Date Archives → 2020

Robservations: Tom Skilling delivers sunny post-op forecast

Tom Skilling (Photo: Bill Snyder)

Robservations on the media beat:

Legendary meteorologist Tom Skilling came through gastric bypass surgery Wednesday with a sunny outlook and a smile. He released a photo of himself on social media with a message from Bill Snyder, weather producer for Nexstar Media Group WGN-Channel 9: “Happy to report that our very own Tom Skilling is doing well, and resting following successful gastric bypass surgery earlier today. The doctor had to repair a small hernia that he found when they went in, leading to a longer than normal procedure. But Tom is resting and in good spirits!” Skilling, 68, who underwent the operation to lose weight, told WGN: “Thank you for all the wishes. It got me through this procedure. It’s the first step but what a step! I can’t wait to tell you about it as the process continues.” Continue reading →

Robservations: Ratings deliver 'gratifying' victory to Univision Chicago’s WOJO

Aileen Ocana (Photo: Univision Chicago)

Robservations on the media beat:

Doug Levy

A closer look at the latest Nielsen Audio survey shows Univision Chicago’s flagship WOJO 105.1-FM with a big win in two key adult demographics. The regional Mexican music station known as “La Que Buena 105.1” finished first in both 25-to-54 and 18-to-49 demos. (Nielsen guidelines prohibit publishing specific demographic shares.) "WOJO enjoys a very long heritage of leadership in the Spanish-language space, but it is especially gratifying when the station is at the very top of the entire marketplace among listeners in the key demographics most valued by advertisers," said Doug Levy, president and general manager of Univision Chicago. "The current ratings performance is proof positive that Chicago’s Hispanic consumer segment is not only large but also incredibly engaged with their favorite radio station — WOJO. I’m very proud of our team of programmers and personalities who make this station one of the very best in the industry." Continue reading →

Four ABC 7 employees sidelined by coronavirus concerns

ABC 7 Chicago

Four employees of WLS-Channel 7 were kept away from work Tuesday out of concern they may have been exposed to the coronavirus, officials of the ABC-owned station confirmed.

The action was taken “out of an abundance of caution,” the station said, after an ABC 7 reporter and photographer interviewed a food service worker Monday at Northwest Community Hospital in Arlington Heights where a coronavirus patient was being treated. Continue reading →

Robservations: A new Score House opens for fun and games

The Score House II

Robservations on the media beat:

The Score House

The Score House is back. In a reprise of last year's radio reality show in the desert, Entercom sports/talk WSCR 670-AM is renting another sprawling fun house to accommodate its crew covering Cubs and White Sox spring training in Arizona. "Last year was such a huge success from an over-the-air and digital content perspective we plan to take this year to the next level," said operations director Mitch Rosen, promising "more digital content (via radio.com) and some fun surprises along the way." Living with Rosen in the Scottsdale pad are Score hosts Dan Bernstein, Connor McKnight, Danny Parkins, Dan McNeil and Matt Spiegel, producers Jay Zawaski and Nick Shepkowski, digital content producers Brian Gertsch and Marty Rosenbaum, and social media content provider Shane Riordan. Can they all survive until next week under one roof? Stay tuned. Continue reading →

Chicago News Guild ratifies new three-year contract with Sun-Times

Chicago Sun-Times (March 2, 2020)

The union representing editorial employees at the Chicago Sun-Times has approved a three-year contract extension that includes substantial raises and efforts to improve racial and gender diversity in the newsroom.

The new agreement, announced today, is retroactive to September when the previous contract expired. Members of the Sun-Times unit of the Chicago News Guild ratified the deal unanimously last week. Continue reading →

Before he became 'Mayor Pete,' Buttigieg worked as NBC 5 investigative intern

Pete Buttigieg

For six weeks during the summer of 2002, a 20-year-old college student named Peter Buttigieg toiled in the background as an intern at WMAQ-Channel 5, the NBC-owned station in Chicago.

Few could have imagined then that he would become mayor of his hometown of South Bend, Indiana, or that 18 years later he would be on the March 17 Illinois Democratic primary ballot as a candidate for president of the United States. Continue reading →

Bruce Dold out as Chicago Tribune publisher, editor-in-chief

Bruce Dold (Photo: Bill Healy)

In a top-level shakeup by the new corporate overlords of Tribune Publishing, Bruce Dold is out as publisher and editor-in-chief of the Chicago Tribune, and Peter Kendall is out as managing editor.

Succeeding Dold in the editor-in-chief role is Colin McMahon, who will continue in his current position as chief content officer for Tribune Publishing. Continue reading →

Robservations: Lee Phillip Bell, 'First Lady of Chicago TV,' recalled as 'gracious and kind'

Lee Phillip Bell (1955 photo)

Robservations on the media beat:

Lee Phillip Bell, the Chicago talk show pioneer who co-created two long-running CBS soap operas, is being remembered as the “First Lady of Chicago Television.” Bell died Tuesday in Los Angeles at 91. From 1952 to 1986 she hosted "The Lee Phillip Show" and “Noonbreak” on CBS-owned WBBM-Channel 2. Together with her late husband, William J. Bell, she created "The Young and the Restless" in 1973 and "The Bold and the Beautiful" in 1987, moving Bell-Phillip Television Productions to L.A. with their children, William James Bell, Bradley Phillip Bell and Lauralee Bell Martin. Born Loreley June Phillip in 1928 in Chicago, she graduated from Riverside-Brookfield High School and Northwestern University while working in her family's floral shop. An opportunity to demonstrate flower arrangement led to full-time employment at CBS 2 and her first show, “Mornin’ Miss Lee.” “Our mother was a loving and supportive wife, mother and grandmother,” the family said in a statement. “Gracious and kind, she enriched the lives of all who knew her. We will miss her tremendously.” Continue reading →