Andy Shaw
Robservations on the media beat:
Andy Shaw, who’s been the public face of the Better Government Association since 2009, is stepping down as president and chief executive officer of the nonprofit civic watchdog group. A search is on for his successor, who is expected to be named next month. “The time is right for someone else to take over day-to-day management of the BGA while I continue to help the organization in a variety of other ways leading up to our centennial celebration in 2023,” Shaw said Monday. Shaw, 69, joined the BGA as executive director in 2009 and was named president and CEO in 2011. He previously had been political reporter for ABC-owned WLS-Channel 7. “I enjoyed 37 wonderful years as a print and television reporter in Chicago, and it’s been an honor and a privilege to spend the past eight-plus years participating in the revitalization of this legendary and critically important watchdog organization,” he added.
Kenny Jay
Entercom Communications has named Kenny Jay program director of country WUSN FM 99.5, the company announced Monday. He succeeds Todd Cavanah, who continues as vice president of programming for Entercom Chicago and program director of Top 40 WBBM FM 96.3 and classic hip hop WBMX FM 104.3. Jay, whose real name is Kenny Voss, most recently has been program director of KMPS, Entercom’s country station in Seattle. In the latest Nielsen Audio survey US99 tied for sixth place with a 3.7 percent share and cumulative weekly audience of 947,500.
Pat Tomasulo
WGN-Channel 9 bosses are delighted with the ratings for the premiere of Pat Tomasulo’s weekly late-night comedy show. “Man of the People” scored a 2.6 Nielsen rating (or 85,792 households) from 10 to 10:30 p.m. Saturday on the Tribune Broadcasting station. The show lived up to its billing as an entertaining mix of wry observations, news of the day and comedy bits. (And yes, Bozo the Clown did show up for the debut — as did Mayor Rahm Emanuel.) Tomasulo continues as sports anchor for WGN Morning News.
Charles Thomas
WTTW-Channel 11’s hourlong lovefest Friday to Joel Weisman on his retirement as host of “Chicago Tonight: The Week in Review” took an awkward turn with panelist Charles Thomas. The former ABC 7 political reporter took Weisman to task for not inviting him on the show now that Thomas works for urban talk WVON AM 1690. “I used to be on this show all the time,” Thomas said. “But when I left mainstream media and I went to black media, you didn’t call me anymore. I’m still in the game!” (Weisman said he did not personally select each week’s guests.) Thomas also confessed that he has turned off local TV news: “I don’t watch it anymore because there’s just nothing there with any depth. The whole notion of appointment viewing — actually being there at 4, 5 or 6 to be there to watch the news or at 10. . . . I’m not going to that television set to watch the news at that time.”
Sunday’s best comment: Richard A. I. Carlson: John Coleman's weather reports were always entertaining, much moreso than accurate. I don't know how many times I dreamed his blizzard reports would come thru, as a kid I was always disappointed to wake up in the morning to a dusting of snow expecting to see the foot that he promised. He was also extremely stubborn and could never see the other side of an argument. Some might call that passionate but one thing is for sure, he believed in his causes.