Diann Burns

Robservations on the media beat:

Remember Diann Burns? The former top news anchor for two Chicago stations says she's ready to share what she knows with a new generation of broadcasters. Burns has joined David Bruner’s DB & Associates, a media talent agency based in central Pennsylvania. She'll continue to live in Chicago. “We will be conducting talent seminars for budding journalists and professionals around the country, expanding on what I have done over the years,” Burns told me. “Right now, we are in the planning stages, and I am doing my best to try to make the series of road trips begin right here in my beloved Chicago.” A onetime reporter for the Cleveland Plain Dealer with a master’s degree from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, Burns stepped down as news anchor in 2008 after five years at CBS-owned WBBM-Channel 2 and 18 years at ABC-owned WLS-Channel 7. Continue reading →

Kathy Hart (Photo: Fox 32)

Kathy Hart, the former Chicago radio morning star who’s been a free agent since her highly publicized breakup with Eric Ferguson, is getting a shot as a talk show host on WGN 720-AM.

Hart will appear as guest co-host three times in the coming weeks alongside weekend host Frank Fontana on the Tribune Broadcasting news/talk station. They’ll be on during Fontana’s regular show from 1 to 3 p.m. this Sunday and October 28, and they’ll fill in for John Williams from 1 to 3 p.m. October 17. Continue reading →

Warner Saunders

Warner Saunders, a versatile Chicago television personality whose career spanned four decades at two stations, died Tuesday at 83.

Saunders collapsed at his home in Chicago and died at Illinois Masonic Hospital, according to NBC-owned WMAQ-Channel 5, where he spent 29 years as a news anchor, reporter, host and sportscaster. Continue reading →

Morgan Kolkmeyer (Photo: WGN)

Robservations on the media beat:

One more reason you gotta love Morgan Kolkmeyer: When WGN-Channel 9's weather center graphics computer failed Tuesday morning, the Tribune Broadcasting station's plucky meteorologist didn't miss a beat. She simply delivered the forecast the old-fashioned way — on white paper with a couple of markers. (Here is the link.) "Things I didn't think I'd do when I made it to Chicago," she joked. Kolkmeyer joined WGN in May 2017 from WREX, the NBC affiliate in her native Rockford. Continue reading →

Jennifer Lyons

Only weeks after she resigned as news director of WGN-Channel 9 and CLTV, Jennifer Lyons has reclaimed her old job at the Tribune Broadcasting station.

Paul Rennie, president and general manager of WGN, made the surprise announcement late Tuesday that Lyons has been rehired. After interviewing numerous applicants, Rennie said he had narrowed the list of candidates to replace Lyons but had not yet made an offer to anyone. Continue reading →

Tom Waddle and Marc Silverman

If you happen to be awake before dawn Friday, you might want to head over to Austin’s, the popular saloon and eatery in Libertyville.

That’s the best way to ensure a front-row seat for the free, all-day 20th anniversary celebration and remote broadcast of ESPN Radio sports/talk WMVP 1000-AM. Continue reading →

Jason Van Dyke with attorney Dan Herbert (Photo: WGN)

Robservations on the media beat:

Chicago television stations went wall-to-wall all afternoon Friday with coverage of the verdict in the trial of Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke and its aftermath. By 2 p.m. viewers in more than 481,192 households tuned in to see Van Dyke convicted of second-degree murder in the shooting of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald in 2014. Leading the way, according to Nielsen figures, was Tribune Broadcasting WGN-Channel 9, whose CLTV cable news outlet had aired the trial in its entirety. WGN led among viewers between 25 and 54 throughout the day Friday and at 9 p.m. that night. (ABC-owned WLS-Channel 7 tied with WGN for first place among all viewers during the 2 p.m. hour.) Just before the verdict was announced, Cook County Judge Vincent Gaughan made a point of thanking the news media for its "professional coverage" of the three-week trial. “We need transparency," he said. Continue reading →

Tronc

Two years after the parent company of the Chicago Tribune renamed itself tronc, it’s going back to calling itself Tribune Publishing, the company announced today.

The name change, which formally takes effect Tuesday, will close a sorry chapter in the history of the Chicago media giant, which drew nearly universal revulsion and ridicule when it unleashed tronc on the world in June 2016. Continue reading →

Chuck Schaden

Robservations on the media beat:

Steve Darnall

Radio Hall of Famer Chuck Schaden, the preeminent broadcast historian who launched "Those Were the Days" in 1970, returns to the old-time radio showcase this weekend to mark its 2,500th program. Schaden will join Steve Darnall, who succeeded him as host and producer in 2009. They'll celebrate the milestone with re-creations of classic radio shows they've staged over the years, including "Ma Perkins," "The Lone Ranger" and "X Minus One." "There's something undeniably enjoyable — for performers and audiences alike — in bringing these classic shows to life in front of present-day audiences," Darnall said. "Those Were the Days" airs from 1 to 5 p.m. Saturdays on College of DuPage's WDCB 90.9-FM and wdcb.org. Continue reading →

WBEZ

Robservations on the media beat:

Hunter Clauss

Chicago Public Media WBEZ 91.5-FM has launched “The Rundown,” a weekday afternoon email newsletter highlighting the big stories of the day. “As we establish WBEZ as the premier news organization in Chicago, we continually seek new and different ways to engage with broader, more diverse audiences, and that means expanding beyond our on-air programming with more digital offerings, such as our WBEZ app and now this daily newsletter,” Goli Sheikholeslami, CEO of Chicago Public Media, said in a statement. “We expect ‘The Rundown’ to become a daily habit for Chicagoans who value news, information and context from WBEZ.” (Here is the link to subscribe.) It’s aggregated by Hunter Clauss, digital editor of WBEZ, along with the station’s multiplatform news team. Clauss joined WBEZ in 2016 after working as a producer for WTTW-Channel 11’s “Chicago Tonight” and a reporter for the Sun-Times and Chicago News Cooperative. Continue reading →