After more than thirty years with ABC News – much of it based out of Chicago for Nightline and World News — correspondent Chris Bury is looking to the future. Time Out Chicago’s Robert Feder reports that after leaving the network last year, Bury has been “waiting out” his contract, finally making him an official free agent today.

First up is hosting a weekly public affairs show, In the Loop, for City Colleges of Chicago public station WYCC.  Interestingly, he’ll rotate anchor duties with another former ABC’er, reporter Barbara Pinto.

Also on the horizon: producing content via the newly-lunched Burcat Media Group, established with his wife Catherine Catalane, an anchor at Chicago’s WBBM-AM.

Another possibility is anchoring for a Windy City station. “That would be great,” Bury says. “Chicago is a great city where people still care about news. Most of the stations here are at least trying to do a solid job. It’s not the crap you see in Los Angeles or New York.”

Bury is a South Side native who worked in local news at KPRC in Houston, WTMJ in Milwaukee, and at St. Louis’ KTVI.

With the Chicago teacher’s strike at the forefront of local news, technical glitches hampered WLS‘ newscast for the second time in weeks, reports Time Out Chicago’s Robert Feder.

As local stations competed Sunday night with live coverage of press conferences at the outset of the Chicago teachers strike, ABC 7 was hampered by severe signal problems.

The glitches even prompted weekend anchor Ravi Baichwal to tweet out an apology to viewers:

Read more

WMAQ reporter Alex Perez is joining ABC News as a Chicago-based correspondent, ABC News president Ben Sherwood announced today.

News of Perez’s departure from the Chicago NBC O&O was first reported by Time Out Chicago’s Robert Feder. He is the third WMAQ staffer to join ABC News in the last five months, following meteorologist Ginger Zee and anchor Paula Faris.

In a memo to staffers, Sherwood called Perez “a skilled and energetic reporter who understands the power of words and images.” Perez, who has been a reporter and fill-in anchor for WMAQ for six years, will spend a few weeks in New York before returning to Chicago.

Read Sherwood’s full memo at TVNewser.

Set to spend at least the next dozen years in prison, former Gov. Rod Blagojevich appeared to savor his final moment in the spotlight on Wednesday evening as he held a public farewell that conveniently coincided with Chicago stations’ 5 o’clock newscasts.

Every major news station in Chicago brought live, uninterrupted coverage of Blagojevich’s sendoff, which lasted roughly 40 minutes.

Covering the event, anchors for every station commented on the circus-like atmosphere, but it was clear that their colleagues were making up a large percentage of the crowd, as news choppers hovered overhead. Read more

WMAQ‘s Stefan Holt has been named weekday morning anchor at the NBC O&O, Time Out Chicago’s Robert Feder reports.

Holt, who currently anchors the weekend morning newscasts, is the son of NBC News anchor Lester Holt. Starting Monday, he will anchor the 4:30 – 7 a.m. weekday newscasts.

“Since joining us last June, Stefan has distinguished himself both in the field and on the anchor desk,” WMAQ station manager Frank Whittaker wrote in a memo to staffers obtained by Feder. “His reassuring style and pleasant personality are a perfect fit for our morning team.”

Rob Elgas, who currently helms WMAQ’s early morning newscasts, will take over as co-anchor of the weekday 4:30 p.m. newscasts.

After eight years at WBBM, reporter Kristyn Hartman is leaving the Chicago CBS O&O.

“There are certain things I want to get out of life, and I’m pursuing them,” Hartman told Time Out Chicago’s Robert Feder. “We all come to these points in our careers where we have to make really tough decisions. I couldn’t be more thankful for the opportunity I’ve had here.”

Hartman joined WBBM in 2004 from WCCB, the Fox-affiliate in Charlotte, where she was a reporter and anchor. She is expected to sign off from WBBM in April.

KPRC reporter Daniella Guzman is leaving Houston for a job at WMAQ in Chicago.

“I’ll be heading to NBC5 in March,” Guzman told Houston media blogger Mike McGuff. “Opportunity knocked and I opened the door. I will miss Houston very much!”

Guzman is a reporter and weekend anchor at KPRC, the NBC-affiliate in Houston. She joined the station in 2006.

Time Out Chicago’s Robert Feder reports Guzman is the likely successor to morning anchor Zoraida Sambolin, who left the station for CNN in November, at NBC O&O WMAQ.

>Update: WMAQ has made the official announcement (read it after the jump). Read more

Trial reporter Muriel Clair, who joined Chicago CW-affiliate WGN in 1978, is leaving the station, Time Out Chicago’s Robert Feder reports.

“There are things I want to do and places I want to go without regard to work schedules,” she said. “The operative word here is ‘quitting.’ I have not been asked to resign. I am not being fired.”

Clair will continue special projects on a freelance basis, including her popular “Teacher of the Month” feature. WGN news director Greg Caputo praised her as “a newsroom leader and mentor.”

“The list of her accomplishments is long and significant,” Caputo told Feder.

The Christmas spirit was strong this weekend in Chicago, where WLS evening anchor Kathy Brock volunteered to fill in on the Christmas morning newscast for Ben Bradley, who has small children.

“She didn’t just volunteer,” Bradley told Time Out Chicago’s Robert Feder. “She insisted that she work because she said her kids are in college and will still be asleep by the time the show is over, and mine are so young and still believe in Santa. Now so do I!”

Brock anchored the WLS morning newscast solo on Sunday. Bradley’s co-anchor, Stacey Baca, had previously scheduled the day off.

“I remember when my boys (now young men) were little, and how special Christmas morning is,” Brock said.

ABC News president Ben Sherwood has officially announced the hire of two anchors from the local landscape: Ginger Zee (left) a meteorologist at WMAQ in Chicago, and Bazi Kanani, a weekend anchor and reporter at KUSA in Denver.

Zee’s move to ABC News was first reported by TimeOut Chicago’s Robert Feder in August. Her first day is Wednesday, and she will debut as the weekend weather anchor on “Good Morning America” on Saturday. She has been NBC owned-and-operated WMAQ since 2006.

Kanani joins ABC News after eight years at NBC-affiliate KUSA. She will be a digital journalist based in Nairobi, Kenya. She announced she was leaving the station last week but declined to say where, saying “the ink wasn’t dry yet” on her new contract.

After the jump, the full memo from Sherwood. Read more