In its continuing attempt to bring some sensibility to the current political campaign, WTTW-Ch. 11 will present “Candidate Free Time,” a half-hour program during which each of the Democratic and Republican candidates for governor, attorney general, secretary of state and Cook County Board president has three unedited minutes to talk, preferably about the issues.
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With all the political forums for candidates, such as debates that really aren’t and slickly produced commercials, “you leave the table not quite sure you had a good meal,” said WTTW President Bill McCarter. “Television hasn’t performed up to its potential in the political arena. It’s only scratched the surface. You look at the landscape and see things stuck in the same format.”
Thus was born “Free Time,” which will air six times between its debut at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 17 and Election Day, Nov. 8. WTTW “dipped our toe” into the idea, McCarter says, during the 1992 U.S. Senate race, when Carol Moseley-Braun and Rich Williamson were offered 10 free brief spots of unedited tape.
“They lingered after their taping, as if to say, `What are you guys up to?’ ” McCarter says. “We got a good reaction. This time around, we thought we’d create a 30-minute program.”
– WTTW also is making ratings inroads with its local public-affairs shows, “Chicago Tonight” and “Chicago Week in Review.” “Chicago Tonight’s” daily ratings shot up 61 percent (from its usual 2.1 to a 3.4) during its recent “on the road” segments in Washington, D.C. At the same time, the weekly “Week in Review,” which had been averaging a 2.4 rating, leaped to 3.2 (up 33 percent) during September, surpassing even WFLD-Ch. 32’s “New Mike Ditka Show.” Says McCarter, “Maybe there’s a thirst for more understanding and background because life’s so complex these days.”
Personnel moves: Weather forecaster Andy Avalos finally adds the 10 p.m. newscast to his WMAQ-Ch. 5 duties starting Monday. Avalos was hired away from WLS-Ch. 7 in January to replace Jim Tilmon, who resigned last month. . . . With the departure of news director Eduardo Arruza, who will become a general assignment reporter at WABC-TV in New York, WCIU-Ch. 26 station manager Neal Sabin has decided to end its Spanish-language newscasts Friday. The Weigel Broadcasting-owned station will lose its other Hispanic programming when Miami-based Univision takes over WGBO-Ch. 66 on Jan. 1. “With Eddie leaving,” Sabin said, “we felt we couldn’t keep a good product on the air.”
Good stuff: The Chicago chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences has selected Northwestern University’s Kevin Krebs and Columbia College’s Dawnielle Robles and Suzanne Santos as its scholarship winners for the 1994-95 academic year. . . . WBBM-Ch. 2, in conjunction with the CBS Foundation, is expanding its Good Samaritan Grant Program to 10 not-for-profit youth service organizations in the Chicago area as part of its “Caring for Kids” effort. The selected groups will be eligible for $5,000 grants each.
Hear and there: How did Ross Perot prepare for the debut of his new WGN-AM 720 talk show at 7 p.m. Sunday? By buying three new suits-at a Sears warehouse. . . . Bruce DuMont broadcasts his WLS-AM/FM “Inside Politics” show live from San Diego at 7 p.m. Sunday. Topic: illegal immigration and its impact on the California Senate and gubernatorial races. . . . The eight Tribune Broadcasting stations, including WGN-Ch. 9 in Chicago, will launch a talk show early next year hosted by Charles Dabney Perez, formerly a producer for Ricki Lake and Montel Williams.