Chicago Tribune

Robservations on the media beat:

The field of political newsletters in Chicago keeps getting more crowded. Latest to enter the race for readers is the Chicago Tribune. Morning Spin, the Tribune’s political briefing posted online every weekday, is now available as an email newsletter. Monday also marks the official launch of Crain’s On Politics, a Monday-through-Friday political newsletter from Crain’s Chicago Business. Other notable players include Politico Illinois Playbook from politico.com, Daily Tip Off from RebootIllinois.com, and the subscription newsletters Aldertrack.com and CapitolFax.com. Think this might be an election year? Continue reading →

Matt Bubala

Matt Bubala, weekend host and former producer at WGN AM 720, has been hired as broadcast editor of DNAinfo.com Chicago, the hyperlocal news operation covering Chicago’s neighborhoods.

Starting next week, Bubala will head the site’s broadcast division, with duties including embedding interviews, creating podcasts and delivering neighborhood news segments on WGN, the Tribune Media news/talk station. Continue reading →

Michael Phillips

Throughout the month of February, Chicago’s classical music station will be going to the movies — musically speaking — with Chicago Tribune film critic Michael Phillips.

Leading up to the 88th annual Academy Awards on February 28, WFMT FM 98.7 will air a daily feature on great music from the movies, hosted by Phillips, who will share his favorite compositions written for films from the 1930s through the present. Continue reading →

Rob Cressman

Rob Cressman, an experienced classic rock radio programmer from Indianapolis, is pulling into The Drive.

Hubbard Radio Chicago announced Thursday that Cressman has been hired as program director of classic hits WDRV FM 97.1, effective immediately. Continue reading →

WGN Radio

Chicago Blackhawks hockey will continue to air on WGN AM 720 through the 2023-24 season, thanks to a five-year extension with the Tribune Media news/talk station.

John McDonough, president and CEO of the National Hockey League 2015 Stanley Cup champions, announced the new broadcast rights agreement Thursday on Steve Cochran’s morning show. WGN has been radio home of the Blackhawks since 2008. Continue reading →

Melody Mendez and Mark Strehl

With four days to go before the launch of WFLD-Channel 32’s Saturday and Sunday morning newscast, the Fox-owned station still has no idea what it’s doing. Which is typical.

No permanent anchors or reporters have been assigned to the new edition of “Good Day Chicago,” which will air from 7 to 9 a.m. Saturdays and Sundays, starting this weekend. Continue reading →

Jim Conway

Over a Chicago radio and television career spanning four decades, Jim Conway was the first local broadcaster to announce the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on WBBM AM 780 and the first to anchor a half-hour news program on WGN-Channel 9.

But it was as the suave and charming host of several morning television talk shows that he gained his widest following and most enduring reputation. Continue reading →

The Athletic

Three former contributors to ESPN Chicago are founding writers for The Athletic, a new subscription website aimed at covering Chicago’s professional sports teams “with thought-provoking writing and enlightening statistics.”

Jon Greenberg, Sahadev Sharma and Scott Powers, all ESPN Chicago veterans, were announced Monday as the new site’s main writers. Greenberg, named as founding editor, will write on all sports and run editorial operations in Chicago. Sharma will cover baseball, and Powers will cover hockey and basketball. Continue reading →

Jack Brickhouse

Sunday marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of Jack Brickhouse, one of the most celebrated and beloved Chicago broadcasters of the 20th century.

Born January 24, 1916, in Peoria, Illinois, John Beasley Brickhouse joined WGN AM 720 in 1940 and spent the next four decades as the eternally optimistic voice of the Chicago Cubs. His “Hey! Hey!” home run call became the clarion of summer. Continue reading →

Chicago Public Media

Marv Nyren, former general manager of classic rock WLUP FM 97.9 and alternative rock WKQX FM 101.1, is shifting to the rarefied air of public radio.

The veteran broadcast executive has been hired as vice president of corporate sponsorships for Chicago Public Media, parent company of WBEZ FM 91.5. Starting February 1, he will run the station’s sales team. Continue reading →