Posted by chicagomedia.org on July 29, 2008 at 17:29:19:
WGN-Ch. 9 general manager resigns
Station's sales director named interim general manager
Tom Ehlmann has resigned as vice president and general manager of Tribune Co.'s WGN-Ch. 9, to take the top job at NBC-owned KXAS-TV in Dallas. Marty Wilke, WGN's sales director, today was named that station's interim general manager.
Ehlmann's new posting as KXAS president and general manager, effective Aug. 11, was announced by Larry Wert, NBC Local Media's Chicago-based president for the Central and Western Region, to whom he will report. Ehlmann succeeds Tom O'Brien, who was named president and general manager of NBC's New York flagship WNBC-TV in April.
"I wasn't looking for anything, but an opportunity's come up and it takes us back to somewhere that we want to live," Ehlmann, who spent eight years at the Tribune Co. station in Houston before joining WGN in 2004, said in an interview.
"Tom has a tremendous record of success in the local media marketplace and has done a great job leading Tribune's flagship station WGN-TV," Wert said in a statement. "He is an innovative leader, who has been a strong competitor in the Chicago market. We're thrilled to have someone of Tom's caliber on our team, returning to Texas to lead our Dallas operations."
Tribune Broadcasting President Ed Wilson, in a memo announcing Wilke's interim appointment to WGN staff, said Ehlman "led WGN-TV to unprecedented heights in the Chicago market [and] created a foundation for us to enjoy even greater future successes."
Tribune Co. also owns the Chicago Tribune.
Wilke, a native of suburban Downers Grove, has been Channel 9's sales director since 2002, and before that was local sales manager both there and at WMAQ-Ch. 5.
"She's talented, experienced and has deep roots throughout Chicagoland," Wilson wrote. "You'll find her passion about WGN and our company contagious."
The move comes at an eventful time for WGN, which this week installed newly hired former WFLD-Ch. 32 and WMAQ-Ch.5 anchor Mark Suppelsa as Allison Payne's partner on the station's marquee 9 p.m. newscast. Payne's co-anchor for the last 15 years, Steve Sanders, moved to the noon news alongside Micah Materre, as of Monday.
Channel 9 still looks to add a 5:30 p.m. newscast and expand its midday news to 90 minutes within the next two months, Wilson said.
"Our plans remain the same," Wilson wrote. "In September, we're launching a 5:30 p.m. newscast, which will be the best in Chicago, and we're developing local programming. We remain on point to continue producing quality, cutting-edge television that captivates our viewers."
Before joining WGN, Ehlmann spent six years as vice president and general manager of Tribune Co.'s KHWB-TV in Houston. He previously served as general sales manager at KHWB and KOVR-TV, a CBS affiliate in Sacramento.
"I've always been proud to be a part of the WGN-TV family," Wilke said in a statement. "The wealth of history and knowledge of our staff will make this a quick and smooth transition -- these folks are the best in the city."
(Rosenthal)