{"id":12693,"date":"2016-11-08T13:30:00","date_gmt":"2016-11-08T19:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.robertfeder.com\/?p=12693"},"modified":"2016-11-08T18:34:40","modified_gmt":"2016-11-09T00:34:40","slug":"robservations-wgn-jumps-head-cubs-parade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/2016\/11\/08\/robservations-wgn-jumps-head-cubs-parade\/","title":{"rendered":"Robservations: WGN leads parade for Cubs celebration"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Mark<\/a>

<\/a> Mark Suppelsa and Micah Materre (WGN, November 4, 2016)<\/p><\/div>\n

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

Forget that nonsense about \u201cfive million people\u201d attending Friday\u2019s parade and rally to celebrate the Chicago Cubs victory in the World Series. Though many in the media were quick to report the city\u2019s estimate as fact, others pointed out<\/a> how grossly inflated<\/a> it was, defying both the laws of physics and common sense. (\u201cThere's civic boosterism \u2014 and then there's rank stupidity,\u201d sniffed <\/a>Poynter\u2019s Jim Warren.<\/strong>) The real number of note Friday was the 5.4 Nielsen rating garnered by Tribune Broadcasting flagship WGN-Channel 9<\/a> for its live coverage of the five-hour event. Anchored by Mark Suppelsa<\/strong> and Micah Materre,<\/strong> the hometown independent dominated six other outlets in households and adult demographics. \u201cAfter decades together, it\u2019s wonderful to see the fan base tune in to follow \u2018Chicago\u2019s Very Own\u2019 World Championship Cubs coverage on WGN 9,\u201d said Larry Wert,<\/strong> president of broadcast media for Tribune Broadcasting. (It also may have marked a turning point for ABC-owned WLS-Channel 7 <\/a>after decades as the ratings leader for live events and breaking news.) WGN\u2019s entire broadcast is still available on demand at wgntv.com.<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Barbara<\/a>

Barbara Popovic<\/p><\/div>\n

After 30 years as executive director of Chicago Access Network Television,<\/a> Barbara Popovic<\/strong> has announced plans to retire at the end of the year. As head of the independent nonprofit agency, she\u2019s been a guiding force in expanding public participation on cable \u2014 free of commercials, filters and censors. CAN TV is celebrating its move to impressive new headquarters in the Illinois Medical District at 1309 South Wood Street. \u201cWe\u2019ve fought many a battle to protect this place; it\u2019s nice to be celebrating for a change,\u201d Popovic said, adding: \u201cI\u2019m excited about a new person taking this mission forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Harvey<\/a>

Harvey Wells<\/p><\/div>\n

Harvey Wells,<\/strong> the prominent Chicago radio executive who managed numerous stations for CBS Radio, Newsweb Radio and other companies, is headed to Springfield, Illinois. He\u2019s been named general manager of the four-station cluster there owned by Mid-West Family Broadcasting.<\/a> Starting November 28, Wells will oversee WMAY, WNNS, WUSW and WQLZ. He said he plans to wind down Radio Program Reps LLC, his broadcast consulting service, between now and then. A graduate of Niles East High School in Skokie and Southern Illinois University, Wells began as a weekend overnight disc jockey at WXRT FM 93.1 <\/a>in 1975 before shifting to sales and management.<\/p>\n

\"Doug<\/a>

Doug Ray<\/p><\/div>\n

Paddock Publications, northwest suburban-based owner of the Daily Herald, <\/a>continued its expansion downstate this week with the acquisition of four weekly newspapers in Virden, Girard, Farmersville and Palmyra and a printing plant in central Illinois. The deal with Gold Nugget Publications, expected to close within the next few weeks, will bring to 16 Paddock\u2019s titles outside the suburban core market. \u201cAll this is in keeping with Paddock\u2019s strategic plan to grow the business in new and different ways,\u201d said\u00a0Doug Ray,<\/strong> publisher and CEO of Daily Herald Media Group. \u201cWhile we see widespread cuts and general downsizing at newspapers across the country, Paddock\u2019s plan for growth and prudent expense controls have set us apart as an industry success story.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Renzo<\/a>

Renzo Heredia and Maria Esther<\/p><\/div>\n

Listeners to Univision Radio WPPN FM 106.7<\/a> woke up to a new morning show Monday on the Spanish adult-contemporary station. Replacing the syndicated Alex \u201cEl Genio\u201d Lucas<\/strong> from 6 to 10 a.m. weekdays is another syndicated show, the duo of Renzo Heredia<\/strong> and Maria Esther.<\/strong> Renzo y Maria Esther<\/em> is described as \u201ca friendly and positive morning show created to inform, entertain and empower adult audiences and families.\u201d In the latest Nielsen Audio survey, mornings on Amor 106.7 FM<\/em> tied for 24th with a 1.8 percent share and cumulative weekly audience of 229,700.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Robservations on the media beat: Forget that nonsense about \u201cfive million people\u201d attending Friday\u2019s parade and rally to celebrate the Chicago Cubs victory in the World Series. Though many in the media were quick to report the city\u2019s estimate as fact, others pointed out how grossly inflated it was, defying both the laws of physics... 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\/12693"}],"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=12693"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12693\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12705,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12693\/revisions\/12705"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12693"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12693"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12693"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}