Chicago Tribune

Look for the Chicago Tribune to expand its commentary and opinion section in print and across online and mobile platforms, starting next week.

Tribune editor Gerry Kern announced Thursday the addition of two pages a week to the newspaper’s Perspective section, bringing to four the number of commentary and opinion pages each weekday and five on Sundays. Additional content will be featured on chicagotribune.com/opinion and on the Tribune’s mobile apps. Continue reading →

Mike Greenberg and Mike Golic

Coinciding with the first NFL draft in Chicago since 1964, Mike Golic and Mike Greenberg will broadcast their ESPN Radio morning show here April 30 and May 1.

They’ll originate their show both days from Harry Caray’s 7th Inning Stretch and the Chicago Sports Museum at Water Tower Place. Doors will open at 4 a.m. for fans to watch the show and gain free access to the museum during both broadcasts. Continue reading →

Larry Yellen and Natalie Bomke

Minutes before air time last Saturday, WFLD-Channel 32 canceled its late newscast because of a glitch in an automated operating system, according to multiple sources at the Fox-owned station.

Weekend news anchors Larry Yellen and Natalie Bomke were on the set and ready to go live when the station abruptly aborted the newscast and shifted to entertainment programming. Viewers were given no explanation for the switch. Continue reading →

Amber "Alabama" Cole

After only three months on the air, iHeartMedia’s upstart country music station has overtaken CBS Radio’s 33-year country franchise in the latest Chicago radio ratings.

Nielsen Audio figures released Monday show iHeartMedia’s WEBG FM 95.5 beating CBS Radio’s WUSN FM 99.5 among listeners between 25 and 54, the group regarded as most desirable to advertisers. Continue reading →

Chicago magazine

Back by popular demand, restaurant listings have returned to the pages of Chicago magazine — but now they’re running only twice a year.

A top-to-bottom redesign in 2013 eliminated the longtime feature from the monthly print publication. While the full capsule reviews of nearly 200 city and suburban eateries continued to appear in the magazine’s tablet version and online, print readers were served only a few new reviews along with updates and additions each month. Continue reading →

Justin Kaufmann

Ready or not, Chicago, Justin Kaufmann is about to deliver “The Download.”

Starting this Thursday, the multitalented radio veteran will double as host and producer of an ambitious new show from 7 to 11 p.m. weeknights on Tribune Media news/talk WGN AM 720. Continue reading →

WLUP studio

An independent arbitrator has ruled against Cumulus Media over the company’s use of voice-tracking — the practice of recording a disc jockey’s words and playing them back on the air later — at classic rock WLUP FM 97.9 and alternative rock WKQX FM 101.1.

About a dozen current and former employees of The Loop and 101WKQX will be awarded back pay covering the period from last spring to the present, according to the arbitrator’s opinion issued April 2. Continue reading →

Jay Levine

Jay Levine, chief correspondent for CBS-owned WBBM-Channel 2 and a 41-year veteran of Chicago television news, will be honored for his work by the Chicago International Film Festival and Cinema/Chicago.

Levine will receive the Excellence in Investigative Journalism Award at the 51st Chicago International Film Festival Television Awards Ceremony April 22 at the Hyatt Chicago Magnificent Mile, 633 North St. Clair Street.

“Jay has long held an important place in Chicago’s broadcasting community, breaking stories that have shaped the lives of every Chicagoan,” Michael Kutza, festival founder and artistic director, said in a statement Wednesday. Continue reading →

Mason Schreader and Zach “Remy” Hoesly

If we’re to believe the ratings, nearly one in four Chicago radio listeners wakes up every morning to Felicia Middlebrooks and Pat Cassidy on WBBM Newsradio, Eric Ferguson and Kathy Hart on The Mix, or Steve Harvey on V103.

Those three shows deliver a combined 23.5 percent share of all morning-drive listeners, totaling a cumulative weekly audience of 2,095,700, according to the latest Nielsen Audio figures. That leaves all the other stations to divide up the rest. Continue reading →

Steve Farber

Steve Farber, a 20-year veteran of Tribune Media broadcasting units and former acting general manager of WGN-Channel 9, has been hired as senior vice president of operations at Weigel Broadcasting, overseeing WCIU-Channel 26 and the Chicago-based company’s digital network operations.

Farber, who most recently was senior vice president of operations for Tribune Broadcasting, succeeds Bob Ramsey, who announced in January that he was stepping down as executive vice president of local media. Ramsey will continue as a consultant with Weigel Broadcasting. Continue reading →