Larry Mowry

Robservations on the media beat:

No one is supposed to know it yet, but WLS-Channel 7 is about to add a new face to its weather front. Larry Mowry, chief meteorologist at CBS-owned KTVT in Dallas, is expected to join the ABC-owned station here next month. It’s a homecoming for Mowry, who worked weekends at ABC 7 in 2004 and freelanced at CLTV in 2003. The addition comes as 32-year veteran Jerry Taft prepares to turn over his 10 p.m. weekday weather duties to newcomer Cheryl Scott. Also in the station's meteorology mix are Tracy Butler, Phil Schwarz and Troy Christensen. No comment from ABC 7. Continue reading →

Shia Kapos

Shia Kapos, one of Chicago’s premier journalists on the celebrity beat, is out after 10 years as senior reporter and columnist for Crain’s Chicago Business.

Michael Arndt, editor of Crain’s Chicago Business, confirmed that Friday was her last day. Continue reading →

WYCC

Last fall, Mayor Rahm Emanuel flatly rejected a suggestion I made here to sell the license of WYCC-Channel 20 in a government-sponsored auction, which could result in a potential windfall for the financially strapped City Colleges of Chicago.

“Chicago should sell the station because the city is in desperate financial straits, and the marketplace is offering an extraordinary premium for Channel 20's broadcast bandwidth,” the Chicago Tribune editorial board wrote in support of my idea. “There are other ways to teach college kids the media business besides operating a little-watched TV station via the 20th century technology of a broadcast transmitter and rabbit ears.” Continue reading →

Joyce Winnecke

Changes that swept through Tribune Publishing Wednesday included the leadership of Tribune Content Agency, the company’s syndication and licensing unit, as well as Chicago Tribune Suburban Media.

Veteran Chicago journalist and prominent media executive Joyce Winnecke departed as president of Tribune Content Agency. She was named to the post in 2014 after six years as associate editor of the Chicago Tribune. Continue reading →

Norm Winer

Chicago radio legend Norm Winer, who’s been the heart and soul of WXRT FM 93.1 for 37 years, resigned Wednesday — just weeks after he lost his position as program director of the CBS Radio adult album alternative station.

“I have decided to leave WXRT and CBS Radio,” Winer wrote to his staff. “I have been exceptionally fortunate to have been here, surrounded by people who mean so much to me.” Continue reading →

Chicago Sun-Times

Long plagued with a clumsy, useless and altogether user-unfriendly website, the Sun-Times unveiled a new online presence Wednesday at chicago.suntimes.com.

The new site is cleaner, neater and easy to navigate. Continue reading →

Bruce Dold

Two weeks after he was named editor of the Chicago Tribune, Bruce Dold has been promoted again — to the newly combined role of publisher and editor-in-chief.

The move was part of a sweeping reorganization of Tribune Publishing announced Wednesday by Michael Ferro, who took control of the Chicago-based company as leading investor and board chairman February 4. Ferro also announced he was giving up his financial stake in the Chicago Sun-Times to "avoid perceived conflicts of interest." Continue reading →

Michael Ferro

If you’re Michael Ferro, $44.4 million will buy you more than the board chairmanship of Tribune Publishing, parent company of the Chicago Tribune and the Los Angeles Times.

It’ll also get you tickets to the Academy Awards. Continue reading →

Lisa Chavarria and Joanie Lum

Elizabeth Matthews

Robservations on the media beat:

The station that told its reporters they couldn't wear hats in winter now has them wearing bright red jackets branded with the company's logo. Fox-owned WFLD-Channel 32 ordered the emblazoned coats and headgear for employees after the station was ridiculed here for telling staffers they had to go hatless during live shots. (Fox 32 boss Dennis Welsh later disavowed the edict, calling it “5,000 percent not a station policy.”) One insider called the new red regalia “a typical overreaction by management.” Continue reading →

Bob Sirott and Marianne Murciano

The husband-and-wife team of Bob Sirott and Marianne Murciano will host Illinois primary election night coverage March 15 on WLS AM 890, the Cumulus Media news/talk station.

Starting at 6 p.m. and airing until at least 10 p.m., Sirott and Murciano will host a roundtable of newsmakers, analysts and journalists, including veteran City Hall reporter Bill Cameron. Continue reading →