The Media Notepad: “The Food Guy” exits NBC 5
Steve Dolinsky takes job at Levy Restaurants; Chicago Sky expands distribution; 93.9 The Lite returns to the top of the PPMs
[Editor’s Note: The first item of this piece was updated on May 22 to add Facebook post.]
“The Food Guy” has reviewed his final plate on Chicago television.
Steve Dolinsky announced this week he was departing NBC 5 (NBC-owned WMAQ-TV) after four years to take a non-industry position at Levy Restaurants, where he will be a culinary connector and collaborator. Levy operates numerous prime restaurants across the city and suburbs and is the food vendor at Chicago’s biggest venues, including Soldier Field and Wrigley Field.
From his Facebook page:
“My time @nbcchicago as “The Food Guy” has been truly wonderful. But I’m excited to announce I’m moving over to another Chicago institution: Levy.”
“I’ve known the management team @levy.restaurants for decades, and have always admired how they creatively feed and entertain thousands of people every day at venues all over the country, elevating the guest experience by surpassing expectations. In this new role – reporting to CEO Andy Lansing – I’ll be a culinary connector and collaborator. My focus will be on trendspotting, relationship building and creative execution across Levy’s industry-leading network of venues spanning restaurants, sports, entertainment, convention centers, cultural attractions, festivals and more. I still get to explore and discover places, but now that zone has significantly expanded across the country.”
My final report for NBC will be May 29th at 10 pm. I’m going to miss the amazingly talented pros there and will probably have a little FOMO when I see their impressive new space-age studio completed later this year, but I couldn’t be more excited to start this new chapter.”
Dolinsky exits after 33 years on Chicago television, starting at the former CLTV in 1992 as a reporter and later hosting the channel’s Good Eating. In 2003, Dolinsky succeeded the late James Ward as WLS-TV’s restaurant critic as The Hungry Hound and spent eighteen years at the ABC-owned station until jumping to NBC 5 in 2021 and becoming The Food Guy. He’s a thirteen-time James Beard Award and a two-time Emmy winner. In addition to his television work, Dolinsky authored two books: The Ultimate Chicago Pizza Guide and follow-up Pizza City, USA: 101 Reasons Why Chicago Is America’s Greatest Pizza Town, and created Pizza City Fest, which is coming back to Chicago this summer. He’s also taught a class on culinary journalism at Northwestern’s Medill School of Journalism.
“Thirty years covering the same beat in the third largest market is quite a run,” Dolinsky told Axios Chicago’s Justin Kaufmann on Monday. “I can’t wait to deploy all of my skills for Levy, while still getting to do what I love but now getting to approach things on a national scale.”
Dolinsky’s departure is the second in the last month for a position outside local media. Two months ago, WTTW’s Amanda Vinicky departed the station for a Vice-President of Communications position at Intersect Illinois, an economic development organization.
The culinary beat has been tough recently due to the Covid-19 pandemic, forcing many restaurants to close. ABC 7 did not fill the position left vacant by Dolinsky’s departure, and both WGN and WTTW have canceled their long-running weekly culinary shows, Chicago’s Best and Check, Please!, respectively earlier this decade.
The WNBA’s Chicago Sky and rightsholder Weigel Broadcasting (owner of independent WCIU/The U and The U Too) have increased their distribution of games to stations outside of the Chicago area. The broadcaster cleared the package on seven stations in Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Iowa, with Tegna, Block, and Gray Media on board.
Simulcasting up to ten games of The U’s coverage (either on their main or digital subchannels) are Gray’s WMTV Madison, Wis; WPYA/WISE Fort Wayne, Ind.; WSLN Rockford; Tegna’s WQAD in Moline, Ill.; and Block’s WAND in Decatur, Ill. The U’s Weigel-owned sister stations in Milwaukee (WMLW) and South Bend, Ind. (WCWW/WMYS) will also carry games.
In the Chicago area, The U is carrying thirty games this season, starting Thursday night at 7 p.m. against the defending champion New York Liberty at Wintrust Arena.
“We want to thank the Sky for working to provide games to more fans throughout the Midwest this season,” said Steve Farber, Weigel’s Senior Vice President of Operations. “Weigel and our broadcast partners welcome the opportunity to provide access to Sky games on free over-the-air television.”
“The Chicago Sky are starting the 2025 season with a new coach, a new style of play, new and returning players, and a new local network to air our games,” Adam Fox, Sky President and CEO said. “We’re excited to partner with Weigel Broadcasting and air games on its regional network, giving us the ability to showcase the team throughout the Midwest.”
In February, Weigel and the Sky struck a deal to carry all games not picked up by any national networks, after three seasons sharing them with the Marquee Sports Network. The move follows a trend of numerous teams shifting away from regional sports networks as more viewers are cutting the cord. Last week, the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning became the latest team to leave RSNs behind, by signing a deal with Scripps to carry all locally televised games on WXPX-TV, a former PAX and Ion station that is being rebranded to The Spot this fall. WXPX and ABC affiliate WFTS are both owned by Scripps.
The Lightning had spent decades at FanDuel Sports Florida and its predecessors. Spectrum carried FanDuel Sports, but not Frontier Communications and Comcast/Xfinity.
According to the April PPMs released on Monday, iHeartMedia’s 93.9 The Lite (WLIT-FM) returned to the top of the radio ratings.
The adult contemporary station finished first for the first time since the Holiday book, pushing Audacy’s all-news WBBM to third place while Hubbard Classic Rock The Drive (WDRV-FM) finished second, with its best performance since December. WLIT also finished first in the adults 18-34 demo, and tied WUSN for fifth place in the key 25-54 demo.
93.9 The Lite recently launched a television ad campaign, billing itself as “relaxing favorites”.
In fourth place was iHeart’s V103, up slightly from last month, while 101.9 The Mix came in fifth, but topped the adult 18-34 and 25-54 demos.
Hot alternative rocker Q101 (WKQX) cooled off a bit, falling to thirteenth place into a tie with Audacy sports talker 670 The Score (WSCR-AM), but remained strong in the 25-54 demo, tied with WGCI in fourth place and also finished fourth in 18-49s. iHeartMedia’s 103.5 Kiss FM stayed ahead of Top 40 rival B96 (WBBM-FM) in all metrics, finishing third in 25-54s and second in adults 18-49, and tied for eleventh with WBEZ overall. B96 came in at the bottom as usual at 23rd.
670 The Score saw its numbers surge due to Cubs baseball, as the team currently has the third-best record in the sport. The station finished second in the key male 25-54 demo behind The Drive with a first-place finish in afternoons, and second in middays, with the new team of Leila Rahimi and Marshall Harris in place of Dan Bernstein.
In some good news for Chicago radio, market cume was up 1.2 percent (led by WLIT) and market PUMM (known as market listening levels in PPM cities) was up 1.8 percent, meaning more listeners are tuning in to the medium.