Published in Crain's Chicago Business
A cliffhanger at 'Chicago Tonight'
WTTW news show is on a roll, but host Sirott's contract is set to expire
June 06, 2005
By Jeremy Mullman
Bob Sirott, host of the revamped "Chicago Tonight," is in contract negotiations with WTTW. His current deal expires at the end of the
month. Photo: Andreas Larsson
More than two years after its launch, the revamped "Chicago Tonight" has increased its share of the local TV audience 50%, and the
non-profit station carrying it, WTTW-TV/Channel 11, has a balanced budget.
All that remains is to re-sign the host, whose contract expires this month.
Veteran local broadcast personality Bob Sirott has anchored the revamped "Chicago Tonight" since its debut in November 2002. A WTTW
spokeswoman declines to comment on his contract, saying only that negotiations are in progress. Mr. Sirott did not return phone calls.
His agent, Jimmy de Castro, declines to comment.
The contract talks come as "Chicago Tonight," the centerpiece of WTTW's local programming lineup, is gaining some traction in the
ratings: Nearly 55,000 viewers tune in each weeknight. In turn, the station has been able to boost fees it charges "Chicago Tonight"
advertisers -- or "underwriters," in public TV parlance -- helping the station break even in 2004 after posting a deficit the previous
year.
But there have been some changes on the set recently. WTTW Vice-president Randolph King -- who came to Channel 11 with Mr. Sirott from
their previous employer, WFLD-TV/Channel 32 -- recently quit. And the show's executive producer, Mike Leiderman, also recently left.
Messrs. King and Leiderman, who didn't return calls, were part of the team that helped reshape "Chicago Tonight" after longtime host John
Callaway stepped down in 1999. (Phil Ponce, who still contributes to the show, took over as host for two years before the new version was
unveiled.)
The production team retooled "Chicago Tonight," switching from its single-issue, news-oriented half-hour format to an hour-long program
filled with shorter segments and softer feature stories.
The show's audience, even before Mr. Callaway left, was never huge; at its peak in the Callaway era, the show drew 93,000 viewers. Now,
with 55,000 viewers, "Chicago Tonight" still grabs only a small slice of the local audience. By comparison, the average audience in May
for Chicago's five late newscasts was about 250,000.
GAINS SUGGEST NEW VIEWERS
But "Chicago Tonight" viewers have traditionally been loyal, and when the new show debuted in late 2002, some worried it would be dumbed
down.
Public-affairs junkies say they still watch religiously, even if they don't care for the pop sensibility provided by Mr. Sirott, an
ex-radio disk jockey and morning TV host.
Still, the ratings gains suggest that the expanded content (Crain's is a broadcast partner) has attracted new viewers while not annoying
the old ones enough to prevent them from watching.
"It's too MTV for me now," says GOP gubernatorial candidate and former Helene Curtis CEO Ronald Gidwitz, 60. "But I still try to watch
whenever I can."
The new format has "definitely been an adjustment for hardcore news junkies," says Alysia Tate, 33, editor and publisher of the Chicago
Reporter, a newspaper focusing on urban policy issues. "But . . . most young people aren't interested in paying attention to something
long and dry. . . . I do think they've quieted the skeptics."
SPOTS GOING FOR MORE
The ratings gain hasn't been lost on advertisers. A 30-second spot on the show, which could cost as little as $200 during Mr. Ponce's
tenure, now can go for as much as $1,500, media buyers say. Typically, the station charges advertisers 30% to 40% more per viewer than
the major network outlets do, a premium it justifies by pointing to a far more affluent audience than those claimed by other local
newscasts.
"Our customers fall in nicely with the viewership of the program," says a spokesman for LaSalle Bank, a longtime "Chicago Tonight"
underwriter. "Certainly the ratings increase gives such an affiliation even greater value."
Increasing ad revenues helped the station break even in 2004 after posting a $2.3-million deficit in 2003, when it was forced to lay off
23 staffers. Still, like all public stations, budgets remain tight. And if Mr. Sirott wants a raise equal to the ratings increase he's
overseen, it could be difficult for WTTW to accommodate him.
"You don't see a lot of stations showing that kind of growth," says Orland Park-based ad buyer Paula Hambrick. "For their sake, you'd
hope they can find a way to keep everybody there."
DISCLAIMER: The opinions expressed on this
website are those of the individual members of Chicago Media
Action who authored them, and not necessarily those of the entire
membership of Chicago Media Action, nor of Chicago Media Action
as an organization.
FAIR USE NOTICE: This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.