Garry Meier

Robservations on the media beat:

Mancow Muller

Radio Hall of Famer Garry Meier will soon be heard again on WLS 890-AM, the Cumulus Media news/talk station. This time Meier will appear as a guest on Mancow Muller's morning show June 21 and then fill in for Muller the full week of June 24, according to Stephanie Tichenor, program director of WLS. Quoth Mancow: "Radio's greatest second-banana lands the greatest honor of his career — filling in for me. . . . This is very big for him!" Meier, who worked with Steve Dahl at WLS in the '80s, spent eight years as Roe Conn's afternoon co-host there before he quit in a bitter salary dispute in 2004. He's been gone from terrestrial radio since 2014 when his five-year run ended at Tribune Broadcasting news/talk WGN 720-AM. In 2016 Meier launched a subscription podcast. Continue reading →

Dan Soles

For nearly 25 years, everything you saw on WTTW-Channel 11 first had to pass the high standards of Dan Soles. Now he’s leaving.

Signaling changes in store for the public television station, Soles confirmed Monday that he’s departing as senior vice president and chief television content officer of parent company Window to the World Communications. His last day will be June 28. Continue reading →

Tribune Publishing

You may have missed an interesting footnote to news last week that Chicago-based Tribune Publishing declared a special cash dividend of $56 million to its shareholders.

Buried in the details was word that Michael Ferro, the company’s former chairman and still its biggest shareholder, would pocket a cool $13.6 million himself. Continue reading →

Doug Stylz and Justin Roman

The abrupt departure of longtime Chicago radio stars Doug Stylz and Justin Roman as morning co-hosts at Entercom country WUSN 99.5-FM led the top 10 most-read stories here in May.

To read the full posts, click on the headlines: Continue reading →

WGN Radio Walk of Fame

Four Chicagoans with deep connections to WGN 720-AM will be added to the WGN Radio Walk of Fame, the Tribune Broadcasting news/talk station announced today.

This year's inductees are: John Williams, longtime midday personality who began his career as a college intern for morning superstar Wally Phillips; Andrea Darlas, who resigned in April after 21 years as news anchor, reporter and program host; Marlene Wells, coordinator of sales promotion and merchandising, and a 52-year employee of the station; and Sam “Tenpin Tattler” Weinstein, the late host of a bowling show that aired for 60 years. Continue reading →

Franklin D. Roosevelt

The 75th anniversary of D-Day will be commemorated by the medium that brought it home to America.

Starting this weekend and airing on three consecutive Saturdays in June, “Those Were the Days” will present radio highlights of the events surrounding the Allied landing on June 6, 1944, that marked the beginning of the end of World War II in Europe. Continue reading →

Mort Crim

Robservations on the media beat:

Mort Crim, the retired anchorman said to be the inspiration for Will Ferrell’s Ron Burgundy character, has been chosen for induction in the Illinois Broadcasters Association’s Hall of Fame. A native of West Frankfort, Illinois, who holds a master’s degree from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, Crim began in the news department of WLS 890-AM in the early ’60s. He briefly worked in Chicago again in the late ’70s at CBS-owned WBBM-Channel 2. Of his Hall of Fame selection, Crim said: “I’m deeply honored. Even humbled — and for an anchorman, being humbled is quite an accomplishment.” Crim will be inducted June 13 during the IBA’s annual conference in Springfield. Continue reading →

Santita Jackson

Santita Jackson, the Chicago radio personality and political commentator, has been hired as morning host at WCPT 820-AM, the Newsweb Radio progressive talk station.

Jackson, eldest daughter of the Rev. Jesse Jackson, will succeed Bill Press, who's stepping down from the syndicated program he has hosted for 14 years. Jackson’s show, airing from 6 to 8 a.m. weekdays, will debut Monday. Continue reading →

Kris Kridel

Kris Kridel, one of Chicago radio's premier journalists and one of its most familiar voices, is retiring after 34 years as a news anchor at WBBM 780-AM/WCFS 105.9-FM.

Kridel's announcement came just two months after she cut back to part-time status and stepped down as afternoon drive anchor at the Entercom all-news station. Most recently she has been anchoring from noon to 3 p.m. weekdays, including the “Noon Business Hour,” which she has co-hosted since 2001. Continue reading →

CBS 2, 22 West Washington Street

Robservations on the media beat:

WBBM-Channel 2 continues to shrink before our eyes. In the latest retreat, the CBS-owned station is looking to rent out its former street-front studio in the Loop. Once touted as the crown jewel of the building (along with CBS 2's long-dismantled Jumbotron), it's become a white elephant for the company. With windows looking on to Daley Plaza, the 3,500 square-foot space at the northeast corner of Dearborn and Washington was used for CBS 2 newscasts from 2008 to 2017. But it's been gathering dust since the station unveiled a new set in Studio B. So now the old two-story studio is being marketed as suitable for "restaurant/retail users," according to commercial real estate advisor SVN Chicago. CBS 2 declined to comment. Continue reading →