Posted by chicagomedia.org on May 07, 2009 at 10:06:04:
Retiring WMAQ-TV anchor Warner Saunders to return only for farewell, sources say
WMAQ-Ch. 5's Warner Saunders is expected to return to the 10 p.m. newscast he has co-anchored for a dozen years on May 20th to say farewell to viewers and cap a career of more than 40 years in Chicago television.
But sources say Saunders, 74, who announced in October that he planned to retire at the end of this month and has been off the air since March because of a pelvic fracture, has anchored his last newscast for the NBC-owned station that's been his home since 1980.
Saunders and Channel 5, which has scheduled a tribute broadcast to Saunders that will make its debut at 7:30 a.m. on May 24th, declined comment.
The station has not named an official successor to Saunders opposite Allison Rosati. Bob Sirott, who assumed Saunders' duties on WMAQ's 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. newscasts earlier, has been a regular substitute.
A one-time teacher and youth worker, Saunders became a go-to source for the media on the subject of urban youth in the 1960s. This led to monthly specials on Channel 5, and then a Sunday afternoon show on Channel 7, "For Blacks Only," which he co-hosted with radio star "Daddy-O" Daylie beginning in 1968.
When WSNS-Ch. 44 was starting a news operation in 1970, Saunders was its urban affairs editor. From there, he went to WBBM-Ch. 2, where his on-air profile as a host and reporter increased as a prelude to joining Channel 5.
Saunders became Channel 5's lead newscaster when Ron Magers, now at WLS-Ch. 7, left after the station briefly brought in Jerry Springer as commentator.
Chicago's Museum of Broadcast Communications has "A Salute to Warner Saunders" event scheduled for May 16th at the Fairmont Hotel. Tickets are $350 apiece.
Saunders made news in February when he stunned many in the Chicago broadcast community at the local American Federation of Television and Radio Artists chapter's annual meeting by verbally confronting former Chicago Sun-Times TV/radio columnist Robert Feder, an honored guest at the union event.
(Phil Rosenthal, Chicago Tribune)