Mike Nichols (1953)

In 1953, a 22-year-old announcer named Mike Nichols started “The Midnight Special,” a weekly program of folk music on WFMT FM 98.7, originating from the ballroom of the shabby Hotel Guyon in West Garfield Park.

Nichols went on to become half of a legendary comedy duo (with Elaine May), an Academy Award-winning director, and the husband of ABC News anchor Diane Sawyer. And “The Midnight Special” went on to become a broadcasting treasure. It’s still going strong, from 9 p.m. to midnight Saturdays on the Window to the World Communications classical station. Continue reading →

With completion Friday of its $2.7 billion acquisition of Local TV Holdings, Tribune Co. begins the new year as the largest independent broadcast group and content creator in the United States.

The Los Angeles Times, also owned by Tribune Co., called the move “an important first step in the company's evolution from a company dependent on dwindling revenue from its newspapers and into a formidable broadcast group that reaches an estimated 50 million U.S. homes.” The company plans to shift its newspaper unit, including the Chicago Tribune, to a separate company in 2014. Continue reading →

Jimmy deCastro

Top Chicago media stories of the year: Continue reading →

From a Pulitzer Prize-winning film critic whose life was more inspiring than any movie he reviewed to a Radio Hall of Fame disc jockey who redefined the medium for a generation — a photo gallery remembering 10 Chicago media luminaries who left us in 2013.

Click on the arrows to advance the photos:

Roger Ebert film critic

Hugh Hill political editor

Don Wade radio host

Jim Corno cable sports executive

Jim Edwards (aka Jake Hartford) radio host

Carla Leonardo disc jockey

Jim Nayder radio host

Jerry G. Bishop TV/radio host

Dillon Smith television executive

Larry Lujack disc jockey

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Also gone but not forgotten on the Chicago media beat:

Continue reading →

Fahey Flynn

Yes, Virginia, there is a Fahey Flynn.

On Christmas Eve of 1972, the avuncular anchorman at the peak of his popularity on WLS-Channel 7 hosted “Fahey Flynn Presents Seven’s Greetings.” The one-hour special aired just once — from 11 p.m. to midnight on the ABC-owned station — and was never seen again.

Until now. Continue reading →

Larry Lujack at his 2004 Radio Hall of Fame induction (Photo: Jon Sall)

Remembering "your charming and delightful Ol' Uncle Lar" in this photo gallery tribute to the legendary Larry Lujack. Click on the arrows to advance the photos:

Continue reading →

Sixteen radio stations in Chicago boast audiences in excess of one million listeners each week, according to figures released Monday by Nielsen Audio.

WKSC FM 103.5, the Clear Channel pop contemporary-hit radio station known as Kiss FM, again topped the market in fall with a cumulative weekly audience of 2,241,700. Continue reading →

The parent company of the Sun-Times announced the sale Monday of the Joliet Herald-News to Shaw Media for an undisclosed price. The deal is expected to close by the first week in January.

“We are excited to bring the Herald-News into our established, and growing, family-owned media portfolio,” Shaw Media president John Rung said in a statement. “We expect to maintain the storied tradition of serving Joliet with a high quality, community-oriented newspaper.” Continue reading →

Dan McNeil

Moments after Dan McNeil returned to WSCR AM 670 with an extraordinary apology to listeners Friday, the great Cubs broadcaster Len Kasper tweeted that it was “the most honest and self-aware segment you'll ever hear on the radio.”

Kasper was right. With the possible exception of Steve Dahl, no Chicago radio personality had ever bared his soul as fully as McNeil in confessing his addictions and seeking forgiveness from his audience, telling them: “I know I’ve let a lot of you down.”

Just out of rehab and back after eight weeks away from his midday show on the CBS Radio sports/talk station, McNeil, 52, spoke bluntly about his addiction to prescription narcotics, his dependence on marijuana and his crippling battles with depression. (Read the transcript of his comments below.) Continue reading →

Chicago Blackhawks 2013

Chicago magazine polled its online readers with the question: “When you remember 2013 in Chicago, what will you think of first?”

Here’s how the 367 respondents answered, as published in the January 2014 issue: Continue reading →