Marion Brooks

Robservations on the media beat:

Monday marks the start of a 4 p.m. weekday newscast on NBC-owned WMAQ-Channel 5, increasing NBC 5’s output to 41 hours of local news each week. Marion Brooks will anchor the additional half-hour, with co-anchor duties shared by Rob Stafford and Dick Johnson (similar to the lineup for the 4:30 p.m. newscast). “Our new 4 p.m. newscast will expand our local news commitment and offer our viewers even more of what they’re looking for,” David Doebler, president and general manager of NBC 5, said in a statement. The move, announced last April, puts NBC 5 on equal footing with ABC-owned WLS-Channel 7, which long has started its afternoon news block at 4 p.m., and Tribune Media WGN-Channel 9, which added a 4 p.m. newscast in September 2014. Continue reading →

Tom Skilling

Robservations on the media beat:

Tom Skilling, Chicago’s superstar meteorologist, says he’s “doing swell” after he suffered an attack of vertigo on the air Monday night. “I was in the middle of the weather pictures and everything started spinning,” he told fans in a Facebook video posted from home Tuesday. Skilling, 64, is expected back August 11 at Tribune Media WGN-Channel 9, where he’s been king of weather since 1978. “It’s not fun,” Skilling said of the spell, “but you’re over it in a couple of minutes. And they tell me the best thing to do is just rest after it. So that’s what I’m doing. But I wanted to let you know it wasn’t anything horrible horrible.” Continue reading →

Ramblin' Ray Stevens

CBS Radio blew up the morning show on country WUSN FM 99.5 Wednesday after 26-year veteran Ramblin’ Ray Stevens rambled over to Cumulus Media news/talk WLS AM 890.

Lisa Dent, who has co-hosted mornings with Stevens on US 99.5 since 2006, was forced out. Her last day on the air turned out to be Friday — before she left for vacation. Continue reading →

Big John Howell and Ramblin' Ray Stevens (2006 photo)

Ramblin’ Ray Stevens, a 26-year veteran of CBS Radio country WUSN FM 99.5, has been hired to co-host mornings with Big John Howell at Cumulus Media news/talk WLS AM 890, starting Monday.

It marks a reunion for the duo after a decade apart. Stevens co-hosted mornings with Howell at US 99.5 from 2002 to 2006. He most recently was teamed with Lisa Dent. Continue reading →

Evan Garcia and Paris Schutz

Robservations on the media beat:

Reprising their roles from the GOP bash in Cleveland, WTTW-Channel 11 reporter Paris Schutz and digital producer Evan Garcia drove their branded Subaru (“blasting The Grateful Dead”) to Philadelphia this week to cover the Democratic National Convention for “Chicago Tonight.” Embedded with the Illinois delegation, they’ve been posting stories online, uploading Facebook videos and live tweeting updates throughout the week. Each night Schutz wraps up the day’s action from the convention floor following “PBS NewsHour”/NPR coverage on a special edition of “Chicago Tonight” with Phil Ponce. Continue reading →

Mike Berman

No one at WMAQ-Channel 5 is saying when — if ever — we’ll see the return of veteran sports anchor Mike Adamle, who’s been on personal leave since mid-March.

But on Monday, the NBC-owned station announced the hiring of a new sports reporter and fill-in anchor. Continue reading →

Amy Dickinson (Photo: Dede Hatch)

Robservations on the media beat:

Amy Dickinson, whose “Ask Amy” advice column has been on hiatus from the Chicago Tribune since July 14, said Sunday she’ll be back in the paper “some time this week.” She declined to discuss the reason for her absence, which had her legion of fans buzzing. “The only upside to hiatus is that it is nice to be missed,” she said. “I'm hearing from lots of readers, too.” Dickinson succeeded the late Eppie Lederer (aka Ann Landers) at the Tribune in 2003. Her column is widely syndicated across the country. Dickinson's latest book, a followup to the bestselling memoir The Mighty Queens of Freeville: A Mother, A Daughter and the People Who Raised Them, will be published in March by Hachette Book Group. Continue reading →

Michael Ferro (Photo: Christopher Michel)

Robservations on the media beat:

Michael Ferro, the Chicago media mogul who turned Tribune Publishing into tronc, celebrated his 50th birthday Thursday night with 200 of his closest friends. (No, I wasn’t there.) For the event he reserved the dining room and outdoor patio at Chicago Cut, the LaSalle Street steakhouse in which Ferro is an investor. Crain’s Chicago Business reported the invitation came in a fancy black box. “Inside the box was another hinged black box with a glass top delivering an early party favor — a shiny gold deck of cards emblazoned with a $100 bill, two rows of gold coins and five gold dice (some of which apparently are covered in real gold foil),” Crains noted. Don’t worry if you haven’t bought Ferro a present yet. His actual birthday isn’t until Sunday. Continue reading →

Cheryl Scott and Jerry Taft

Meteorologist Cheryl Scott will move up to the 10 p.m. Monday-through-Friday newscast on WLS-Channel 7, the ABC-owned station announced Wednesday.

Scott, 31, who joined ABC 7 in 2014 after three years as weekend weather forecaster at NBC-owned WMAQ-Channel 5, will add the 10 p.m. newscast to her duties, starting August 1. She also will appear on ABC 7's 4 and 5 p.m. newscasts. Continue reading →

The Media Guides: Chris Dufresne, Herb Gould and Mark Blaudschun

Robservations on the media beat:

Herb Gould

Herb Gould, who spent nearly four decades as a sportswriter for the Sun-Times, has teamed up with counterparts from two other cities to launch a subscription website devoted to covering college football in all its glory. Calling themselves The Media Guides, Chris Dufresne, formerly of the Los Angeles Times, Mark Blaudschun, formerly of the Boston Globe, and Gould just unveiled TMGcollegesports.com. The founders aim to provide “well-written and well-informed analysis that is increasingly in short supply at newspapers” along with news and insight on hot topics in the college football world. It’s available for $19.95 for the full season (with an early-bird rate of $14.95). “We’re going to have fun with this,” said Gould, who still contributes to the Sun-Times. “We remember when sports was less of a business and more of a game — and as aging baby boomers, we’re going to do everything we can to keep it that way.” Continue reading →