Yours truly was celebrating when Ben “Party All The Time” Silverman left NBC Monday. Now comes the bad news: it appears Anna Davlantes is following him out the door. Ms. Davlantes exited NBC-owned WMAQ-TV today after failing to come to a contract renewal agreement with the station. WMAQ’s station manager (Fran Whitaker) put out a short statement thanking her for […]
A day after TV legend Ed McMahon died, another media legend – this time locally – has passed on. John Callaway – a figure in Chicago media for the last four to five decades, died Tuesday night after suffering a heart attack in Racine, Wis. Callaway was known for his tough interviews with local and national politicians and other figures, […]
Longtime media personality and fill-in anchor Bob Sirott and NBC-owned WMAQ-TV parted ways today, apparently over money regarding a contractual provision stating he would succeed retiring 10 p.m. anchor Warner Saunders, which would lead to an increase in salary. WMAQ tried to renegotiate Sirott’s contract to short the multi-year deal, so Sirott and WMAQ decided to end their relationship. This […]
Given all what’s going in Chicago lately, I guess there’s a need for another public-affairs program (one show can’t cover it all…) WTTW is debuting a new review-of-the-week show this Friday night at 8:30 p.m., aptly titled Rewind. The new program is hosted by WMAQ-TV anchor and reporter Anna Davlantes. Though the program plans to be somewhat similar to Chicago […]
– Station swap: Raycom and Local TV are trading stations with each other and maybe one to be named later… Raycom has traded CBS affiliate WTVR in Richmond, Va. to Local TV for Fox affiliate WBRC-TV in Birmingham. Raycom, which is based in Alabama, will now have a presence in most of the state. Earlier, the Justice Department rejected Raycom’s […]
One of the deacons at The Church of Tisch has been shown the door. WBBM-TV General Manger Joe Ahern was fired today after six years at the CBS-owned station, this after they moved into new digs on Washington Blvd. in the Loop and started broadcasting their news in HD. Replacing Ahern is Bruno Cohen, who is currently GM at CBS’ […]
Digital broadcast network The Tube folded last September and went belly up. But that hasn’t stopped digital networks from emerging and vying for station’s subchannels. Whether its classic TV or Hispanic-targeted programming, digital broadcast networks could change the face of broadcast television as we know it. And this revolution will be televised. At the recent NATPE convention, digital networks were […]
Let’s see what’s going on in local markets around the country: -According to Nielsen, KETC-TV in St. Louis was the nation’s highest-rated public TV station in October, even outperforming WTTW in Chicago. The station’s total-day ratings were up 8 percent from a year ago and up 39 percent in primetime. It’s same to assume that this station outdraws Sinclair’s weak-kneed […]
Baseball games and golf matches get rained out all the time, but a TV show? That’s exactly what happened tonight after a downpour flooded the studios of WTTW-TV, forcing the cancellation of tonight’s edition of Chicago Tonight. A freak rainstorm created havoc downtown and on Chicago’s North Side, causing flooding in many areas. WTTW replaced the canceled airing of Chicago […]
NBC-owned WMAQ-TV and PBS station WTTW have teamed up to present a documentary on Italian-Americans that will premiere during the Memorial Day weekend. And They Came To Chicago: The Italian-American Legacy, a special tracing Italian-American history in Chicago, is being narrated by native son Joe Mantegna and will air on WMAQ Sunday Night at 11:05 p.m. and again on Memorial […]