Bob Sirott and John Records Landecker

Robservations on the media beat:

When Radio Hall of Famer John Records Landecker fills in next week for morning host Bob Sirott on WGN 720-AM, there may be a lot riding on it for both Landecker and the Nexstar Media Group news/talk station. If all goes well, insiders said, Landecker could be in line to host Monday through Friday evenings and serve as Sirott’s regular substitute in mornings, starting this fall. The two Chicago radio legends have been friends since they worked together at WLS 890-AM during its Top 40 heyday in the 1970s. “Listeners are going to discover that John’s middle name truly is ‘talk,’” Sirott joked. Meanwhile, one familiar voice we won’t be hearing on WGN is Garry Meier. Management sources confirmed there were talks with Meier about replacing afternoon host Roe Conn (whose contract is up at year’s end). But serious negotiations never got off the ground, and WGN bosses quietly dropped the idea. Continue reading →

Fran Spielman

It takes more than a nasty fall and a fractured pelvis to slow down Chicago's hardest-working City Hall reporter.

Fran Spielman, the Chicago Journalism Hall of Famer who's been covering City Hall for the Sun-Times for more than 35 years, is on the mend from a recent injury that would have laid up most people for weeks or longer. Continue reading →

NBC Tower

On a day that Comcast-owned NBCUniversal reportedly cut up to 10 percent of its workforce nationwide, layoffs hit all three NBC broadcast properties in Chicago.

The company would not confirm the number of employees affected, but sources said seven jobs were cut today at NBC-owned WMAQ-Channel 5 and Telemundo WSNS-Channel 44, mostly in technical areas. More than a dozen were believed to have been fired from numerous departments at NBC Sports Chicago, which is in a separate division of the company. Continue reading →

WGN Radio

Robservations on the media beat:

Rich "Svengoolie" Koz

With Nexstar Media Group's "News Nation" primetime newscast set to debut September 1 on WGN America, anchors and correspondents from competing networks may no longer be welcome as guests on WGN 720-AM, the company's news/talk station. Sean Compton, the Nexstar executive vice president who oversees WGN, told staffers in a memo Monday: "Now, with News Nation launching, that will be our go-to for national news talent needs. No more CNN or Fox News personalities — let’s promote and encourage our own product." Also declared persona non grata on WGN Radio: Svengoolie, the iconic horror-movie host played for more than 40 years by Rich Koz. "As part of Nexstar Media, it’s frustrating to see our own talent promoting and encouraging competitive podcasts and media," Compton wrote. "This past weekend we had a talent promoting Svengoolie who works at Me-TV. Remember that we own Antenna TV, and Me-TV is a primary competitor." Continue reading →

Pat Cassidy

Pat Cassidy, who's been a warm and welcome fixture of morning drive radio in Chicago for more than 45 years, is now No. 1 all by himself.

In the first full ratings period since Felicia Middlebrooks retired as his co-anchor, Cassidy retained the top spot (and the same audience share as last month) as solo morning anchor at Entercom all-news WBBM 780-AM/WCFS 105.9-FM. Continue reading →

Brandis Friedman

One of the few bright spots in an otherwise bleak year for Chicago media has been watching Brandis Friedman's star continue to rise on "Chicago Tonight," the flagship news program of WTTW-Channel 11.

Friedman, who's been a correspondent for the Window to the World Communications station since 2013, has emerged in recent months as the face of public television in Chicago.

While continuing as co-anchor (with Paris Schutz) of "Chicago Tonight" at 7 p.m. weeknights, Friedman is about to expand her role as the station launches two new weekend editions of the show. Continue reading →

John Kass

The demotion of John Kass as "lead columnist" at the Chicago Tribune amid protests over his commentary about billionaire George Soros led the top 10 most-read stories here in July.

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

John Kass

Robservations on the media beat:

Chicago Tribune columnist John Kass responded forcefully to critics — including members of the Chicago Tribune Guild — who accused him of invoking an anti-Semitic conspiracy theory in a column about billionaire George Soros. Kass broke his silence Wednesday with a column headlined: "What happened to an America where you could freely speak your mind?" "I will not apologize for writing about Soros. I will not bow to those who’ve wrongly defamed me. I will continue writing my column. The left doesn’t like my politics. I get that. I don’t like theirs much, either," he wrote. "I will not soil my name by groveling to anyone in this or any other newsroom. The larger question is not about me, or the political left that hopes to silence people like me, but about America and its young. Those of us targeted by cancel culture are not only victims. We are examples, as French revolutionaries once said, in order to encourage the others." Wednesday also marked the first time that his column did not appear on Page 2. Losing his status as the paper's "lead columnist" after 23 years, Kass was moved farther back along with other columnists to an op-ed page labeled "Tribune Voices." In multiple interviews, Tribune editor-in-chief Colin McMahon declined to comment on the substance of Kass's column or the letter from the Chicago Tribune Guild. He emphasized that the decision to move Kass and other columnists had been in the works for several months. Continue reading →

Vince Gerasole (Photo: Jeff Langan)

After two decades as WBBM-Channel 2’s "smart, eloquent and creative storyteller," Vince Gerasole is leaving the TV news business for a higher calling.

The CBS-owned station stalwart will sign off in mid-August to join the Archdiocese of Chicago as director of multimedia content, according to an announcement Wednesday by Cardinal Blase J. Cupich, archbishop of Chicago. Continue reading →

Michelle Relerford

Michelle Relerford, who's won high marks as weekend news anchor at WMAQ-Channel 5, is moving up to join Zoraida Sambolin on “NBC 5 News Today,” the NBC-owned station's Monday through Friday morning newscast.

Starting August 17, Relerford will anchor solo from 4 to 5 a.m. weekdays and report from the “news update desk” from 5 to 7 a.m. while Sambolin anchors. Traffic reporter Kye Martin and meteorologists Andy Avalos and Alicia Roman continue in their roles. Continue reading →