When the longest-running program in Chicago television history gets canceled, that’s a shame. But when the show that replaces it is a worthless piece of crap, that’s a crime.

Earlier this year, WMAQ-Channel 5 pulled the plug on “City Desk,” the Sunday morning newsmaker interview show. Modeled after NBC’s “Meet the Press,” it had been airing in one form or another since 1952, featuring such esteemed panelists as John Chancellor, Len O’Connor, John Drieske, Jim Ruddle and Dick Kay. Most recently it was hosted by Carol Marin and Mary Ann Ahern as an extended segment on the Sunday morning news.

Never mind that “City Desk” was the last place on Channel 5 where serious issues and tough questions could be discussed in depth with public officials, political candidates and other newsmakers. And never mind that it was the last vestige of original programming from the NBC-owned station’s glorious past as a crucible of the so-called Chicago School of Television. Read the rest of this entry →

When Pat Cassidy abruptly quit as morning news anchor at WBBM-AM (780) last year, bosses of the CBS-owned all-news station reached out to John Hultman, who’d retired from the job a decade earlier. The idea was for Hultman to fill in on a free-lance basis — through the end of the year at the most — until a permanent replacement for Cassidy could be hired.

That was 16 months ago.

Hultman, 72, is still there every morning, sounding just as great as he did during his original 30-year run at “Newsradio 780.” Along with anchor partner Felicia Middlebrooks, he has kept the station’s morning drive ratings at or near the top. (The latest Arbitron figures show them solidly in third place among all listeners as well as among those between the ages of 25 and 54.)

Although Hultman’s bosses admit they wish he’d stay on forever, they’re reluctantly bowing to his request to step down. Sources said they’ve narrowed the list of top candidates to three — including one unnamed insider — and hope to have a successor in place by early next year.

Read the rest of this entry →

Photo by Maria Ponce

One way or another, it seems, Anna Davlantes was destined to work for Carol Fowler. On Tuesday, it finally became reality when Chicago’s most eligible — and arguably most glamorous — news anchor officially joined Fox-owned WFLD-Channel 32.

“It’s a great opportunity and a great challenge for me,” Davlantes said in her first interview after signing the multiyear deal. “I’m real excited about it.”

As first reported here, Davlantes will debut Monday as a contributing anchor and reporter on the station’s 9 p.m. newscast, alongside Robin Robinson and Jeff Goldblatt. As vice president/news director of Channel 32, Fowler was instrumental in talking up Davlantes to her boss, Mike Renda, who arrived last September as vice president and general manager from Fox sister station WTXF-TV in Philadelphia.

This wasn’t the first time Fowler had championed the Chicago native and pride of Lane Tech High School. It was close but no cigar early last year when Fowler was vice president/news director at CBS-owned WBBM-Channel 2 and courted Davlantes for a top anchor role. But negotiations with Joe Ahern, then-president and general manager of the station, abruptly broke off when Channel 2’s budget collapsed and massive layoffs ensued. Read the rest of this entry →

This just in: Anna Davlantes finally ended the biggest guessing game in Chicago media by joining Fox-owned WFLD-Channel 32.

Under terms of a multiyear deal signed today, Davlantes will work for Channel 32 as a contributing anchor and reporter. She is expected to debut Monday on the 9 p.m. weekday newscast alongside Robin Robinson and Jeff Goldblatt.

“We’re thrilled to have Anna join Fox Chicago News,”  Mike Renda, vice president and general manager of Channel 32, said in a statement. “In addition to her award-winning reporting skills, she is one of the most talked-about personalities in the market, and we think she will be a perfect addition to our late news team.”

Said Davlantes: “I’m thrilled to be a part of the talented Fox Chicago News team. This is an incredible opportunity and I am looking forward to it.”

Davlantes has been the most prized free agent in town since July, when she declined to renew her contract at WMAQ-Channel 5 and left the NBC-owned station after nine years as a reporter and weekend anchor.

Jeanne Sparrow

The first thing you need to know about the new morning news show on WCIU-Channel 26 is that it’s not really a show. The second thing is that it doesn’t really have much news. But it is on in the morning — and it’s a devilishly clever work in progress.

“You & Me This Morning,” now in its fourth week on the air, consists of locally produced informational segments ranging in length from 30 seconds to 15 minutes. The segments are sprinkled throughout the morning block of syndicated programming on “The U” (including “The Insider,” “Everybody Hates Chris” and two episodes of “Half & Half”) between 6 and 9 a.m. Monday through Friday. Read the rest of this entry →

Ladies and gentlemen, the winner and still champion is  . . . Ron Magers.

Despite all the excitement and publicity surrounding the return of Bill Kurtis, 69, and Walter Jacobson, 72, to the anchor desk for the first time in 20 years at WBBM-Channel 2, the best the CBS-owned station could do Friday night was finish a close second in the ratings at 10 p.m. to ABC-owned WLS-Channel 7.

To their credit, Bill & Walter never made any sweeping claims of toppling the market leader. In an interview Friday afternoon with Roe Conn, Kurtis even tipped his hat to Magers and Channel 7, calling them “the Mount Everest of TV news.” Everest still stands. Read the rest of this entry →

Tonight’s reunion of legendary news anchors Bill Kurtis and Walter Jacobson at 10 p.m. could well deliver the biggest audience ratings WBBM-Channel 2 has seen in years.

In fact, a large enough Nielsen number would move the CBS-owned station ahead of NBC-owned WMAQ-Channel 5 among viewers between the ages of 25 and 54, the demographic most prized by advertisers. (Both stations trail ABC-owned WLS-Channel 7.) But even if that happens, Bruno Cohen, president and general manager of Channel 2, insists there’s no future role in mind for Bill & Walter. “It’s one night only,” he said. “That’s all there is to it.” Read the rest of this entry →

Walter Jacobson and Bill Kurtis at a Museum of Broadcast Communications event in 1994.

This just in: For the first time in 20 years, Bill Kurtis and Walter Jacobson will anchor the 10 o’clock news together on WBBM-Channel 2, sources said.

The CBS-owned station is expected to announce today that the legendary duo will be back behind the anchor desk for one night only — this Friday. Rob Johnson, who normally anchors the 10 p.m. newscast solo, will have the night off.

The inspired stunt was conceived by Channel 2 news director Jeff Kiernan, who grew up in Munster, Ind., and spent his formative years watching Chicago television in the heyday of Kurtis and Jacobson.

First teamed up in 1973, the duo revolutionized local news by broadcasting right out of the newsroom and emphasizing enterprise reporting. (Their marketing slogan: “It’s not pretty, but it’s real.”) Except for a three-year detour when Kurtis anchored “The CBS Morning News” in New York, their 10 p.m. partnership remained intact until 1989, when Jacobson was replaced by Linda MacLennan.

Earlier this year, Kurtis, 69, rejoined Channel 2 as a special contributor when the station picked up reruns of his former A&E “Cold Case Files” series in syndication. Jacobson, 72, who jumped to Fox-owned WFLD-Channel 32 in 1993, retired in 2006.

Nielsen ratings for October show Channel 2’s 10 p.m. weekday newscast tied for second place with NBC-owned WMAQ-Channel 5.

UPDATE: This photo shows Kurtis and Jacobson shooting a promo with Rob Johnson:

Oh, great. Just what we needed: Four hours of radio consisting of bloggers no one knows about yapping about blogs no one cares about. OK, maybe that’s too harsh. But I know I’m not the only one who reacted that way when Tribune Co.-owned WGN-AM (720) announced a new weekly radio show based on the Tribune Co.-owned blog site ChicagoNow.com. Read the rest of this entry →

They’re some of Chicago’s biggest television news personalities as you’ve never seen them before: Wearing white T-shirts and camisoles, showing off biceps and bra straps and bare shoulders, sporting sexy smiles and come-hither gazes.

The text accompanying these black-and-white images of Kathy Brock, Mark Suppelsa, Anne State, Anna Davlantes, Tera Williams, Anthony Ponce and Paula Faris lists their personal “obsessions,” written in a style that evokes the “turn-ons” and “turnoffs” of Playboy centerfolds. All seven photographs ran in the October issue of Michigan Avenue magazine, under the subhead: “Chicago’s small-screen stunners strip down their airtime appearances and reveal their own behind-the-scenes obsessions.” Read the rest of this entry →