This Bud’s for you – 2017 a carbon city of 2016 2016: The worst year ever. 2017: Hold my beer. Yes, you saw this type of “hold my beer” exchanges this year as 2017 turned out to be lousy as advertised. For one thing, American Idol is coming back thanks to ABC. This and host Ryan Seacrest appearing on TV […]
Plus: ABC 7 dominates in ratings AND social media; Minneapolis station latest to drop “My” branding That’s a wrap…for now: Mike North went on television Tuesday night and announced he was “retiring” from sports media, including radio, television, writing, podcasts… you name it. On WTTW’s Chicago Tonight, North told host Phil Ponce talking sports today was just too complicated. He […]
Also: Rob Stafford returns to WMAQ; Get ready for more PAC ads; CBS Radio gambles and loses on blunder Mark Suppelsa is calling it a career – the longtime Chicago news anchor and investigative reporter announced Thursday he was retiring after nearly three decades in the news business. Suppelsa is currently anchoring newscasts for WGN-TV at 5, 6, 9, and […]
WGN-TV adds yet more news; WCIU cancels “You & Me”; Chicago is NBC’s kind of town; Chiller gets cold Here we grow again… Tribune’s WGN-TV announced Thursday they are launching a new prime access news hour, airing from 6 to 7 p.m. local time beginning April 4. As first reported by Robert Feder, the new newscast will be anchored by […]
Expands to 10 p.m. to compete with Big Three Here we grow again: WGN-TV’s popular local newscasts are adding yet another half-hour – and this time, the Tribune Media-owned station is taking on the Big Three owned-and-operated stations with the launch of a local half-hour newscast at 10 p.m. beginning October 5. WGN’s current 9 p.m. anchor team – Mark Suppelsa, Micah […]
WGN-TV anchor Mark Suppelsa released a statement Friday evening, announcing he was taking a leave of absence from the station for a month and is admitting himself to a rehabilitation facility in Minnesota to battle an alcoholism problem. To read his statement to WGN staff and to viewers, click here. Suppelsa has been co-anchoring the station’s 5 p.m. and 9 […]
WGN-TV announced it has expanded its news and shuffled its weekday programming lineup, just two days into the new syndication television season. Beginning October 5, WGN expands its 5:30 p.m. newscast an hour, starting at 5 p.m. Its midday newscast expands to 11a.m. and now run two hours until 1 p.m. And to go along with the expansion are some […]
Another GM shake-up at Fox-owned WFLD-TV and WPWR-TV has led Pat Mullen out the door after three rather unproductive years at the duopoly, and was replaced by Michael Renda of sister station WTXF-TV in Philadelphia, which is also a Fox O&O. In turn, Patrick Paolini takes over the WTXF job after his stint as vice president and director of sales […]
Allison Payne, the co-anchor of WGN-TV’s 5:30 p.m. and 9 p.m. newscasts, is being sidelined again for the third time this year due to complications from “mini-strokes” she has been having for quite sometime now. Ms. Payne made the decision to take some time off so she can “fully rehabilitate”. Micah Materre will fill in alongside Mark Suppelsa on the […]
For the first time ever in Chicago, viewers will have a real option to the network evening newscasts. As expected, Tribune-owned WGN-TV has signed former WMAQ-TV and WFLD-TV Mark Suppelsa, renewed the contract of longtime veteran Steve Sanders and is expanding the station’s newscasts. Suppelsa left Fox-owned WFLD in a contract dispute a few months ago and was slated to […]
It looks like Mark Suppelsa’s move to Tribune-owned CW affiliate WGN-TV is all but a certainty, while handling Steve Sanders’ situation could be dicey, according to this article from Robert Feder in today’s Sun-Times. WGN is expected to sign Suppelsa to a contract after June 17, the day WFLD’s option to match any offer a competitor may have expires. If […]
Mark Suppelsa, the anchor who left Fox-owned WFLD-TV last March, is rumored to join Tribune’s WGN-TV later this summer, replacing Steve Sanders alongside Allison Payne on the station’s 9 p.m. newscast. Suppelsa is technically still under contract to WFLD – the station has a right to match any offer a competitor offers until June 17. WGN is likely to make […]
A big news anchor shakeup is in the works at Chicago’s TV news stations. The ball got rolling last week when Mark Supplesa abruptly left WFLD-TV after rejecting a contract offer. In Feder’s column today, he put in all in perspective, with several high-profile names involved in play: – Diann Burns of WBBM-Channel 2 may lose her 10 p.m. anchor […]
So where is the world is Mark Supplesa going to end up next? Channel 2? Channel 5? Channel 9? CLTV? (One can only hope not.) The speculation engines are revving up and circulating on where the news anchor, who rejected a generous offer from Fox-owned WFLD-TV, is going to land next. Supplesa is planning to stay in the Chicago market, […]
Mark Suppelsa who is co-anchor of Fox-owned WFLD-TV’s 9 p.m. to 10 p.m. newscast, has stepped down. No word was given on why Mr. Suppelsa is leaving the broadcast, but he recently rejected a four-year renewal pact from the station. Suppelsa came to WFLD-TV in 2003 from NBC-owned WMAQ-TV, where he started on the noon newscast, then was promoted to […]