ABC 7 promotes Elgas, Baichwal to prime news slots

Market leader fills spots vacated by retiring Alan Krashesky Posted at 12:41 a.m. Top-rated ABC 7 (WLS-TV) announced Thursday the promotion of veteran anchors Rob Elgas and Ravi Baichwal to prime weekday slots, filling the void left by the retirement of Alan Krashesky last November.  Rob Elgas will begin anchoring the 10 p.m. newscast and the 7 p.m. livestream with […]

Ryan Seacrest to exit “Live”; Mark Consuelos to replace him

Ripa’s husband to take over co-host chair For those who complain about Ryan Seacrest holding too many jobs in this economy, there is now an opening – but it was quickly filled. Seacrest announced Thursday morning he was departing Disney Media Distribution’s New York-based top-rated daytime talker Live With Kelly And Ryan after six years and is moving back to […]

The Media Notepad: “Family Feud” renewed through 2026

Also: Sling adds ABC 7 to its lineup – at a cost; MLB possibly looking at reclaiming local rights as RSNs creater; Chicago media comings and goings  Joining a trend of veteran series handing out multi-year renewals, the latest came this week when Debmar-Mercury announced it has re-upped Family Feud through 2026, taking the show to its 27th consecutive season […]

The Media Notepad: WBBM Newsradio names Craig Schwalb news director

Also: Mayoral debates scheduled; CBS-owned stations to rebrand news properties Audacy’s all-news WBBM-AM/WCFS-FM announced last week the hire of Craig Schwalb as brand manager and news director of the station effective January 23. He succeeds Ron Gleason, who retired last month.  Schwalb comes from Hubbard’s dominant all-news station WTOP in Washington, D.C., a station who typically leads the country in […]

The Media Notepad: WGN-TV scores ratings win in gubernatorial debates

Pritzker, Bailey showdown tops time slot in viewers, demos  Chicago viewers obviously love their politics: according to Nielsen in a press release from Nexstar’s WGN-TV, the first of two Illinois gubernatorial debates between incumbent Democrat J.B. Pritzker and Republican Darren Bailey was a big local ratings hit on October 6, winning the 7-8 p.m. time period with an exact total […]

ABC 7’s Alan Krashesky to retire after 40 years

Announcement made on the same day he joined the station in 1982 [Editor’s Note: Swapped YouTube video with the Christmas Night edition of WLS-TV’s newscast.] If anything, the year 2022 is shaping up to be The Great Retirement in local media.  The latest person to call it a career is Alan Krashesky, who announced his decision to retire from ABC […]

Disney channels return to Dish, Sling

Channels return after weekend standoff After Dish and Sling customers woke up Saturday morning to find Disney channels missing, they returned late Sunday night as the parties came to a tentative agreement. The move to pull the channels came after the contract between the two parties expired on September 30 and neither negotiated an extension to keep the channels on […]

Disney channels pulled off Dish, Sling

Surprise move came with no warning In a move that has Dish and Sling customers fuming, cable and broadcast channels owned by The Walt Disney Company were pulled off of their systems at 2 a.m. Central Time Saturday morning in a retransmission dispute.  The decision to yank the channels surprised everyone as usually, customers are given a heads-up on if […]

The Media Notepad: Chicago Reader publisher steps down

Also: ABC 7 hires new person for its creative services programming team; Fox’s Chicago duopoly to air new game show; Devil in White City to be adapted for the small screen  After leading the paper through a difficult transition as a non-profit, Chicago Reader publisher Tracy Baim is stepping down after four years at the paper and three months as […]

Chicago stations cover Highland Park shooting tragedy

Local stations pre-empt programming on holiday For a city used to the horrors of gun violence, even this was too much to take. On a sparkly clear day, a Fourth Of July parade in the north suburban community of Highland Park was interrupted by a gunman who opened fire from a roof of a commercial building, hitting spectators below. As […]

“Dancing With The Stars” heads to Disney Plus

Move of longtime ABC competition show is due to the return of Monday Night Football  In an announcement that raised eyebrows, Disney announced Friday the move of Dancing With The Stars from broadcast network ABC to its streaming service, Disney Plus.  The move means the long-running series – airing on ABC since 2005, will now have season 31 and 32 […]

The Media Notepad: Winter Olympics’ lackluster ratings performance drags down NBC 5’s news ratings

Also: All CHGO launches; two network TV shows canceled; restaurant with a sitcom connection burns down Much has been made about the lackluster Winter Olympics ratings, but one angle wasn’t talked about much – their effect on NBC affiliates – or lack thereof. And no one experienced a bigger disappointment than Chicago’s NBC 5 (WMAQ.) As reported by Robert Feder […]

ABC 7, other ABC-owned stations launch new 24/7 streaming channels

Similar to NBC-owned stations’ recent move; ABC 7 returns to prime-time news Joining fellow large-market owned-and-operated counterparts CBS and NBC, ABC-owned stations have now launched 24/7 local streaming channels of their own, including ABC 7 here (WLS-TV). According to the press release, the eight new channels “24/7 local news coverage, breaking news, weather forecasts, feel-good stories from ABC’s award-winning Localish, and […]