Orlando reporter coming home to join ABC 7 news
Robservations on the media beat:
Jessica D'Onofrio
- Jessica D’Onofrio, who began her career as a part-time news writer at Fox-owned WFLD-Channel 32, is returning home to become a full-time general assignment reporter at ABC-owned WLS-Channel 7. Starting in September, she will be assigned to Channel 7’s weekday morning newscast. Her hiring coincides with the expansion of the newscast, which will start a half-hour earlier — at 4:30 a.m. — as of this Monday. D’Onofrio most recently has been a reporter at WKMG-TV in Orlando, Fla. She joined the CBS affiliate in 2005 after stints at WXIN-TV in Indianapolis and WHOI-TV in Peoria. The Chicago native is a graduate of the University of Michigan and Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism.
- Patti Haze, one of Chicago radio’s all-time great rock jocks, is the latest personality to join the all-star lineup of Chicago Radio Online. The free online music service (also available as an app for iPad and iPhone/iPod Touch platforms) is headed by Kurt Hanson and John Gehron of Chicago-based AccuRadio.com. Haze, who now lives in Detroit, will turn up with Mitch Michaels as co-host of the Classic Rock Chicago format. Perfect. Just perfect.
- There’s an interesting radio footnote to the recent departure of Joe Ahern as president of the Rosebud Restaurant chain. As briefly noted here last month, the former Chicago television executive (who once ran CBS-owned WBBM-Channel 2 and ABC-owned WLS-Channel 7) apparently had a falling out with Rosebud owner Alex Dana and left the company after only six months. Unfortunately, Ahern’s early exit also meant curtains for live broadcasts of “The Smooth Jazz Sunday Brunch” from Rosebud Prime in the Loop. The show, hosted by Rick O’Dell, had been airing from the site since April on Venture Technologies Group’s smooth jazz WLFM-LP (87.7). It’s still being heard (but not seen) from the station’s studio from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sundays.
- Now that Anna Davlantes is headed for morning anchor duties with Corey McPherrin at Fox-owned WFLD-Channel 32, she won’t be turning up anymore on Drew Walker’s afternoon show on CBS Radio country WUSN-FM (99.5). As of this week, Fox Chicago News anchor Robin Robinson will join Walker with news updates at 6:40 p.m. Monday through Friday. (Is Robinson a country music fan? Who knew?)
- Little Red Corvette: Citadel Broadcasting oldies WLS-FM (94.7) is giving away a cherry red 1972 Corvette Stingray Convertible. If there’s a cooler prize being awarded by any radio station this summer, I haven’t heard about it.
- Programming changes coming to Chicago Public Media WBEZ-FM (91.5) next week include the addition of three new shows — CBC’s “Q,” NPR’s “Snap Judgment” and CBC’s “WireTap” — and the expansion of CBC’s “Ideas” from one day a week to five. Leaving the station’s lineup will be “Living on Earth,” “Definitely Not the Opera,” “The Story” and the nightly repeat of “Worldview.” (Here is the link to a complete rundown of the revised schedule.)
blogs.vocalo.org
I wonder if Jessica knows how to pronounce “Goethe Street” and where it is in the city.
Cripes, isn’t “A Way with Words” offered to public radio stations at NO COST?
Her head shot makes it look like she is a mannequin.
Aren’t *all* the CBC shows free?
It’s too bad about Worldview.
Robin Robinson loves both kinds of music: country and western.
I wonder whay anyone would about this: I wonder if Jessica knows how to pronounce “Goethe Street” and where it is in the city.
I’m guessing that there is now a really fancy private bathroom now available at the Rosebud offices!
Patti Haze! Wow…instant flashbacks to WMET (95.5) and some great rock. In my opinion, that was the best rock station ever in Chicago.
And enough with the “I hope he/she can pronounce Goethe St.” No one cares! It’s a street in Old Town/Gold Coast that matters to no one but the people who live there.
#8, we care because it very important to us that people have spent every waking moment in Chicago in order to report on it. I say this with dripping sarcasm but that is the sentiment with a lot of people and it is childish. WMET and WDAI were great rock stations; I still like the LOOP.
The private bathroom comment — while funny — is piling on a little hard on Joe Ahern. Far more impactful, longer-term, than his free-spending on a private turlet was his free-spending on broadcast talent here in town, which caused a huge amount of dislocation in the market (I know, I know, no one *forced* anyone to jump to CBS2 under Ahern) and artificially drove up pay here just before the bottom dropped out of broadcast salaries. Rumor around town is that lots of TV talent here have been forced to take massive pay cuts. Will these pay cuts continue? We shall see…..
Assuming Goethe St is pronounced the same as the writer, anybody who is well-read will know how to say it, regardless if they are from Chicago or not.
As for Ms. D’Onofrio, I’d say she definitely has the looks. Just hope her reporting skills are up to snuff. To #3 – I think it’s the lighting that makes her look like a mannequin.
wish D Ponce chose to come back to 7 instead of going to 9, Jason Knowles is brutal and I’m worried this girl will be just as bad… sorry ABC7, I’m watching Elgas now in the morning
I suggest that FLD’s Fowler do the updates. She’s gotta be more country than Robertson. Besides I think she’s close to having fired everyone so she has some free time.
John Wayne Goethe had a street named after him?
I hate abc 7 and always will be. You are right Jason Knowles is brutal and annoying. I never watch abc 7 good for you Jean switch to nbc for news. It is the best in town. Boo all news all the time at abc, wgn, and fox news yucky.
I would not recommend watching Channel 5 in the morning. It will creep you out how Zorida and Rob stare at each other while the other is reading the news. And the interplay between Andy and Zorida is absurd; I can’t explain it without writing a novel but watch and you’ll understand. I use to watch buy cannot anymore.
Regarding all of the stations starting their news early…find it interesting; if i recall WGN’s morning news “zoo” blows them all away in the ratings….and they’re about as formal as….fillin your own joke here.
Jessica is from Chicago. She can pronounce the street names.
When you see women like Jessica and Anna can anyone argue that TV news is nothing more than a beauty contest?
“Living on Earth” won’t be missed on WBEZ.
The program is nothing more than a propaganda outlet for global warming alarmists and a cheering section for the Obama administration’s efforts to put a tax on staying alive.
Bruce, they’re all beauties at that age. Nobody will tune in to see Madeline Albright or Phyllis Diller deliver the news. Well, maybe Phyllis Diller…grrrrr.
And #14, don’t be thilly.
At least she is from here so that’s a somewhat of a step up for her. Robin Robinson really wants to be relevant now, doesn’t she. Could care less about BEZ, but MHZ Worldview is on 20.3 if that helps.
glad to see “living on earth” bite the dust on bez….it used to be good but they switched to a new host that was awful….thanks i’ll check out the new show…
Can we start a movement for the return of Dr. Demento ?? The braintrust of Emmis dumped him from the Sunday night slot and replaced it with higher ad revenue…canned rock.
@24 Emmis didn’t dump Demento; he retired.
Too bad they do not put on reruns of “Match Game 75″ instead of more news shows at 4:30 am.
Dr. Demento moved to the world of podcasting.
This is not accurate: if i recall WGN’s morning news “zoo” blows them all away in the ratings.
If only we get someone as hot as Janet Reno to read the news…
Sorry Rob. But AccuRadio jocks are just reading a few liners..this is the worst kind of radio there is…if you can even call it radio..it is a jukebox, that plays songs, and once in a while a liner is read. This is bad stuff, and for a guy like John Gehron to tag his name to this, he should be ashamed of this product.
John Gehron did it for years at WLS too, Larry!
The morning joke news shows are bad. The afternoon and evening news shows are bad. Most of the cable news reading bimbos are bad. Thanks to the Internet, I do not need to watch such garbage in order to know what is going on.
“Happy talk”, or whatever it was called, lightened things up on the WLS tv news, but they still reported hard news. One of the things that I have witnessed on the morning joke news shows, and is like the sound of nails on blackboard, is when they show a comedy “bit” while the news readers laugh. I’d rather listen to Robin Quivers laughing solo.
PS…WTTW is periodically good, depending on who they have on their panel. However, Phil Ponce pitches questions that are so light and fluffy, they float. I guess that is his purpose though.
@Dan Miller: “The program is nothing more than a propaganda outlet for global warming alarmists and a cheering section for the Obama administration’s efforts to put a tax on staying alive.”
You tell ‘em, brah! What this station really needs is a heapin’ dose of the reactionary theopolitical war on science!
She looks nice, but yes, that picture looks computer-generated or something.
Definitely Not the Opera will definitely not be missed, but I do like Worldview.
It does not matter which “reader” reads the “news”. Who cares.