With the hiring of Debbie Carpenter as general sales manager this week, WFLD-Ch. 32 general manager Stacey Marks-Bronner said Tuesday that most of the pieces are in place to make a run at the big time.
Carpenter, most recently local sales manager at WPWR-Ch. 50 and before that at WGN-Ch. 9, replaces Mike Turner, who left WFLD after only 11 months.
“This is a beginning,” said Marks-Bronner. But she said the fall of 1995-when the WFLD early-prime lineup of “Cosby,” “The Simpsons,” “Home Improvement” and “Seinfeld” joins Sunday Bears football telecasts-is when the UHF station could make inroads on the established VHF affiliates.
In outbidding the competition for “Seinfeld” reruns, Marks-Bronner also performed a little pre-emptive strike on WGN-TV, which probably would have used that show to breathe some life into its “Cheers” reruns.
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“I couldn’t let that happen,” said Marks-Bronner. Besides, “building early prime is building the station,” she added. “We’re hitting every demographic you can with those shows. Plus, the Bears will be a year better than they are now.”
Ah, yes, the Bears. They are the cornerstone to many of Marks-Bronner’s plans, from the one-hour, pre-pregame show on Sunday mornings to the temporary addition of ex-Bear Dan Jiggetts as weekend sports anchor.
“We got a gift,” she said of the Fox Broadcasting billion-dollar deal that included the local NFL franchise, “a wonderful gift.”
Up and running: Chicago radio legend Dex Card guests on Tom Kwiatkowski’s show at 8 a.m. Wednesday on WLKG-FM (93.1). Kwiatkowski, a former South Sider, began the Lake Geneva, Wis., station in June after beating out several groups, including one headed by Bob and Betty Sanders, for an FCC license.
“Every new appeal, I won,” said Kwiatkowski, a grade-school principal whose fundraising techniques came in handy while financing the station. “I was finally awarded the license in 1993 and spent a year getting it up and running. I wanted to get on the air by summer.”
WLKG, which can be heard in some Lake County suburbs, plays an adult/contemporary format and fulfills a Kwiatkowski dream. “I had worked for a local station part-time since 1984,” he said. “When the (FCC) allocation became available, I decided to go for it. If I knew what I was getting into, I probably wouldn’t have done it.”
Spilling the beans: John Paxson may have been a little premature Monday when he told WGN-Ch. 9’s Dan Roan he would join the Bulls radio broadcasting team part-time (home games only) next season on WMAQ-AM (670), replacing Tom Boerwinkle. “I can’t confirm or deny it,” said Bulls marketing and broadcasting VP Steve Schanwald. WMAQ GM Weezie Kramer had no comment. Boerwinkle quit because of the travel involved and other business commitments.
The 720 shuffle: Dr. Kate Wachs, a local clinical psychologist who specializes in relationships seemingly from cradle to grave, begins a two-hour show on WGN-AM (720) at 8 p.m. Saturdays, beginning in August. Other WGN programming changes as of next Monday: “Radio 720 Review,” a highlights package, airs 3 to 5 a.m. and 1 to 3 p.m. Saturdays; “Sports Central” trims to 3 to 6 p.m. Saturdays; and a repeat of Harry Shearer’s “Le Show” from the previous Sunday follows Dr. Wachs.
Programming note: White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf, on the day the players’ rep and owners’ rep meet for possibly the last time before a strike date is set, joins host John Callaway on “Chicago Tonight” at 7 p.m. Wednesday on WTTW-Ch. 11.