Chicago media personalities shake-ups: Berman, Dash out at respective gigs
NBC 5 hires Lou Caneills away from Fox 32
It’s rare, but two Chicago media personalities were ousted from their gigs on the same day.
As first reported by the Sun-Times on Wednesday, NBC 5 (NBC-owned WMAQ-TV) has parted ways with sports anchor Mike Berman after a decade. The Northbrook native had been anchoring weekends until fellow anchor Leila Rahimi left two years ago, and rotated with per-diem anchors Jeff Blanzy and Kaci Standohar in her role in the interim. He was also the co-host of the station’s Sports Sunday show with Ramini, and hosted solo after she left.
Berman was also responsible for post-game reporting duties, interviewing Bears players in the locker room after their loss on Sunday.
Her position is being filled by Lou Canellis, who takes over starting next week. As tipped by the Sun-Times on Monday, Caneills’ contract at Fox-owned WFLD recently expired, as he was the face of the station’s Chicago Bears coverage, during pre-game and post-game show After The Whistle. Canellis had been with Fox 32 since 2009 and was the Bulls’ sideline reporter when he was at SportsChannel.
Sports anchors changing stations isn’t new – in 1994, WMAQ lost Mark Giangreco to ABC-owned WLS-TV, which in turn fired Tim Weigel, as he shortly thereafter landed at CBS-owned WBBM-TV. Kaitlin Sharkey joined WGN-TV’s sports department a few years ago after a stint at Fox 32.
With Caneills gone, Fox 32 will have to find a replacement, as NBC 5 now has an opening for a weekend sports anchor. While stations in smaller markets are eliminating their sports anchors (even in cities with a professional team in at least one of the four major sports leagues), sports are still a big deal for Chicago’s local stations, as evidenced by the Bears’ successful 2025 season.
The moves come as NBC’s sports portfolio has grown in the last year to include the NBA and Major League Baseball, which returns this year. Next month, NBC will air the Winter Olympics, Super Bowl, and the NBA All-Star Game, coinciding with NBC 5 and sister station Telemundo Chicago (WSNS) unveiling their new, state-of-the-art studio and newsroom in the NBC Tower and a newly refurbished news set last weekend, four years and $70 million in the making. Last year, NBC 5 hired Chuck Goudie away from ABC 7 after his contract at the station wasn’t renewed.
Down the street at Prudential Plaza, Aduacy’s Top 40 outlet B96 (WBBM-FM) announced the departure of Jordan “Dash” Weiss from the afternoon slot after two-and-a-half years, as he was replaced by Sean “Sonic” Leckie, moving over from soon-to-be defunct sister station 104.3 Jams (WBMX), who was in the same daypart.
Dash arrived at B96 from Hubbard’s 101.9 The Mix (WTMX) in June 2023, where he was the evening personality for three years and hosted a showcase for new music.
Some elements of 104.3 Jams are expected to be incorporated into B96, including some of the rhythmic hits the station was known to play in the 1990s and 2000s at its peak. With the format flip to an FM simulcast of WSCR-AM set for February 2, two other 104.3 Jams personnel were let go last week, as morning personality Jennifer Farina and commercial production director Rebecca Ortiz exited.
Editor’s Note: Kaitlin Sharkey’s first AND second names were misspelled in an earlier draft. T Dog Media regrets the errors.