Alan Krashesky and Cheryl Burton (Photo: ABC 7 Chicago)
Robservations on the media beat:
With one day left in the February sweep, ABC-owned WLS-Channel 7 is poised to claim another across-the-board win at 4, 5, 6 and 10 p.m. in household ratings and in the key demographic of viewers between 25 and 54. It's worth noting ABC 7's substantial margin of victory in the face of competition from the Winter Olympics and Super Bowl LVI on NBC-owned WMAQ-Channel 5. Ratings analysts said it was the first time in memory the Winter Games bestowed no discernible "Olympic halo" on a station's news ratings. At 10 p.m. Monday through Friday, according to preliminary Nielsen numbers, ABC 7 had 229,119 households, followed by NBC 5 with 128,445 households, Nexstar Media WGN-Channel 9 with 83,316 households, CBS-owned WBBM-Channel 2 with 79,844 households, Univision WGBO-Channel 66 with 62,487 households and Telemundo WSNS-Channel 44 with 31,243 households. At 9 p.m. weeknights WGN had 138,860 households and Fox-owned WFLD-Channel 32 had 52,072 households. “I couldn’t be more proud of our entire team both on and off air for their daily commitment to Chicago news viewers,” John Idler, president and general manager of ABC 7, said in a statement.
Lesley Nicol
Chicago's Museum of Broadcast Communications, 360 North State Street, will present "An Evening with Lesley Nicol" Monday, starting at 5:30 p.m. The actress who plays Beryl Patmore in "Downton Abbey" will be in Chicago for the premiere of her musical autobiography, "How the Hell Did I Get Here?," at the Greenhouse Theater Center, 2257 North Lincoln Avenue. At the museum event, Nicol will be interviewed by CBS 2 reporter Vince Gerasole. (Here is the link to register.) All proceeds benefit the museum.
Nick Blumberg
Nick Blumberg, who joined WTTW-Channel 11 as a producer in 2014, has been promoted to on-air/digital reporter at the Window to the World Communications public television station. In his new role he'll cover enterprise, investigative and general assignment news and feature stories and report on the region’s diverse communities and neighborhoods for "Chicago Tonight." “Working at WTTW News has given me the opportunity to tell the kinds of stories about my hometown that you won’t find anywhere else,” Blumberg said in a statement. “I’m excited to build on that work, and I can’t wait to contribute further to the great reporting coming from our newsroom.”
Eric Ostrowski
Eric Ostrowski, producer of Chris Bleck and Adam Abdalla's program and podcast for WMVP 1000-AM, has been promoted to executive producer of the White Sox Radio Network at the Good Karma Brands ESPN sports/talk station. He succeeds Ryan Maguire, who moved to director of content at Good Karma Brands stations in Milwaukee. “This is a pinch me moment," Ostrowski said in a statement. "Getting the opportunity to spearhead an incredible broadcast team for a team and an organization that has given my family lifelong memories is inspiring and thrilling.” Ostrowski, who hails from Crystal Lake, joined ESPN 1000 as a producer and board operator in 2014.
WHCM 88.3FM
WHCM 88.3-FM, the student radio station at William Rainey Harper College in Palatine, just picked up two first-place honors in the 2022 Festival of Media Arts Awards presented by the Broadcast Education Association. Mary Renner, 2021 general manager of Harper Radio, won in the non-narrative video category for her video "Harper Radio — Get Involved." And Koryn Koch won in the non-narrative audio category for her entry "Hidden Harper." Awards will be presented April 25 in Las Vegas.
Tuesday’s comment of the day: Jim Vail: Cheryl's a winner alright. Just ask Mark.