{"id":11398,"date":"2016-05-22T21:00:33","date_gmt":"2016-05-23T02:00:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.robertfeder.com\/?p=11398"},"modified":"2016-05-22T22:52:22","modified_gmt":"2016-05-23T03:52:22","slug":"robservations-wgn-to-drop-cw-network","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/2016\/05\/22\/robservations-wgn-to-drop-cw-network\/","title":{"rendered":"Robservations: CW Network losing WGN affiliation, moving to WPWR"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"The<\/a>

<\/a> The CW Network<\/p><\/div>\n

Robservations on the media beat:<\/p>\n

In a rare change of network affiliations in Chicago, the CW Network<\/a> will move this fall from Tribune Media WGN-Channel 9 <\/a>to Fox-owned WPWR-Channel 50, <\/a>sources said Sunday. The switch, expected to be announced Monday, will return \u201cChicago\u2019s Very Own\u201d to an independent station with a strictly local programming lineup, starting in September. Tribune Media still owns CW affiliates in 12 other markets, including New York and Los Angeles. Formed in 2006 as a joint venture between Warner Bros. Entertainment and CBS, the network includes such primetime shows as \u201cThe Flash\u201d and \u201cJane The Virgin.\u201d In addition to two hours in primetime each weeknight, CW also programs five hours of children\u2019s programming on Saturday mornings. Sources said the move to WPWR, low-rated sister station of WFLD-Channel 32, <\/a>is expected to mean a shift of less than $4 million in revenue.<\/p>\n

\"Dan<\/a>

Dan McNeil<\/p><\/div>\n

Dan McNeil<\/strong> will be back on the air Monday, co-hosting the morning show with Pete McMurray<\/strong> on Hubbard Radio classic hits WDRV FM 97.1.<\/a> The mercurial McNeil has been absent since May 12 when he erupted in anger<\/a> at his boss, program director Rob Cressman.<\/strong> Witnesses to the hallway outburst said McNeil was provoked by orders not to talk about the ouster<\/a> of Hubbard programming exec Greg Solk<\/strong> on the air. John Gallagher,<\/strong> vice president and market manager of Hubbard Radio Chicago, denied that McNeil had been suspended, adding: \u201cHe is happy to be back.\u201d McNeil declined to comment Sunday except to confirm his return to The Drive. His contract runs through March 2017.<\/p>\n

\"Jim<\/a>

Jim Kirk<\/p><\/div>\n

There\u2019s good news at the Sun-Times<\/a> where editorial employees represented by the Chicago News Guild<\/a> voted 28-1 to extend their contract to December 2017. The current agreement with parent company Wrapports would have expired at the end of this year. The extension provides no raises, but offers additional protection from layoffs, according to Darel Jevens,<\/strong> Guild unit co-chair at the Sun-Times. Jim Kirk,<\/strong> editor and publisher of the Sun-Times, said in a statement: \"I'm pleased that we were able to work with the Guild leadership at the Sun-Times on a contract extension that works for everyone involved. It's clear that progress can happen when both sides are willing to sit down together to discuss creative solutions.\"\u00a0Contracts talks are ongoing between the company and staffers at the Chicago Reader, <\/a>who also are represented by the Guild.<\/p>\n

\"Michael<\/a>

Michael Ferro<\/p><\/div>\n

The juiciest item to emerge last week in the escalating war of words between Gannett<\/a> and Tribune Publishing<\/a> was Gannett\u2019s claim that Tribune chairman Michael Ferro<\/strong> said he might go along with a Gannett takeover if there were something extra for him. \u201cMr. Ferro has made clear that his own self-interest, and not the best interests of all of Tribune\u2019s stockholders, is guiding his response to Gannett\u2019s offer,\u201d according to Gannett. \u201cDuring a May 12, 2016 meeting with Gannett\u2019s chairman and Gannett\u2019s chief executive officer, Mr. Ferro stated that a business combination between Gannett and Tribune could make sense as long as Mr. Ferro would have a \u2018significant role\u2019 at the company post-closing and was its \u2018largest shareholder.\u2019 Mr. Ferro went on to state that he is unwilling to engage in a process unless he, personally, would get \u2018a piece of the action.\u2019 \u201d Tribune responded with a non-denial denial, saying Ferro's comments were \u201cgrossly mischaracterized and taken out of context.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Moe<\/a>

Moe Greene<\/p><\/div>\n

But wait, there\u2019s more: When Ferro isn\u2019t channeling Donald Trump<\/strong> or Rod Blagojevich,<\/strong> he\u2019s reminding some people of a character in \u201cThe Godfather.\u201d After spurning Gannett\u2019s bid for Tribune Publishing, Ferro reportedly told the sales staff of the Los Angeles Times<\/a> last week that he was turning the tables. \u201cI am going to bid on Gannett,\u201d Ferro said, according to Ken Doctor<\/strong> of Politico Media.<\/a> \u201cI have lawyers working on it.\u201d (Gannett has a market value of $1.84 billion.) Ferro\u2019s bravado seemed to echo Moe Greene, the Las Vegas mobster played by the late Alex Rocco,<\/strong> who famously bragged:<\/a> \u201cThe Corleone Family wants to buy me out? No, I buy you<\/em> out, you don't buy me out.\u201d We all know how well that worked out.<\/p>\n

\"Ron<\/a>

Ron Magers<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cWindy City Live\u201d devotes Monday\u2019s show to celebrating the great Ron Magers<\/strong> on his retirement <\/a>as news anchor at ABC-owned WLS-Channel 7.<\/a> Starting at 11 a.m., the special edition of the ABC 7 talk show will feature \u201ca lot of familiar faces and a few surprises along the way.\u201d Magers also was the guest for an insightful \u201cNewsViews\u201d <\/a>conversation Sunday with Alan Krashesky,<\/strong> who\u2019s succeeding Magers as 5 and 10 p.m. anchor. In addition, reporter Paul Meincke<\/strong> has been saluting the broadcast veteran\u2019s career in an eight-part series<\/a> on ABC 7\u2019s news. Farewell newscast for Magers \u2014 coinciding with the last night of the May rating sweep \u2014 will be Wednesday.<\/p>\n

\"Todd<\/a>

Todd Woolman<\/p><\/div>\n

Todd Woolman,<\/strong> executive producer at NBC-owned WMAQ-Channel 5, <\/a>has been hired as assistant news director at Fox-owned WFLD-Channel 32. <\/a>He replaces Jill Manuel,<\/strong> who left <\/a>last month. It\u2019s a return to Fox 32 for Woolman, who spent seven months as executive producer of \u201cGood Day Chicago\u201d in 2010. He previously was assistant news director at CBS-owned WBBM-Channel 2 and executive producer at ABC 7 and WGN. The move reunites him with Fox 32 news director Matt Piacente,<\/strong> who worked with Woolman earlier at NBC 5.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Robservations on the media beat: In a rare change of network affiliations in Chicago, the CW Network will move this fall from Tribune Media WGN-Channel 9 to Fox-owned WPWR-Channel 50, sources said Sunday. The switch, expected to be announced Monday, will return \u201cChicago\u2019s Very Own\u201d to an independent station with a strictly local programming lineup,... Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11398"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11398"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11398\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11411,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11398\/revisions\/11411"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11398"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11398"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11398"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}