Kalee Dionne
Robservations on the media beat:
Paul Deanno
Say goodbye to Kalee Dionne. After three years as meteorologist at NBC-owned WMAQ-Channel 5 she's heading to Dallas as a Monday-through-Friday weather forecaster at ABC affiliate WFAA. "We’ll miss her spunk, her humor and her passion for the science of meteorology," weekend news anchor Michelle Relerford wrote on Facebook. Dionne and her husband, Jonathan Pair, recently adopted their first child. A native of Herscher, Illinois, and graduate of Southern Illinois University, Dionne joined NBC 5 from NBC affiliate KSHB in Kansas City. New to the NBC 5 weather front is Paul Deanno, who signed on this week at 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. weekdays. The Syracuse University graduate previously worked at KOMO, the ABC affiliate in Seattle; WTVJ, the NBC-owned station in Miami; and KPIX, the CBS-owned station in San Francisco.
Val Warner
"Stand Against Domestic Violence," a special edition of "Windy City Live," airs today on ABC-owned WLS-Channel 7. Among survivors who tell their stories is co-host Val Warner, who speaks publicly for the first time about her ordeal. “This show is deeply personal to me," Warner says. "I have a lot of stories, but I don’t like to talk about them. I know the pain. I can relate. I lived it. Maybe not to the degree of some victims, but I know how it starts. Growing up, I witnessed it — domestic violence in my family. So today, as hard as this is, I’m speaking my truth. I am a victim of domestic violence. I am also a survivor.” "Windy City Live" airs at 1 p.m. and repeats at 12:05 a.m.
Disney Plus
Is Walt Disney Co. going too far to promote its Disney Plus streaming service? In advance of its November 12 debut, the media giant has launched “a synergy campaign of a magnitude that is unprecedented in the history of the Walt Disney Company,” according to Ricky Strauss, president for content and marketing at Disney Plus. So it wasn't surprising — but it was disappointing — to see news anchor Alan Krashesky read a commercial for Disney Plus during ABC 7's 10 p.m. newscast Monday. Simply because he added a disclaimer at the end about the station's parent company doesn't make it right.
Court TV
Court TV is back in Chicago. After an 11-year hiatus, the crime and legal-affairs network returned Monday to 19 cities, including here on Nexstar Media WGN Digital Channel 9.3, Comcast Channel 354 and RCN Channel 26. On the docket will be gavel-to-gavel coverage of the Harvey Weinstein criminal trial, scheduled to start in January. A two-part primetime special on the case will air on “Closing Arguments with Vinnie Politan” at 7 p.m. November 4 and 5. To accommodate the addition of Court TV, This TV, the movie network from Nexstar and MGM Domestic Television Distribution, has moved from WGN Channel 9.3 to WRJK Channel 22-3.
Terry Savage
November 12 marks the release of The Savage Truth on Money, the third edition of the personal finance guide by Chicago media's premier money expert, Terry Savage. The newly updated version includes online tools to help manage money, invest and plan for retirement. "My goal is to give you the knowledge and confidence to make informed decisions so you can stop worrying about money and enjoy your life," she said in a statement. In 2018 Savage was inducted in the Silver Circle of the Chicago/Midwest chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.
Marion Brooks
Marion Brooks, news anchor at NBC 5, delivered a eulogy for news executive Chris Myers in Los Angeles Friday. Myers, who was Los Angeles deputy bureau chief for CBS News, died October 17 at 54. He previously worked as a producer at ABC 7, executive producer at NBC 5, and assistant news director at Fox-owned WFLD-Channel 32. Speakers also included CBS News president Susan Zirinsky and former Chicago news anchor Pat Harvey. Among other Chicagoans at the service were Frank Whittaker, Larry Wert, Phyllis Schwartz, Vickie Burns, Steve Lange, Jim Lichtenstein and Diann Burns.
Monday’s comment of the day: Audi Tea: Just how miserable and pitiful is your life when your only source of joy is waking up every day and writing nasty comments about high-achieving people in the comments section of a column?! Some of the people who come to this page are super pathetic. #dobetter