Val Warner and Spike Lee

Robservations on the media beat:

Jennifer Hudson and John Cusack aren’t the only Chicagoans you’ll recognize in “Chi-Raq.” Val Warner, co-host of WLS-Channel 7’s “Windy City Live,” has a cameo role in director Spike Lee’s upcoming film spotlighting gang violence in Chicago. In a brief scene, she plays a TV news reporter who interviews Angela Bassett. How were Warner’s acting chops? “She was great,” Lee said in an on-air visit to the ABC 7 talk show last week. “She played herself.” After premiering November 22 at the Chicago Theatre, “Chi-Raq” opens December 4. Continue reading →

Chicago Tribune

More than three dozen Chicago Tribune editorial employees were approved for buyouts this week under Tribune Publishing’s voluntary separation program, sources said Friday.

The names of the employees were not released, but the company acknowledged they were part of a 7 percent reduction among an eligible 7,000 employees across its media portfolio. Continue reading →

Edison the Reindeer

Merry Christmas, Chicago. It’s that time again.

At 4:35 p.m. Thursday, WLIT FM 93.9 will switch to around-the-clock holiday music programming through December 26 for the 15th consecutive year. Edison the Reindeer returns as the official mascot of “Chicago’s Christmas Station.” Continue reading →

Jon Hansen

Jon Hansen, the audio guru of DNAinfo.com Chicago, is leaving to join Weigel Broadcasting as social media coordinator and on-air correspondent for “You & Me,” WCIU-Channel 26’s weekday morning talk show.

Hansen’s appointment to the newly created position, effective December 1, was announced Wednesday by Rob Morhaim, senior executive producer of “You & Me.” Continue reading →

Milt Rosenberg

Esteemed radio talk show host Milt Rosenberg will be leaving WCGO AM 1590 at the end of November, officials of the Kovas Communications news/talk station have confirmed.

But the 90-year-old Chicago broadcast legend is expected to continue podcasting while seeking several new radio outlets, according to his producer. Continue reading →

Cat Thomas

Cat Thomas, a veteran radio programmer who has overseen station groups in Texas and Florida, has been named program director of WSHE FM 100.3, the Hubbard Radio adult contemporary station.

“Cat has a stellar reputation for leading winning brands, and we are thrilled to welcome him to Chicago’s fastest growing radio station — SHE,” John Gallagher, vice president and market manager of Hubbard Radio Chicago, said in announcing the appointment Wednesday. Continue reading →

Wrigley Field

It’s official: Chicago Cubs baseball broadcasts will air on WSCR AM 670 next year, according to a joint announcement Wednesday by the team and CBS Radio.

Confirming a report here last month, the Cubs will shift to the sports/talk station from all-news WBBM AM 780, where they aired for the past season. CBS Radio had a one-time option to move the team to The Score, under terms of its seven-year rights agreement. Continue reading →

Justin Kaufmann

Robservations on the media beat:

Without fanfare, Justin Kaufmann returned Monday as host of “The Download,” his weekday evening show on WGN AM 720. He’d been missing from the Tribune Media news/talk station since October 6 while dealing with “a private and personal matter.” He later apologized to family and friends for what he called a “lapse in judgment” in his personal life. "I'm glad to be back,” Kaufmann said Monday. “‘The Download’ is a special show and we're proud of all the work we put in every day. I look forward to helping out the team produce some more great content for our audience." The show airs from 7 to 11 p.m. Monday through Friday. Continue reading →

Newsweb Radio

Fred Eychaner’s Newsweb Radio is voluntarily giving back the license of one of its eight Chicago area radio stations to the Federal Communications Commission.

WCFJ AM 1470, a time-brokered ethnic and foreign-language station licensed to south suburban Chicago Heights, ceased broadcasting Saturday, according to Charley Gross, president of Newsweb Radio. Continue reading →

P.J. Hoff

Three legendary Chicago personalities — weatherman P.J. Hoff, commentator Len O’Connor and sportscaster Tim Weigel — will be honored posthumously with induction in the Silver Circle of the Chicago Television Academy.

Among six living broadcasting veterans to be inducted this spring by the Chicago/Midwest chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences will be husband and wife Jay Levine, chief correspondent at CBS 2, and Mary Ann Childers, former news anchor at CBS 2 and ABC 7. Continue reading →