Posted by Bud on May 13, 2010 at 11:40:43:
Courtesy of Phil Rosenthal at the Chicago Tribune:
Further cementing the consolidation of Chicago Tribune parent Tribune Co.'s WGN-Ch. 9 and CLTV, Channel 9 Vice President and General Manager Marty Wilke has assumed greater responsibility for the station's local cable cousin, Tribune Broadcasting announced Thursday.
Steve Farber, who has been CLTV's general manager since 2006, was named vice president/operations for WGN and CLTV, effective immediately.
WGN and CLTV began to merge business and editorial operations last year, with CLTV giving up its suburban Oak Brook home for WGN's West Bradley Place headquarters. The move was promoted by Tribune Co. as providing advertisers a one-stop opportunity to buy time on both channels, while the two newsrooms were integrated under Channel 9 news boss Greg Caputo.
“There is a lot more opportunity ahead as we work together to build these great brands,” Wilke, who joined WGN in 1996 and has running the station since the summer of 2008 after six years as head of sales, said in a statement.
Farber, who for several weeks this year was pulling temporary double duty as interim news director of Tribune Co.'s Fox affiliate in Hartford, Conn., will manage key operational initiatives for WGN and CLTV in his new position. He also will handle special projects for Tribune Broadcasting and its 23-station group.
“Marty and Steve make a great team—they’re talented, dedicated and extremely innovative,” Jerry Kersting, Tribune Broadcasting’s chief operating officer, said in the announcement. “In addition, they’ve gotten some valuable experience working together following CLTV’s move to WGN’s facilities last fall.”
CLTV was launched in 1993 as an extension of the Chicago Tribune newspaper. Until last year, the channel was available only through what is now Comcast cable. The arrangement became nonexclusive, however, and it is carried on other systems, including RCN. Comcast also is making the channel available to viewers in Rockford and South Bend, Ind.
Tribune Co., which has operated under Chapter 11 protection since December 2008, on Wednesday filed a series of applications with the Federal Communications Commission necessary to emerge from bankruptcy with its broadcast portfolio intact. The goal is to maintain the status quo with regard to operating its broadcast assets.