Category: Business

When WLS-TV/ABC 7 dropped the “Eyewitness News” monicker in 1996, the station was Chicago’s undisputed leader in local broadcast news.

Some 17 years later and still number one, ABC 7 will soon bring “Eyewitness News” back, reports Robert Feder, likely in time for November sweeps. John Idler, ABC 7’s president and general manager, tells Feder that revising the “Eyewitness News” name will be done in a contemporary sense — a “look forward to what ‘Eyewitness News’ means to viewers today.”

With all due respect to Idler, I read that as marketing fluff for “we’re changing the name of the newscast while everything else around it will pretty much stay the same.” Without a significant change to the newscast’s presentation or format, a name change with maybe a new studio set (highly unlikely) or graphics (more likely) is nothing more than a fresh coat of paint.

If I were a betting man, one intangible unlikely to change is the theme music. When “Eyewitness News” became “ABC 7 News” in 1996, the station decided to continue using the same music. Considering that ABC 7 has resisted changing it since, there’s hardly any reason to expect they’d do so now (which is perfectly fine by me).

Concerning everything else around the name change, I wouldn’t blame Idler for playing it safe. Even though ABC 7’s ratings dominance in local news has minimized in recent years, any attempt to dramatically alter the presentation or format would likely have an adverse affect. Previous attempts elsewhere have typically bombed.

In 2000, WBBM-TV/CBS 2’s effort to go retro with a more straight-and-narrow newscast featuring Carol Marin was dropped after eight months because of low viewership. CBS 2 went the opposite direction in 2010 with “Monsters and Money” in the morning, which was dropped after only seven months due to embarrassing low ratings.

I don’t mean to pick on CBS 2. Since their newscasts have typically been in or near last place for well over a decade, they’ve had reason to try something different. Lessening the burden on CBS 2 in recent years has been WFLD-TV/Fox 32. When walking past an empty Fox news truck at Monday’s Columbus Day parade, my wife said “Fox is also here. Where do you think they’re at?” My immediate response was “last place.”

In fairness to CBS 2, I am a big fan of the current newscast they’ve assembled, in both mornings and at night. There’s nothing edgy or innovative about it. They’ve done a great job at finding the right talent who also work well together on camera. Even if ratings growth is slow or sometimes stagnant, they are headed in the right direction as far as delivery goes.

Concerning the revival of “Eyewitness News,” Idler told Feder that a research study commissioned by the station showed that even though the name went away in 1996, it still resonates with the public. That to me sounds vague and doesn’t really mean anything to me. I get the sense they’re doing it more so for the sake of change. I hope whoever conducted that study wasn’t the same person or group that swayed WFLD into re-adapting the outdated “Fox 32” monicker.

While maintaining the status quo for local broadcast news may be the safe route, the way society collects and searches for news and information continues to change with the advancement of mobile technology and gadgets.

With the continued decline of print media and its failure to adapt a profitable online business model, local broadcast news should be in the driver’s seat. In the case of ABC 7, the name of the newscast isn’t going to matter in the long-run. What will make a long-term difference is that the quality of news stays superb, that it is easily available on mobile devices and that users can access it whenever they want.

At this point, I’m not sure how newsworthy this is, but the program schedule listed on WGNRadio.com (which includes the “over the air” schedule for shows on WGN 720 AM as well as any additional online-only shows)  no longer includes Mike McConnell’s live stream show.

Last week following a Robert Feder report (which I recapped on this  blog) that McConnell’s agent had accepted an early settlement from his remaining two-year WGN contract, McConnell the next day on his Facebook wrote that he would soon return, at least with a podcast. McConnell’s been posting an update each weekday on his Facebook since doing his last live online-show on Oct. 3.

Until Feder follows-up with a report with absolute 100% confirmation that McConnell is gone or until McConnell says something more definitive on his Facebook page, we probably won’t know for sure what his status is at WGN.

CBS 2’s Kris Kutierrez and Marissa Bailey with former Chicago Bear Ray McElroy – Photo courtesy of Bailey’s Twitter @MarissaCBS2.

What exactly is WBBM-TV/CBS 2 waiting for? Going on five months since releasing Susan Carlson and the station continues to stall in naming a permanent morning news anchor.  Since Carlson’s exit, CBS 2 has alternated between weekend morning anchor Marissa Bailey and veteran anchor Roseanne Tellez, who also anchors the 11 a.m. weekday newscast.

In his Sept. 16. piece, Robert Feder mentioned that CBS 2 has searched among some outside candidates, but that staffers within the CBS 2 newsroom would be surprised if the station named a permanent successor anytime soon. The delay in naming a replacement suggested that Carlson’s firing was attributed to saving money (I think that sounds reasonable, because in all honestly, does CBS 2 really expect that the person succeeding Carlson is going to be that much of an upgrade?).

While CBS 2 continues to twiddle their thumbs, the obvious answer is right in front of them — Marissa Bailey. Not because she’s already employed by the station and it would be an easy move (both of which would be true), but because she is a great anchor and fits in nicely within the newscast. While her delivery is good, her overall demeanor is excellent. She is an absolute natural behind the desk.

Having watched enough of the weekday mornings she does work (usually Mondays and Tuesdays), it’s more than obvious that her and co-anchor Kris Gutierrez naturally work well together. Meanwhile, the overall chemistry amongst the entire on air staff, most notably meteorologist Megan Glaros, traffic anchor Derrick Young and the off-beat and versatile reporter Vince Gerasole, is near the same level that it was when Carlson was there.

Tellez, by default, would be an acceptable choice as well, though I do understand the sentiment that with Tellez, there is a “been there, done that” type of vibe (which is a shame because such a sentiment is rather unfair considering how talented she is). I’d be willing to guess Tellez wakes up each morning regretting her 2004 decision to leave the WGN-Ch. 9 morning news fest.

Bailey should have been the obvious no-brainer for CBS 2. It’s a shame that they are still waiting this out. Talk about the classic case of over-thinking something that doesn’t need it. Bailey is right there in front of them.

Again, I ask, what are they waiting for?

Photo from Mike McConnell’s Facebook.

Where there’s smoke, there’s often fire. Yesterday, I called B.S. to technical issues preventing Mike McConnell from doing his WGNRadio.com online-stream show. Last night, Robert Feder reported that McConnell’s agent has tentatively agreed to an early settlement from his remaining two-year contract.

To be fair, I had no idea what the situation involving McConnell was when calling B.S. to the technical difficulties excuse. When asking around yesterday among some inside WGN, no one claimed to know anything pertaining to McConnell. Even without comment from WGN Radio President and General Manager Jimmy de Castro, I trust Feder got his information from a very high level source.

The obvious question for the remaining McConnell fans is where he might land next. Wherever McConnell goes, he probably won’t make close to the $500,000 a year he reportedly made at WGN. His willingness to leave that kind of money on the table would suggest taking less money elsewhere is worth more in the long-run where he can presumably work at a station more designated for his brand of news/talk while also having the support of management.

Mike McConnell’s been telling his Facebook fans that technical issues are preventing him from doing his live stream (and subsequent podcast) on the WGNRadio.com website. His Facebook fans aren’t necessarily buying it.

Either way, McConnell’s last show was Thursday, Oct. 3. Later that afternoon, he wrote on his Facebook that there would be no Friday podcast, but that he’d be back on Monday. Three days in and nothing this week.

What kind of technical issues would keep McConnell from doing a live Internet stream for multiple days? It’s a fair question considering Jonathon Brandmeier has had zero problems with his live stream (which technically should operate no differently than McConnell’s — on the surface, Brandmeier’s stream is simply branded under the “WGN.FM” monicker while McConnell’s is not). Even if the problem was as simple as a faulty Internet connection from McConnell’s end in Cincinnati (where he does, from time to time, broadcast from), I doubt that would keep him off the air for more than a day.

I’m calling B.S. on the” technical issues.” Since being jettisoned from the WGN-AM 720 airwaves in early August, it’s seemed obvious that the station wanted him to just go away completely. There’s been no on air mentions or promotion of his move to the “WGN-2” stream channel on the station website, nor have his shows received promotion space on the WGNRadio.com home page.

On Aug. 20, Robert Feder reported that station management was attempting to negotiate an early settlement of his remaining two year contract, worth $50,000 a year. With such an ironclad contract, McConnell should have the easiest gig in the world. Would he be willing to walk away from such easy money, even if the lack of promotion, caller interaction or support from the station makes his time there miserable?

McConnell’s not my favorite news/talker in radio, but I still like his show more then I dislike it. Since moving to online-only, I’ve made an effort to listen to the podcast more regularly. The absence of commercials, news, traffic and weather were an added bonus.

While McConnell is yet to address today’s absence on his Facebook page, that hasn’t stopped his readers from speculating the possibility that he is now completely on the outs at WGN. Whether it has merit or not, one commenter wrote that after texting the station last night, he received a response hinting that McConnell was done.

The longer McConnell goes without commenting about anything on his Facebook, the more reason there is to speculate.

UPDATE at 2:40 pm – Mike’s posted an update on his Facebook a few minutes ago:

Sorry Likers – it’s been a busy day and as you can see no stream or podcast. You’re all pretty good guessers as to what in the world is going on and I’ll let you know as soon as I do.  Thanks for staying in touch.

Definitely no longer just a technical problem…

With last week’s passing of legendary Chicago talk show host Don Wade, I thought it was appropriate that Bruce Wolf and Dan Proft dedicated last Monday’s show to remembering the late host (Wolf and Proft succeeded Wade and his wife Roma late last year on the WLS-AM 890 morning show).

On Friday, Robert Feder noted that the station would air a special two-hour tribute to Wade, which aired earlier today from 1 to 3 p.m. Unfortunately, I was not around a radio at the time so I was unable to listen, but a Facebook post by Feder earlier tonight caught my attention.

The millions Don Wade made for WLS in his lifetime weren’t enough? They’re running commercials during his two-hour memorial tribute. #classless

While I’m not as offended by it as Feder is, if it’s just the same, I don’t like it any better than he did. At the same time, I would have been more shocked if commercials had in fact been omitted those two hours (WLS is owned by Cumulus Media… which says everything you need to know).

If anything, I’m more appalled at the scheduling the show for a Sunday afternoon. People are more likely to be in their cars when out and about running errands on a Sunday morning. Not that people aren’t listening to the radio on Sunday afternoons, but when you consider the Bears game was on from noon to 3 p.m. yesterday, how many people were likely going to hear it in the first place?

At the very least, the station should podcast the tribute on their website (after removing the commercials, of course), and then promote the hell out of it all over the air all this week.

Stay classy, Cumulus.

ADDENDUM – 9/19/13:
WLS posted the Don Wade tribute on their website, commercial free. WLS news anchor John Dempsey hosted the special broadcast, while several WLS personalities (present and alum) joined in to share their thoughts. To the credit of WLS, it was an awesome broadcast well worth the listen, giving me the opportunity, for the first time, to sample the personality of a younger Don Wade before his news/talk days. Dempsey did an outstanding job, in what I imagine was a difficult circumstance, after having worked with Don and Roma for five and a half years.