{"id":9224,"date":"2015-10-26T07:30:24","date_gmt":"2015-10-26T12:30:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.robertfeder.com\/?p=9224"},"modified":"2015-10-26T09:59:53","modified_gmt":"2015-10-26T14:59:53","slug":"robservations-familiar-name-comes-to-weigel-broadcasting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/2015\/10\/26\/robservations-familiar-name-comes-to-weigel-broadcasting\/","title":{"rendered":"Robservations: Familiar name comes to Weigel Broadcasting"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Jenniffer<\/a>

<\/a> Jenniffer Weigel<\/p><\/div>\n

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

More than 50 years after John Weigel<\/strong> put WCIU-Channel 26 <\/a>on the air, another Weigel is about to turn up on Chicago's first UHF station. Jenniffer Weigel,<\/strong> granddaughter of the late founder (and daughter of the late Chicago sportscaster Tim Weigel<\/strong>), has been tapped to host a holiday-themed shopping special. Titled \u201cA Gift for U,\u201d the half-hour special will air multiple times between Thanksgiving and Christmas on The U and The U Too, according to Steve Farber,<\/strong> senior vice president of operations at Weigel Broadcasting. \u201cI\u2019ve known Jen for years and I\u2019m a fan of hers,\u201d Farber said. \u201cIf we can find additional programming to develop, that would be great.\u201d A longtime Chicago broadcaster, Jenniffer Weigel most recently was a video reporter\/columnist for the Chicago Tribune.<\/a> Weigel Broadcasting was acquired in the 1960s by the late Howard Shapiro,<\/strong> whose family still owns and operates the company.<\/p>\n

\"Patti<\/a>

Patti Vasquez<\/p><\/div>\n

Great news for Patti Vasquez,<\/strong> the nationally renowned standup comic who hosts late nights on Tribune Media news\/talk WGN AM 720. <\/a>She just signed with ABC to create a sitcom inspired by her life as a Mexican-American working mother who is \u201ca well-intentioned and sometimes-misguided citizen disrupter.\u201d The show\u2019s working title is \u201cThe Better Half,\u201d according to Deadline.com.<\/a> \u201cWe're so thrilled for Patti,\u201d said Todd Manley,<\/strong> vice president of programming and content at WGN. \u201cShe's the No. 1 late-night show in Chicago, and we'll work around it. During the pitch process she was in LA for multiple weeks this year and never missed a show on WGN.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"John<\/a>

John Kass<\/p><\/div>\n

Is Chicago Tribune star columnist John Kass<\/strong> mulling over a return to radio? That\u2019s what he told Facebook<\/a> friends last week. \u201cI'm thinking about getting back behind the microphone. Nothing firm yet, just thinking,\u201d wrote Kass, who co-hosted middays on Cumulus Media news\/talk WLS AM 890 <\/a>for three years until last February. \u201cI know I don't have a pretty voice, but are beautiful, melodious tones what you expect from me? Or is it a sober and serious treatment of complex events? Or just a place to find tasty meat on sticks? Should I do it and get back behind the mic?\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Aly<\/a>

Aly Bockler<\/p><\/div>\n

It\u2019s over and out for Aly Bockler<\/strong> after six years as a feature reporter for \u201cYou & Me,\u201d<\/a>\u00a0the morning talk show hosted by Jeanne Sparrow<\/strong> and Melissa Forman<\/strong> and airing from 6 to 9 a.m. weekdays on WCIU-Channel 26. No reason was cited for the move and no replacement for Bockler was named. Bockler, who began as a producer for The U in 2008, said she hopes to stay in Chicago and land another job on the air. \u201cI\u2019m sad I won\u2019t be part of the show anymore, but I\u2019m optimistic and I\u2019m confident about what\u2019s next,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\"Richard<\/a>

Richard Roeper<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cGood Day Chicago\u201d anchors Corey McPherrin<\/strong> and Darlene Hill<\/strong> officially welcomed Richard Roeper<\/strong> to the WFLD-Channel 32<\/a> morning show Monday, marking his debut on the Fox-owned station. Roeper\u2019s first contribution was a conversation with Hill about Joe Biden\u2019s<\/strong> interview on \u201c60 Minutes\u201d Sunday in which the vice president explained his decision not to run for president. In addition to his new role<\/a> on Fox 32, Roeper will continue as film critic for the Sun-Times.<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Jan<\/a>

Jan Jeffries<\/p><\/div>\n

Former Chicago radio programmer Jan Jeffries<\/strong> ended an 18-year run at Cumulus Media last week. His ouster as senior vice president of corporate programming followed the recent overthrow <\/a>of company founders Lew<\/strong> and John Dickey.<\/strong> Until last July, Jeffries had been program director of classic hits WLS FM 94.7. <\/a>It was his second second tour of duty in Chicago radio. Starting in 1984, he served as program director of WAGO, the short-lived Top 40 station owned by Cox Broadcasting, followed by his first stint at WLS FM under ABC ownership. Most recently Jeffries was at WRQX, the Cumulus Media Top 40 station in Washington, D.C.<\/p>\n

\"Tarrah<\/a>

Tarrah Cooper<\/p><\/div>\n

Tarrah Cooper<\/strong> resigned last week after five years as press secretary for Mayor Rahm Emanuel<\/strong> to open a Chicago office for Mercury,<\/a> a bipartisan public strategy firm. Cooper, a Chicago native and journalism graduate of\u00a0the University of Missouri-Columbia, will join the company as a managing director next month. \u201cIt\u2019s been an incredible privilege to work for Mayor Emanuel and serve the city I love,\" she said in a statement. \"I look forward to launching Mercury\u00a0Chicago\u2019s\u00a0office and leveraging my political and communication experiences to help solve the most pressing issues in Chicago and around the world.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Robservations on the media beat: More than 50 years after John Weigel put WCIU-Channel 26 on the air, another Weigel is about to turn up on Chicago's first UHF station. Jenniffer Weigel, granddaughter of the late founder (and daughter of the late Chicago sportscaster Tim Weigel), has been tapped to host a holiday-themed shopping special.... 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\/9224"}],"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=9224"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9224\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9235,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9224\/revisions\/9235"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9224"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9224"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9224"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}