If you don't get to see the Kardashian sisters today, Pat Tomasulo shows you what you're missing. more ›

While the weather outside is going to be glorious in Chicago later today, it appears WGN wanted to underscore just how chilly our morning was to be. more ›

With the sudden emergence of mid-summer in Chicago this week, we take another look back at some classic Chicago television, to a Cubs game that aired on WGN on Friday, April 25th 1980. The segment, called "Faces of Wrigley", ran during the seventh inning of a Cubs Pirates game (the Cubs eventually beat Pittsburgh, 5-3). Seeing everyone wrapped up in their spring coats reminds us of a classic saying about Chicago weather: if you don't like it, wait a minute. more ›

Last night I was in the media pool for the Tribune/City Club of Chicago mayoral debate. The first time I covered one of these events, I had raised, possibly delusional expectations: I imagined grabbing my press pass and heading to the edge of the dais as Barack Obama gave his first speech to Chicago as a presidential candidate, camera in hand, rubbing shoulders with reporters from Politico and the New York Times. The rubbing shoulders part was right - I was herded over to a platform with the rest of the press as we were shoehorned in and told that we couldn't leave the area we were in. The mayoral debate was no different. more ›

Folks interested in seeing politicians sling BS should pencil January 27 into their calendars. That's when the Tribune and the City Club of Chicago will host a debate between Rahm Emanuel, Gery Chico, Carol Moseley Braun and Miguel del Valle. more ›

The Tribune Co. exodus that started with the departure of CEO Randy Michaels and "Chief Innovation Officer" Lee Abrams continued yesterday with the departure of Kevin Metheny from WGN-AM. Also not letting the door hit him in the ass on the way out is former City Clerk and convicted felon Jim Laski, who came to epitomize Metheny's meddling management style as much as Howard Stern's nickname for Metheny - "Pig Virus." more ›

The folks at WGN have put together this little video of some of MayDay's less than stellar verbal moments. more ›

If you are among the legions of Chicagoans toting an iPhone, there is no excuse for being out of touch with the news these days. Until recently, Chicago was not well represented in the iTunes store. In fact, what should have been the flagship of the Second City’s local news offerings was an embarrassment with a woeful and limited app from the Chicago Tribune. But this week’s rollout of a reconceptualized app from the folks in Michigan Avenue’s gothic tower is just the latest in a groundswell of Chicago media offerings for Apple devices. Here’s a quick rundown: more ›

It's bad enough that a couple of the Stanley Cup games are only televised on Versus, a cable channel that's not even included in all basic plans in the city. The radio didn't seem to offer any alternative either, with the only guaranteed place to hear all the games was on WIND-AM 560, a suburban station with limited reach. Only those games that didn't conflict with a Cubs broadcast would be simulcast on WGN-AM 720, too. Now WGN has announced that the Blackhawks' quest for Lord Stanley's Cup against the Philadelphia Flyers will supersede the Cubbies so fans across the area can listen to the action (WGN Radio's website will also stream each game). "It's been a long wait for Blackhawks fans, and, unfortunately, we're familiar with long waits," said Cubs President Crane Kenney. "Like everyone else in Chicago, we want to celebrate what this hockey team is accomplishing." But fear not, Cubs fans who have no interest in the Blackhawks; you'll still be able to hear Ron Santo's lamentations of woe as the three Cubs games affected will shift to WIND for broadcast. more ›

Mistakes are made, it happens to everyone, even us (as our readers are so kind to point out; don't even get us started on our ongoing its/it's struggles). And this time it happened to someone in the WGN graphics department who confused 2010 World Cup host South Africa with South America (who, granted, host the 2014 World Cup in Brazil). [via Deadspin] more ›

If you've tuned in to WGN in recent weeks, you've probably been pummeled into submission by the commercials for "Chicago's Best," which they're touting as a hipper version of "190 North." They already exceed the low bar set by "190 North" simply by being a lifestyle show not hosted by perky cryptkeeper Janet Davies. But then they throw a curve. more ›

Obviously it's far too early in the season to discuss who will reign victorious in the yearly battle between Your Favorite North Side Team and Your Favorite South Side Team (as the advertisers have to call them). But, thanks to Arbitron, it's obvious who's going to win one of the most important races of all: the battle for radio revenues. The Cubs handily defeat the White Sox when it comes to ears on the games, according to a new report from radio ratings mavens Arbitron released earlier this week. Across the big leagues, the Yankees reign supreme when it comes to its games being broadcast over WCBS with over 400k listeners per game. And the nation's largest media market also owns the #3 spot with the Mets gathering 227,000. Right behind the Yanks at #2 is the Cubs, who garner an average of 227,100 listeners (just edging out the Mets) per WGN broadcast. The Sox have a spot in the top ten, with just over half the listeners that the Cubs grab. On average, just over 122,000 people tune into hear the Southsiders play on WSCR, which puts them at #9 across the nation. more ›

The Cubs and Sox square off today for the first time in 2010 and while it's "just" spring training, we're still pumped to see baseball on WGN for the first time this year. Just as cool? This new WGN promo that has a bit of a retro-flavor. It's got us pumped for the new season. And for you Sox fans, so you don't feel left out, a little treat to get you warmed up comes after the jump. more ›

Mad Max says no but the video below seems to indicate otherwise. WGN's Dean Richards was interviewing Gibson about a new movie and asked some personal - yet perfectly legitimate - questions relating to Gibson's infamous arrest and rant. Gibson didn't seem altogether happy with the question and, as the feed ended, uttered the word, "asshole." Gibson now insists he was talking to his publicist who was making faces at him off-camera. Either way, it'll probably be the last time we hear "asshole" uttered on WGN, at least until the next Ozzie Guillen press conference. more ›

This weekend, we revisited "Hardrock, Coco, and Joe." Today, the second of the local classic Christmas cartoon triumvirate, "Frosty the Snowman." more ›

Photo by ekovalev more ›

When we spoke with Rick Klein about his online Museum of Classic Chicago Television (colloquially known as Fuzzy Memories) for this Chicagoist interview, one of the things that was mentioned was the way that WGN-TV was barring his site from posting TV clips from the station. more ›

And you thought Obama had approval rating issues. A new poll released by WGN and the Chicago Tribune claims that Cook County Board President Todd Stroger has an abysmal approval rating of 10 percent, which is even lower than Blago's was last fall before his arrest. The poll was made of 300 registered Cook County voters and a full 70 percent of those polled disapproved of Stroger and 72 percent said they don't want to see him re-elected. more ›

• He's baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack.
• The Sun-Times looks into a fence that cost taxpayers over $45,000 but seems to have benefited Ald. Ed Burke (14th) the most by keeping those damn kids with their rock'n'roll music off his lawn.
• Jackie Heard, Mayor Daley's press secretary, is not amused with media reports suggesting she rented a house to drug dealers.

While Drew Peterson remains jailed on charges of killing third wife Kathleen Savio, WGN AM has gone forward with a mock trial and will air the mock closing arguments this Sunday beginning at 11 a.m. According to WGN: more ›

Kathy and Judy are off the air at WGN. This doesn't really mean much to us, but we suspect our mother is very upset by this news. She loved those girls. I mean, really loved 'em. So we're guessing that there's a wide swath of folks mourning the demise of their radio show. What's even worse is that the plug was pulled so abruptly so we imagine there're a bunch of folks in semi-shock right now (not least off all Kathy and Judy!). So long gals, you'll be missed. [CBN] more ›

Friend of Chicagoist Pat Tomasulo of WGN started the Blackhawks season this year by swapping places with a few of the 'Hawks. With the team's first appearance in the Western Conference Finals in 14 years on tap - once the Red Wings and Ducks decided their series - we thought it'd be fun to look back at this video. more ›

Four local television stations are banding together to share coverage of non-exclusive events, according to a report by Phil Rosenthal in yesterday's Tribune. The stations involved in the agreement are NBC 5, Fox 32, CBS 2, and WGN. The hold-out? Top-ranked ABC 7, whose chief Emily Barr "has said she wants her station to remain independent and flexible with its coverage," according to Rosenthal. Essentially, there would be one camera crew at a non-exclusive event - i.e., a Mayor Daley press conference - that will feed all four stations with each station deciding on how it uses that footage, also cutting down on costs. Check out Rosenthal's story for more information, including quotes from each station. more ›

It's Thursday and with such gorgeous weather, it's hard not to think about the weekend, but remember that tonight's episode of 30 Rock - featuring a few Second City alums you may be familiar with - will also feature footage from actor Tracy Morgan's 2007 visit to WGN's morning show, further proving that the line between fiction and reality has been blurred beyond imagination. The episode airs tonight on NBC 5 at 8:30 p.m. [Thanks to our pals at WGN for the original tip] more ›

When last we saw WGN's Pat Tomasulo, he gave us the best anti-Facebook rant we've ever heard. Now he's back and taking on vanity license plates. It also got us looking back fondly on "Bumper Stumpers." more ›

We needed some good news this morning, and any news that enables us to watch the amazing clip below (which we've probably run at least two or three times already on the site) is good enough for us. more ›

While former governor Rod Blagojevich was paying Karl a visit, Gov. Quinn was preparing to counter Blago's attacks on him. Sure enough, Quinn appeared on WGN 720 AM with John Williams, calling Blago, "yesterday's tomatoes." SNAP! Quinn also admitted he listened to Blago's appearance for about half-an-hour and took questions from listeners. You can listen to Quinn being interviewed here: Part 1 (MP3) and Part 2 (MP3). more ›

That isn't us in front of you at the convenience store, holding up the line while muttering specific numeric combinations to the harried counter attendant like a druid who has the economic downturn all figured out. Straight/box, 4-way combos, Pick 3, Pick 4, and any number of those garish quick-play pieces -- it's wishful thinking in our opinion, and we'd rather spend that cash on a personal stimulus package in the form of Hostess Zingers. more ›

WGN's Pat Tomasulo is cranky and by God, he's not gonna take it anymore. Normally, we're wary of mainstream media's take on social media, but Pat...actually makes us laugh with this video about Facebook etiquette, especially when he shouts his "status updates" to random people on the street. While not quite as cantankerous as Andy Rooney, Pat does remind us of Chicagoist's own curmudgeon, Tankboy. Plus, this video reminded us of another take on Facebook, a classic bonus video you can check out after the jump. more ›

We've always thought speculation about whether or not your favorite television news anchor wears pants under that desk was rather juvenile and silly. However we admit that we have long wondered just what the heck they do during commercial breaks. WGN's Robert Jordan and Jackie Bange break down that wall to reveal the truth behind the mystery. more ›