Edison the Reindeer

Christmas may be six weeks away, but Chicago radio can’t wait to get into the holiday spirit.

Starting just after midnight Friday, WLIT FM 93.9 will switch to around-the-clock Christmas music programming for the 14th consecutive year. Edison the Reindeer returns as the official holiday mascot of “Chicago’s Christmas Station.” Continue reading →

Let the Christmas radio battle begin.

In what’s billed as a first for local radio, WILV FM 100.3 is offering listeners a 50/50 split of Christmas music and mainstream hits for the next six weeks.

Starting at 6 a.m. Thursday and airing continuously through Christmas Day, the Hubbard Radio station will alternate holiday classics with songs from its regular adult-contemporary playlist. They’re calling it “The Perfect Christmas Blend.”

”For more than a year now Hubbard Radio Chicago has been committed to re-inventing the standard AC [adult contemporary] format,” Marty Bender, program director of Chicago’s 100.3, said in a statement. “In that spirit, we are presenting a new way to hear the holiday. This is yet another unique ‘touch’ for our growing and lucratively targeted adult audience. This isn’t a radio strategy as much as it’s simply giving our listeners a balance of the two types of music they want to hear.” Continue reading →

Jane Hirt

Replacing the most powerful woman in Chicago journalism may not be easy. It definitely won’t be quick.

No deadline has been set to name a successor to Jane Hirt, who announced her resignation Wednesday as managing editor of the Chicago Tribune, effective November 21. Continue reading →

John Farneda

John Farneda, who joined WXRT FM 93.1 as an intern in 1983 and rose to operations manager and music director, is retiring from the CBS Radio album adult alternative station.

“After 31 years at Chicago’s Finest Rock, I realized that I have achieved all my goals at the radio station and it is now time to set new ones,” Farneda, 53, told colleagues Tuesday. His last day on the job will be November 26. Continue reading →

Marianne Murciano

Fourteen years after she lost her morning news anchor job to Tamron Hall at Fox-owned WFLD-Channel 32, Marianne Murciano is speaking out about it.

“Tamron Hall moved in and took my job while I was on maternity leave,” Murciano said Monday on the WGN AM 720 midday show she co-hosts with her husband, Bob Sirott. Murciano’s comments were prompted by a New York Post report about a behind-scenes power struggle on NBC’s “Today” show between Hall and Natalie Morales. Continue reading →

Edna Schmidt

Edna Schmidt, who was a top news anchor at two Spanish-language stations in Chicago, is suing one of them for firing her when she appeared drunk on the air.

A lawsuit filed in federal court last week claims Telemundo Station Group’s WSNS-Channel 44 and parent company NBC Universal violated the Americans with Disabilities Act by failing to provide Schmidt “reasonable accommodation” for her alcoholism. Continue reading →

Steve Grzanich

Veteran Chicago radio newsman Steve Grzanich has been named government and politics editor of Rivet News Radio.

His promotion to the new role comes six months after Grzanich joined the Chicago-based personalizable Internet radio news operation as a reporter and news anchor. He’s best known as former afternoon news anchor at CBS Radio all-news WBBM AM 780, where he signed off after 20 years last December.

“I’m excited and proud to be a part of what I think will be an exciting new era for audio/radio news,” Grzanich said Sunday. “Also to join a team that includes so many talented broadcasters, journalists, innovators and others. As news consumers further embrace the on-demand model, Rivet News Radio is uniquely positioned to become one of their go-to sources locally, nationally and globally. I hope I can contribute to that.” Continue reading →

Doug Banks

Urban radio superstar Doug Banks is more than Chicago’s top-rated afternoon personality and a veteran TV host. Now he’s a media mogul, too.

Through his Doug Banks Media Group, he’s about to produce and distribute a nationally syndicated motivational radio show, hosted by Donald Lawrence, the Grammy Award-winning producer and recording artist from Chicago. Continue reading →

Jim Wiser

After more than two years as executive producer of video programming at ChicagoTribune.com, Jim Wiser is back in play.

His position was eliminated this week in a restructuring of the department, effective November 28. A Tribune spokeswoman did not respond to a request for comment Friday.

Wiser, 50, headed a staff of about a dozen young video journalists and editors who produced live webcasts and other digital content from the newsroom of the Chicago Tribune. Continue reading →

Leah Ashley, Joe Zee, Tyra Banks, Chrissy Teigen and Lauren Makk

Just when WLS-Channel 7 finally has its morning and afternoon schedule straightened out, the top-rated ABC-owned station is bracing for more changes to its daytime lineup.

Next up is “The Fab” (an acronym for “Fun and Beautiful”), a Los Angeles-based syndicated lifestyle talk show. Host Tyra Banks, who’ll double as executive producer, will moderate a panel featuring YouTube star Leah Ashley, Yahoo! Fashion and Entertainment editor-in-chief Joe Zee, model Chrissy Teigen and interior designer Lauren Makk. Continue reading →