[Ccarc] WLS once MUSIC RADIO...then NEWS-TALK..Now Talk only

[Tom Murray]

Slaughter at WLS cuts news from 'news/talk' 
		
		
		

		
		

		March 4, 2008


		BY ROBERT FEDER Sun-Times Columnist
			
					
						


The idiots and incompetents who've been destroying radio struck again Friday. 
In this case, their targets were legendary major-market stations
that until recently were owned by ABC -- including Chicago's news/talk
WLS-AM (890) and oldies WZZN-FM (94.7).
The villain this time was Citadel Broadcasting Corp. CEO Farid
Suleman, who made a lousy deal to buy the stations and now appears
determined to wreck them in order to save face and pay down his
crushing debt.
Before he blundered into Citadel, Suleman used to be a bean counter
and hatchet man for Mel Karmazin at the former Infinity Broadcasting.
Suleman obviously learned little from his mentor, who appreciated the
value of talented personalities to a successful radio product.
At WLS and WZZN, 14 people were fired Friday. Although two could
return through a back door (including afternoon traffic anchor
Christina Filiaggi, if a deal can be reached with Metro Networks), the
slaughter was deeply destructive.
The moves were an overreaction to Wall Street after a tough fourth
quarter. With audience ratings solidly in seventh place and 2006
revenues of $18.5 million, WLS was operating smartly and profitably.
And WZZN, which seemed to be on the verge of a turnaround under a new
manager, almost surely will have to shelve its expansion plans.
It certainly will be a lot harder now for WLS to promote itself as
the place to go for news since its once-proud news department has been
utterly decimated.
Forced out were news director Jennifer Keiper and reporters Bill
Cameron (a distinguished veteran of the City Hall press room) and David
Jennings. Left to carry on are two drive-time news anchors and one
street reporter.
Outsourcing and reliance on newspaper contributors will be the new order of the day.
"I never thought it would be on this scale," said Keiper, who feels
sympathy for the survivors. "And I think this is only the beginning."
Also out are weekend hosts Jake Hartford and Nate Clay. Hartford is
an especially tough loss since his Saturday morning talk show had been
a popular draw for years.
Off-air hits included local sales manager Patrick Fitzgerald and
John Romanovich, exec producer of Don Wade and Roma's morning show. A
producer, a technical board operator, a part-time voice talent, a
Webmaster, a sales assistant and a receptionist round out the hit list.
With the Wades' contract up in November, speculation has been
heating up that Suleman could force WLS to replace them with Don Imus,
whose New York-based morning show was resurrected by Citadel last year.
If WLS loses its local morning show to syndication, it could be the last nail in the coffin for The Big 89. TRACKING: 
Layoffs hit Channel 2 too
•  •  Friday was no picnic at WBBM-Channel 2 either, where more staffers were cut from the troubled CBS-owned station.
Latest victims of the budget squeeze were program manager Diane Kotin, art director Neal Weisenberg and creative services assistant producer Angel Holmes.
On Monday, Stacy Friedman, supervising producer of morning news, was added to the casualties.
•  •  It's yet another home run for Geoffrey Baer, resident Chicago tour guide for WTTW-Channel 11.
At 7:30 tonight on the Window to the World Communications station,
Baer will debut "Hidden Chicago," a fascinating documentary on some of
the overlooked treasures and forgotten relics of the city's past.
It was produced in association with the Chicago History Museum.
•  •  Mike Adamle, sports anchor at NBC-owned WMAQ-Channel 5,
has changed his mind one more time and rejoined J2 Strategic
Communications, the Chicago-based media training company headed by Joan Esposito and Jim Lichtenstein.
Working with Jon Kelley and Pete Bordwell, Adamle will train athletes and coaches on how to be interviewed by the media.
•  •  Colleagues at CLTV are mourning the loss of Suzanne Miller, who was assistant to three general managers of the Tribune Co.-owned news channel.
Ms. Miller, who died Friday night, was 59.









		




















				








 

 



 
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