Wrigley Field

Robservations on the media beat:

It took Josh Kosman, veteran business reporter for Rupert Murdoch’s New York Post, to break the news about the latest deal being cooked up between the Chicago Cubs and Sinclair Broadcasting. Already partners in the Marquee Sports Network, the Ricketts Family gold mine and Sinclair are now looking to cash in on cord-cutters by launching “a streaming service for customers without a cable or satellite-TV subscription,” according to Kosman, who reported the plan faces opposition from Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred. (Here is the link.) “We’re always exploring options,” Michael McCarthy, general manager of Marquee Sports Network, told Kosman. “There is nothing definite to announce.” Continue reading →

Peggy Kusinski and Dionne Miller

Robservations on the media beat:

Peggy Kusinski and Dionne Miller, two of the best sportscasters in town, are teaming up to co-host a new weekly show on WMVP 1000-AM, the Good Karma Brands ESPN sports/talk station. Starting this weekend they'll be heard on Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. It marks a return to the station after 19 years for Kusinski, who went on to a long run as sports anchor at NBC-owned WMAQ-Channel 5. Miller, who's sports anchor at ABC-owned WLS-Channel 7, co-hosted a weekly Chicago Bears pregame show with Jeff Meller last season on ESPN 1000 and has filled in as a weekday host over the past year. "We are really excited to have Peggy and Dionne on our team and know the fans will enjoy this duo," said Danny Zederman, director of content at ESPN 1000. "I think it's going to be great." Continue reading →

Rich "Svengoolie" Koz and Toony the Tuna

Hey, kids! Soon you can be the first on your block to own a Svengoolie action figure or a Toony the Tuna plush toy.

MeTV, the red-hot digital network owned by Chicago-based Weigel Broadcasting, has signed San Francisco-based Firefly Brand Entertainment as North American licensing agent for "Svengoolie," the long-running horror movie series hosted by Rich Koz, and “Toon In With Me,” the live-action morning cartoon show hosted by Bill Leff. Continue reading →

Steve Edwards

Robservations on the media beat:

Now that the Sun-Times has been acquired by the parent company of NPR news/talk WBEZ 91.5-FM and become a nonprofit subsidiary of Chicago Public Media, all eyes are on the search for new executive editors to lead the two newsrooms. The company has engaged Koya Partners, a Massachusetts-based executive recruiting firm, to conduct the search. Heading the effort is Steve Edwards, the former chief content officer of WBEZ who's now a managing director of Koya Partners. The Sun-Times has been without a permanent executive editor since Chris Fusco resigned in 2020. Since then Steve Warmbir has been serving as interim editor-in-chief. For WBEZ the position will be a new one, reporting to chief content officer Tracy Brown. Continue reading →

Les Grobstein

The death of longtime Chicago radio sportscaster Les Grobstein and a profile of veteran Chicago radio personality Eddie Volkman led the top 10 most-read stories here in January.

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

Chicago Public Media

Robservations on the media beat:

Michael Sacks

The parent company of public radio news/talk WBEZ 91.5-FM finalized its takeover of the Sun-Times Monday, marking the money-losing newspaper's conversion to a nonprofit subsidiary of Chicago Public Media. Although the newsrooms will continue to operate separately, the resulting combination is said to create one of the largest nonprofit news organizations in the country. The deal is being backed by $61 million in philanthropic support from various foundations and individuals. “I am proud to have played a part in securing the future of the Chicago Sun-Times and honoring its great legacy," said Michael Sacks, a principal investor in the paper who spearheaded the acquisition agreement. "Together we have created a model for sustaining local journalism which we know is vital.” Continue reading →

Better Government Association

An online community forum hosted by the Better Government Association Saturday was disrupted by a hacker who posted images of child pornography and expressions of hate speech before the event was shut down.

The topic of the forum was "Cabrini-Green: A History of Broken Promises,” billed as a panel discussion on “one of the biggest land grabs in Chicago history.” Cabrini-Green was a public housing project on Chicago’s Near North Side from 1942 to 2011.

Although the moderator and panelists did not see the offending images or hear the audio, those who were watching the program were subjected to three still shots of child pornography along with audio and video hate speech. The interruption lasted for four minutes before the transmission was shut down. Continue reading →

Charlie Meyerson

Robservations on the media beat:

Chicago Public Square

It's been five years since veteran Chicago journalist and digital news innovator Charlie Meyerson launched the free daily email news briefing Chicago Public Square, providing curated links to significant stories of the day. Since then it's become a must-read every weekday morning for thousands of subscribers. To celebrate the milestone, Meyerson has devised a 50-question, chronological, multiple-choice news quiz, drawing on his more than 1,200 editions of the newsletter. (Here is the link.) Chicago Public Square caps will go to the 10 highest scorers. “This has been a great and rewarding mission for someone who, like me, will always be a newscaster at heart," Meyerson said of his award-winning enterprise. "I’m tremendously grateful for all the readers who’ve given it their time, attention and financial support.” Continue reading →

Mick Lee, Edison the Reindeer, Melissa Forman, Robin Rock and Jim Gronemann

More than 2.5 million listeners in the Chicago area tuned to WLIT 93.9-FM in the final weeks of 2021 as the iHeartMedia adult contemporary station culminated its 21st consecutive year as "The Holiday Lite."

As expected, Lite FM swept the ratings by a huge margin, according to Nielsen Audio figures released Tuesday for the so-called holiday book, covering the period from December 9 to January 5. Around-the-clock Christmas music began airing November 3. Continue reading →

Dan Bindert (Photo: WDCB)

As a mainstay of public radio in the Chicago area for more than two decades, Dan Bindert has worked to keep the sounds of jazz in the air with the passion of a true fan.

Since 2013 he’s been station manager of WDCB 90.9-FM, the noncommercial public station licensed to the College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn. There he has expanded jazz programming dramatically and championed an array of outdoor jazz concerts, jazz and blues nightclub events and a jazz documentary film series. Continue reading →