Chicago

Chicago stations were in overdrive this weekend covering the ongoing NATO Summit, which continues today at McCormick Place.

WFLD‘s Bob Sirrot and Robin Robinson co-anchored an hour-long newscast at 5 p.m. Sunday on the Fox O&O. Political editor Mike Flannery‘s regular Sunday morning newscast was expanded to an hour this weekend.

On NBC O&O WMAQ, weekday anchors Stefan Holt and Daniella Guzman anchored a special 11 a.m. newscast on Sunday. WMAQ also expanded its 5 and 10 p.m. newscasts, anchored by Allison Rosati and Rob Stafford, to an hour. Read more

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A new teaser trailer for the upcoming “Anchorman” sequel was posted today on Funny Or Die. The video is similar to the one that’s been playing in theaters in front of “The Dictator” but it has the added benefit of narration from WBBM‘s Bill Kurtis, who narrated the first movie.

No word yet on what Kurtis’s involvement with the sequel will be. He did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.  Video after the jump… Read more

A window on WMAQ‘s street-level studio was shattered Saturday morning.

It is unclear whether the damage was connected to the NATO summit in Chicago but it occurred as thousands of demonstrators filled the city’s streets over the weekend to protest the actions of the collected world leaders.

The NBC station reports that security guards on patrol at the time responded to the sound of shattering glass but did not see anyone when they arrived at the scene of the crime. Read more

Meteorologist Ed Curran has returned to WBBM, Time Out Chicago’s Robert Feder reports.

Curran, a veteran Chicago meteorologist, left the CBS O&O in 2010 in a contract dispute. He returned this week on a freelance basis, filling in for morning meterologist Megan Glaros. He will also appear on the Saturday and Sunday evening newscasts this weekend.

“It’s wonderful to be invited back to fill in at WBBM,” Curran told Feder. “Visiting the station Tuesday, and coming in to work on Wednesday, I got a really warm reception from all my friends there. So many of these people have had such a positive impact on my career in TV.”

A rotating cast of WGN substitutes will fill in for Mark Suppelsa this month, Time Out Chicago’s Robert Feder reports.

Suppelsa, who anchors the 5 and 9 p.m. weeekday newscasts on the Chicago CW-affiliate, announced on Friday that he would take a month away from the anchor desk to seek treatment for an alcohol addiction. He expects to be back in June.

Micah Materre and Lourdes Duarte are handling Suppela’s responsibilities this week and next. Tom Negovan and Dan Ponce will anchor through the end of May, WGN news director Greg Caputo told Feder.

Emily Barr, who has been president and general manager of WLS since 1997, is leaving the Chicago ABC O&O to lead Post-Newsweek Stations, the television broadcasting division of the Washington Post Company.

Barr will join Post-Newsweek in July, replacing Alan Frank, who is retiring as president and CEO at the end of the year. Her last day at WLS is today.

“We are so fortunate to have Emily Barr join us,” Donald Graham, chairman and CEO of the Washington Post Company, said in a statement. “She’s been an outstanding manager in one of the greatest companies in the industry and a force for innovation everywhere she’s been.” Read more

Mark Suppelsa, the 5 and 9 p.m. anchor at WGN, has announced that he will take a month off from the Chicago CW-affiliate to be treated for alcohol addiction. Suppelsa shared the news with WGN staffers in a note on Friday:

I’m driving soon with my family to Hazelden in Minnesota where they’ll drop me off for a month long alcohol recovery program. I have felt for some time that this would become necessary and I’ve now crossed a bridge in my life where I want and need to do this. It’s my choice. No one is forcing me to do it.

Simply put, I have been abusing alcohol at the end of my work day as my family slept. It was my secret and I became very accomplished at hiding it. I do my best to function at a high level and I know that it is my responsibility to correct anything that potentially interferes with my family or my work. Read more

WMAQ, the NBC O&O in Chicago, has announced a shake-up to its weekend anchor lineup beginning next month.

Anthony Ponce has officially been named weekend morning co-anchor. Ponce has been filling in alongside Kim Vatis since Stefan Holt‘s promotion in February.

Dick Johnson, who currently anchors the Sunday evening newscasts, will add the Saturday evening newscasts to his anchoring duties, replacing Lisa Parker. She will return to reporting full-time and will fill in as an anchor as needed, according to a WMAQ statement. Read more

After working as an anchor in several markets around the country, including in Chicago at WMAQ, Robin Meade landed at CNN Headline News in 2001. Her first day on-air at the network: September 11th.

In the second part of mediabistroTV’s three-part “Media Beat” interview with Meade, the HLN anchor remembers what it was like working on 9/11, and also talks about the rise of opinion journalism since that historic day.

In the first part of mediabistroTV’s three-part “Media Beat” interview with HLN’s Robin Meade, the former WJW, WCMH, WSVN, and WMAQ anchor offers advice about making it in TV news.

“Don’t make the mistake of always looking for the next job,” Meade warns, “so much so that you’re not learning in your current position.”

Meade also talks about her music career and describes how she’s been able to maintain her 18-year marriage while working the crazy hours of a morning anchor.