{"id":13453,"date":"2017-02-20T06:00:39","date_gmt":"2017-02-20T12:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.robertfeder.com\/?p=13453"},"modified":"2017-02-20T07:01:36","modified_gmt":"2017-02-20T13:01:36","slug":"robservations-surprise-65-sunny-tom-skilling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/2017\/02\/20\/robservations-surprise-65-sunny-tom-skilling\/","title":{"rendered":"Robservations: Surprise! It\u2019s 65 and sunny for Tom Skilling"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

<\/a> Tribune Broadcasting president Larry Wert, WGN general manager Paul Rennie and Tom Skilling<\/p><\/div>\n

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

\"\"<\/a>

Tom Skilling<\/p><\/div>\n

Even Chicago\u2019s spectacularly beautiful weather was in on the conspiracy to make Sunday a perfect day for Tom Skilling.<\/strong> Family, friends and co-workers from WGN-Channel 9 <\/a>gathered Sunday night to surprise the superstar meteorologist, who turns 65 on Monday. What Skilling thought would be a quiet birthday dinner with friends became a grand and heartfelt tribute to Chicago\u2019s most beloved broadcaster and America\u2019s greatest weatherman. \u201cI\u2019m a senior citizen now \u2014 it\u2019s official!\u201d he told the roomful of well-wishers. \u201cAnd by God, there\u2019s life after senior citizenship!\u201d \u00a0Happy birthday, Tom.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

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

With the 89th annual Academy Awards just around the corner Sunday, Chicago Tribune<\/a> film critic Michael Phillips<\/strong> is back on WFMT FM 98.7<\/a> with \u201cThe Film Score.\u201d<\/a> Phillips premiered the monthlong series on great movie music for the Window to the World Communications classical music station last year. All this week he\u2019ll appear twice daily on WFMT \u2014 at 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. \u2014 with highlights of movie musicals, including Oscar winners and \u201cthe ones that got away.\u201d On February 27, Phillips will host a one-hour special recap of this week\u2019s series at 10 p.m. on WFMT.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Univision Chicago<\/p><\/div>\n

Univision Chicago<\/a> officially dedicated new state-of-the-art radio studios Friday at 541 North Fairbanks Court, combining operations with Univision WGBO-Channel 66 and UniM\u00e1s WXFT-Channel 60 and announcing the launch of Univision Local Media Content Creation Lab. Univision Radio includes Spanish-language stations WOJO FM 105.1, WPPN FM 106.7, WVIX FM 93.5\/WVIV FM 103.1, and WRTO AM 1200. Expressing confidence in the project, Doug Levy,<\/strong> vice president and general manager of Univision Local Media here, said: \u201cI know we will see continued success.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Ryan Chiaverini and Edna Avery<\/p><\/div>\n

Fans and colleagues are extending condolences to Ryan Chiaverini,<\/strong> co-host of WLS-Channel 7\u2019s <\/a>\u201cWindy City Live,\u201d on the loss of his mother. Edna Avery,<\/strong> 64, died Friday in California. \u201cWe are deeply saddened by the passing of \u00a0Ryan\u2019s mother,\u201d John Idler,<\/strong> president and general manager of the ABC-owned station, said in a statement. \u201cRyan has been a devoted son who was by his mother\u2019s side during the final stages of her courageous battle with cancer.\u00a0In addition to being a valued member of ABC 7 and the \u2018Windy City Live\u2019 team, so many of Ryan\u2019s co-workers, fans and people he\u2019s connected with throughout Chicago, consider him a friend, and share his grief.\u00a0I\u00a0know you will all join me in supporting Ryan and keeping him and his family in your thoughts and prayers.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Jeff McGrath<\/p><\/div>\n

Laughter mixed with tears in Wilmette Friday night as friends raised a glass to Jeff McGrath,<\/strong> longtime Chicago television executive and former program director of ABC 7. McGrath, 73, died<\/a> December 18 after a long illness. He was remembered as a generous mentor who championed many on both sides of the camera. Scott Steele,<\/strong> veteran meteorologist at WTMJ in Milwaukee, said he owed his career to McGrath, who hired him at ABC 7 as a 14-year-old intern (the youngest in the station\u2019s history) and taught him the business inside and out. McGrath\u2019s legacy also included discovering a 29-year-old Oprah Winfrey<\/strong> in Baltimore in 1983 and bringing her here to host \u201cA.M. Chicago.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Robservations on the media beat: Even Chicago\u2019s spectacularly beautiful weather was in on the conspiracy to make Sunday a perfect day for Tom Skilling. Family, friends and co-workers from WGN-Channel 9 gathered Sunday night to surprise the superstar meteorologist, who turns 65 on Monday. What Skilling thought would be a quiet birthday dinner with friends... 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\/13453"}],"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=13453"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13453\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13465,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13453\/revisions\/13465"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13453"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13453"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13453"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}