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WGN GM Wilke named new GM @ WBBM, Cohen heads to SF/Seattle


Jase

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"In a major local television executive shuffle, Marty Wilke is leaving her position as general manager of WGN-Ch.9 for the same role at CBS-owned WBBM-Ch.2. Wilke will start at CBS 2 Oct. 1, replacing Bruno Cohen, who is leaving after four years here to become president and general manager of three CBS-owned TV stations in San Francisco and Seattle." - RC

 

Chicago Tribune

http://www.chicagotr...4,0,70495.story

 

 

Without question, I can say that no one saw this coming. I wonder what changes are in store for both WBBM and WGN in the months ahead.

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No one saw this coming for sure.. I doubt we'll see any real changes at WGN. As for WBBM, maybe some..

 

I mostly see her trying to give certain talent more prominent rolls and also trying to lure more "Chicago" talent from another station or 2. I'm very sure she's going to tweek the morning show. I honestly could see her doing something with the studio/set too. Whether she keeps Jeff Kiernan as ND, it's very hard to say.. WBBM, as with most TV stations nowadays, doesn't do long term talent contracts anymore (most now are only 6 month or 1 year, up to 2 years for some) so she has alot of play with what she wants to do.. WBBM has been rebuilding very well in the recent couple years. I only hope what she does continues it on.

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While I think WBBM has been doing a great job rebuilding, and his promotion is well-deserved, I have to bring something up:

 

He's seriously going to be GM for the San Francisco duop and at the same time KSTW?! I guess that's hubbed out of the KPIX/KCBS-AM facilities?

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While I think WBBM has been doing a great job rebuilding, and his promotion is well-deserved, I have to bring something up:

 

He's seriously going to be GM for the San Francisco duop and at the same time KSTW?! I guess that's hubbed out of the KPIX/KCBS-AM facilities?

 

 

To my understanding it is.

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I mostly see her trying to give certain talent more prominent rolls and also trying to lure more "Chicago" talent from another station or 2. I'm very sure she's going to tweek the morning show. I honestly could see her doing something with the studio/set too. Whether she keeps Jeff Kiernan as ND, it's very hard to say.. WBBM, as with most TV stations nowadays, doesn't do long term talent contracts anymore (most now are only 6 month or 1 year, up to 2 years for some) so she has alot of play with what she wants to do.. WBBM has been rebuilding very well in the recent couple years. I only hope what she does continues it on.

 

I can see her keeping Kiernan for a while in order maintain stability and build on the work that he and others have done. I agree that she may (or should) do something with the studio/set. I wouldn't expect anything grand, but something to maximize the space more and its overall potential.

 

The morning newscast will no doubt be at the top of the list of things to fix, but I wouldn't expect anything major anytime soon. She is really going to have to come up with something 'out-of-the-box' and that's going to take some time to put together.

 

As far as WGN, there are a lot of unknowns with the whole Tribune bankruptcy thing still unresolved.So,in all likelihood, the acting GM probably won't do anything major other than try to keep the place afloat.

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Maybe they'll finally do something about that set.

 

And the unfinished exterior of the building that's falling apart.

 

Are you talking about channel 2 or wgn? It would be disappointing to hear that channel 2's building and set is already in need of repairs.

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Maybe they'll finally do something about that set.

 

And the unfinished exterior of the building that's falling apart.

 

I wouldn't say WBBM-TV's building exterior is really falling apart but steel on the exterior (the large area above the studio windows which was originally planned to be covered by a wrap around monitors and news ticker) which wasn't originally meant to be fully exposed to the weather is starting to show some signs of being exposed..

 

As for their set.. The last plans I've heard a long time back was that as soon as their contract/deal with the city is over on the active use of a streetside studio for X-number of years, they would move into the other studio on the first floor and lease out the window studio space for other uses whether it's another TV production or a restaurant. However, that was quite a while back and under Cohen. I can see Wilke wanting to keep the streetside studio. I don't think she'll make any real major changes to the set in there but I could see her wanting to reconfigure the set to use it to its full potential again. They do still have the original anchor desk and platform sitting in storage.. Heck, here's a link to a site with photos from the other studio in the building with the platform being used as a bandstand: http://stevestokes.us

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Would love it if they started using the set like it was intended back in 2008, especially if they go back to using the main 4-person desk. They don't need to use the the windows as a backdrop, but if they could let people look in like Ch. 7 does it would be nice. Would also love if they started using a custom graphics package and not the horrible O&O package the've been using since 2010.

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I wouldn't say WBBM-TV's building exterior is really falling apart but steel on the exterior (the large area above the studio windows which was originally planned to be covered by a wrap around monitors and news ticker) which wasn't originally meant to be fully exposed to the weather is starting to show some signs of being exposed..

 

As for their set.. The last plans I've heard a long time back was that as soon as their contract/deal with the city is over on the active use of a streetside studio for X-number of years, they would move into the other studio on the first floor and lease out the window studio space for other uses whether it's another TV production or a restaurant. However, that was quite a while back and under Cohen. I can see Wilke wanting to keep the streetside studio. I don't think she'll make any real major changes to the set in there but I could see her wanting to reconfigure the set to use it to its full potential again. They do still have the original anchor desk and platform sitting in storage.. Heck, here's a link to a site with photos from the other studio in the building with the platform being used as a bandstand: http://stevestokes.us

 

When I was down there a few weeks ago, the steel studs along the bottom (where I presume they were going to hang the ticker) were looking fairly weathered. Granted, it was raining and it was dark, but those things aren't meant to stay exposed to the elements for, what, four? five years now? IMO, that lower area is really where they should focus on. The big part that should be hidden behind the video board can be passed off as "oh, that's SUPPOSED to look that way!!! Exposed conduit is so modern!". That lower part could/should just be covered by a long wrap-around banner of some sort.

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When I was down there a few weeks ago, the steel studs along the bottom (where I presume they were going to hang the ticker) were looking fairly weathered. Granted, it was raining and it was dark, but those things aren't meant to stay exposed to the elements for, what, four? five years now? IMO, that lower area is really where they should focus on. The big part that should be hidden behind the video board can be passed off as "oh, that's SUPPOSED to look that way!!! Exposed conduit is so modern!". That lower part could/should just be covered by a long wrap-around banner of some sort.

I recall us once discussing the fact that there are areas on the facade that need to be accessible for maintenance, electrical and such...and removeable banners would get the job done of covering up the mess but being convenient to work crews in the future.

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I recall us once discussing the fact that there are areas on the facade that need to be accessible for maintenance, electrical and such...and removeable banners would get the job done of covering up the mess but being convenient to work crews in the future.

 

That's in the big open area. I'm talking about the two or three feet at the very bottom of the structure.I forgot that the screen hangs over part of it, but if you really wanted to you could cover it with something. "Weather and Traffic Anytime at CBS2Chicago.com" would fit nicely in the corner...

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