive union certification from the National Labor Relations Board without the need for a vote. The three bargaining units include one for the Chicago Tribune and RedEye; a second for the suburban publications and the Spanish-language Hoy; and a third for tronc’s Chicago-based design and production studio. Calling the move “an extraordinary development,” the union said in a letter to members: “Our attorneys and partners at the NewsGuild-Communications Workers of America tell us that in decades of organizing, they have never seen a newsroom earn voluntary recognition from a company of this size and with such a long history of anti-union bias. Tronc undoubtedly realized it would waste time and money during an election process it would lose.” Continue reading →

Natasha Korecki (Photo: WTTW/Chicago Tonight)

Robservations on the media beat:

Politico Illinois

Natasha Korecki, whose Illinois Playbook newsletter is a daily must-read for followers of politics and government, has been promoted to national correspondent for Politico. She’ll continue to be based in Chicago while covering the 2018 midterms and 2020 presidential campaign. "Launching Illinois Playbook, seeing it grow and building a new community of engaged readers from across the state has been one of the most gratifying experiences of my career," Korecki said in a statement. "While I hope to remain some part of it, I’m also beyond thrilled for an opportunity to cover the 2020 race and this incredible moment in national politics." Korecki joined Politico as senior political reporter in 2015 after 12 years as chief political writer and federal courts reporter at the Sun-Times. Before that, the University of Illinois graduate spent seven years as a reporter at the Daily Herald. No word on who’ll succeed Korecki as writer of Illinois Playbook. Continue reading →

VSiN studio

WSCR 670-AM is about to become the first radio station in the country to broadcast daily reports on sports betting from VSiN — the Vegas Stats & Information Network.

Starting Friday, the Entercom sports/talk station will air Chicago-focused gambling segments during the 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. hour of Danny Parkins and Dan McNeil's afternoon show each weekday. The one-minute “Score Action Updates” will originate from VSiN studios at the South Point Hotel, Casino and Spa in Las Vegas. Continue reading →

John von Rhein (Photo: Chicago Tribune)

Robservations on the media beat:

Howard Reich

After more than 40 years as classical music critic of the Chicago Tribune, John von Rhein announced Wednesday he’ll retire on July 1. “It’s been a great ride, but the time has come to move off into other ventures and give somebody else a shot at one of the best jobs in journalism,” von Rhein, 72, wrote in a letter to readers. He joined the Tribune in 1977 from the Akron Beacon Journal. Succeeding him on the classical music beat will be veteran arts writer (and Van Cliburn biographer) Howard Reich, who’ll also continue as jazz critic. “I wish my longtime colleague the very best in his work going forward,” von Rhein wrote. Continue reading →

WLS Studio

Cumulus Media, parent company of three Chicago radio stations, has found a way out of bankruptcy.

The nation’s second largest radio operator announced Tuesday that its financial restructuring plan has been approved by U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York, a move that will allow Cumulus to erase more than $1 billion in debt and emerge from Chapter 11 reorganization before the end of the quarter. Continue reading →

Sinclair Broadcast Group

Controversy over the impending sale of WGN-Channel 9, WGN 720-AM and other Tribune Media stations to Sinclair Broadcast Group, and the return of morning personality Kevin “DreX” Buchar to Chicago radio led the top 10 most-read stories here in April.

To read the full posts, click on the headlines: Continue reading →