Phil Rosenthal & Robert Feder talk about the return of Kurtis & Jacobson to CBS2

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: http://blogs.vocalo.org/feder/2009/11/bill-walter-getting-back-together-%E2%80%94-for-one-night-only/: : This just in: For the first time in 20 years, Bill Kurtis and Walter Jacobson will anchor the 10 o’clock news together on WBBM-Channel 2, sources said. : The CBS-owned station is expected to announce today that the legendary duo will be back behind the anchor desk for one night only — this Friday. Rob Johnson, who normally anchors the 10 p.m. newscast solo, will have the night off. : The inspired stunt was conceived by Channel 2 news director Jeff Kiernan, who grew up in Munster, Ind., and spent his formative years watching Chicago television in the heyday of Kurtis and Jacobson. : First teamed up in 1973, the duo revolutionized local news by broadcasting right out of the newsroom and emphasizing enterprise reporting. (Their marketing slogan: “It’s not pretty, but it’s real.”) Except for a three-year detour when Kurtis anchored “The CBS Morning News” in New York, their 10 p.m. partnership remained intact until 1989, when Jacobson was replaced by Linda MacLennan. : Earlier this year, Kurtis, 69, rejoined Channel 2 as a special contributor when the station picked up reruns of his former A&E “Cold Case Files” series in syndication. Jacobson, 72, who jumped to Fox-owned WFLD-Channel 32 in 1993, retired in 2006. : Nielsen ratings for October show Channel 2’s 10 p.m. weekday newscast tied for second place with NBC-owned WMAQ-Channel 5. : : http://newsblogs.chicagotribune.com/towerticker/2009/11/bill-kurtis-and-walter-jacobson-as-wbbm-stuntmen-exch-2-coanchors-to-team-again-for-a-night.html: : In the latest effort by CBS-owned WBBM-Ch. 2 to remind viewers of better days, the station posted notice on its Web site Thursday that it intends to reunite its long-ago anchor team of Bill Kurtis and Walter Jacobson on its 10 p.m. newscast Friday. : The one-night guest-anchor pairing -- during the November ratings period, no less -- comes as Channel 2, which has lagged in the ratings since the 1980s, tries to take advantage of the competitive disadvantage rival WMAQ-Ch. 5 has been at since NBC replaced dramas with "The Jay Leno Show" as its prime-time lead-in to late local news. Channel 2 is poised to potentially overtake Channel 5 behind perennial leader WLS-Ch. 7. : WBBM's regular 10 p.m. anchor, Rob Johnson, reportedly will be away to attend a friend's wedding. : "There's no trickery involved," Johnson is quoted as saying on the station's Web site. "We certainly want people to watch our news and hope Bill and Walter's presence encourages lots of people to watch. When the idea of Bill and Walter anchoring for me came up, frankly it felt right to me and news management." : WBBM is billing this as the first time the two have anchored together in decades, although Kurtis, 69, and Jacobson, 72, have not exactly been strangers. : As recently as Monday, both in fact joined former CBS News correspondent and Channel 2 reporter Bob Sirott on Monday morning on Chicago Tribune parent Tribune Co.'s WGN-AM 720 to discuss the passing of one-time WBBM colleague Burleigh Hines. : Kurtis and Jacobson were first paired as co-anchors in 1973, fronting a local newscast heralded far beyond this market. Save for three years when Kurtis worked for CBS News in New York, they remained a team until 1989. : Channel 2's Web site quoted Kurtis as saying he and Jacobson "are flattered to be asked to help out." Jacobson, who most recently worked at WFLD-Ch. 32, said he was "a little nervous" because he hasn't "been in front of a TelePrompTer in 3 1/2 years." : Kurtis has appeared on Channel 2's 10 p.m. newscast occasionally this fall, with the station picking up syndicated reruns of one of his old cable series, "Cold Case Files." WBBM also has enlisted Kurtis lately for station promos that take the same wry tone as the AT&T ads for which the one-time newsman has become increasingly well known. : Channel 2 also reached back to the heritage of those Kurtis-Jacobson days earlier this year by hiring back octogenarian Harry Porterfield as an anchor and reporter. Porterfield's departure 24 years ago for a then-ascendant Channel 7 came amid protests about diversity hiring that helped put WBBM in the hole from which it's still attempting to emerge.

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