“Several months ago, Disney offered to extend my contract, which expires at the conclusion of the 2007-08 season,” Roeper said. “I opted to wait. Much transpired after that behind the scenes, but an agreement was never reached, and we are all moving on.”

Early reports seem to indicate that Roeper will land a deal with another national TV distributor to do a show similar to At the Movies. Meanwhile, Disney will re-tool the show and continue on without either Roeper or Ebert.

Ebert posted a statement on his website, confirming that his involvement with Disney and At the Movies is, in fact, finished:

After 33 years on the air, 23 of them with Disney, the studio has decided to take the program named “Siskel & Ebert” and then “Ebert & Roeper” in a new direction. I will no longer be associated with it.

Rosenthal’s coverage here. Feder’s coverege here.

He ponders what a Chicago Media Hall of Fame might look like:

Let’s start with TV hosts Dave Garroway, Oprah Winfrey and Phil Donahue; publishers Hugh Hefner and John H. Johnson; newscasters Floyd Kalber, John Drury, Fahey Flynn, Bill Kurtis and Walter Jacobson.

His list is pretty comprehensive. Perhaps Phil should forward his column over to Bruce DuMont to help him get started on next year’s nominees.

Dahl remained more passive this time (although he did get public expressions of support from such media luminaries as Richard Roeper and Bob Sirott.) As usual, Stern ignored it all.

The whole Radio Hall of Fame thing has always seemed a little silly. After all, it’s a part of Bruce DuMont’s hypothetical empire, which includes the will-it-ever-be-built Museum of Broadcast Communications.  It’s hard to give the HOF much credibility when it excludes Dahl and Stern, two men who arguable deserve induction, even if neither really wants it.

The induction ceremony will be held at the Renaissance Hotel on November 8.

Starting Oct. 1, Total Traffic Network will provide traffic to Citadel’s news/talk WLS-AM (890) and oldies WLS-FM (94.7).

The two stations have been clients of Metro Networks/ Shadow Broadcast Services for three decades.

Very few details of the deal were disclosed, but it’s uncertain whether a number of the in-house Metro/Shadow traffic reporters at WLS-AM will make the jump to Clear Channel. This includes Wendy Snyder, Maura Myles, and Christina Filiaggi. Also uncertain is the future of round-the-clock news at WLS-AM. Metro/Shadow had been providing news anchors during evening, overnights, and some weekend shifts. WLS-AM’s newsroom was decimated earlier this year with the departure of news director Jennifer Keiper, David Jennings, and Bill Cameron, who was subsequently re-hired when Ryan Hermes left the station several months ago.

WLS-AM 890 is on the verge of tendering an offer to former WSCR-AM 670 morning man Mike North, according to an industry source. But the source said North, with his eyes on another potential deal, might decline it.

The morning slot at WLS has been occupied by “Don Wade & Roma” since 1985. The hosts’ contracts are up in November.

WLS program director Kipper McGee did not return a phone call seeking comment.

North recently left WSCR-AM The Score about a month ago when he rejected a new contract from the CBS sports talker.

WLS morning drive has been helmed by the husband and wife duo of Don Wade & Roma for nearly two decades, ever since the station flipped to a news/talk format. Their contract is set to expire in November.

If WLS does make a move to add Mike North to morning drive, or any other daypart for that matter, it would signal a marked departure from the current events and political tone that the station has had for many years. It would also signal an increasing willingness for the Citadel talker to gamble with arguably its most important daypart. While Mike North had a nice run at The Score, he hardly hit a home run in morninng drive. Would North have the gravitas to survive the rigors of morning drive on WLS?

Meanwhile, speculation continues that the morning drive slot at WLS will go to either afternoon drive host Roe Conn or Citadel syndicated talker Don Imus. WLS may feel that they want to shuffle the deck completely if they bid farewell to Don & Roma by moving Conn to mornings. Without Don & Roma, Conn may be viewed as the station’s most valuable local asset, and his talent may be best utilized in morning drive.

The next three months may prove to be a roller coaster at WLS, as change is no doubt afoot.

I haven’t a chance to hear the whole show yet. North’s guests included Jeff Schwartz, Ken “Hawk” Harrelson, Mike Greenberg from ESPN Radio, and North’s old partner on the Score Dan JIggets.

You can hear the show here.

Overall, the event went well. Bernstein is a consumate professional, whose performance today ought to convince CBS Radio execs that he belongs in morning drive on the Score. He handled himself and the unwieldy panel of overeager radio vets well. Steve Dahl did what he does best — sit back and wait for an opportunity to steal the show. Ray Stevens came off as too aggressive, trying to get his lines at the expense of the rest of the panel. He actually may have done better on a smaller panel.

Lin Brehmer and Pat Cassidy both brought unique perspctives to the discussion and had some nice anecdotes that they don’t normally have a venue to express. Their participation on the panel was a major plus.

Eddie and Jobo were both complete distractions. Jobo was particularly annoying. They added nothing to the panel.

If CBS decides to do this again, which would be a great decision, they ought to take Lin Brehmer up on his suggestion to do it on WXRT and make it a rock-n-roll roundtable. And don’t invite Eddie or Jobo next time.

You can download and hear the whole broadcast here.

The free-wheeling “WGN Morning News” today was more free than usual, as guest David Carradine, live on the air, casually dropped one of the words you’re not supposed to say on TV.

Carradine, who had been introduced by co-anchor Robin Baumgarten as “legendary,” repeated the adjective, inserting an F-bomb in between “legen” and “dary.”

And here’s the UNEDITED audio, which is definitely not safe for work:

Although he could choose to work past December, sources said O’Dell already has told his bosses that he plans to retire from his $1 million a year gig at the end of the year.

O’Dell has made no secret of his unhappiness at having to get up at 2 in the morning and his lack of enthusiasm to continue.

To a certain degree, it doesn’t matter who replaces Spike. The morning chair at WGN pretty much guarantees a certain level of success. WGN remains an institution, with morning drive and Cubs baseball anchoring the line-up. Spike has made good money and deserves the chance to sleep in.

At the same time, WGN could be a case study for the transition that radio is undergoing. The station has new owners, and the market is about to become measured with Arbitron’s new PPM system. This very well could be a critical juncture for a WGN that has been graying for years now and may need a boost to stay on top.

The conventional wisdom suggests that WGN PD Bob Shomper and the braintrust at WGN will pass he torch to afternoon drive veteran Steve Cochran. He’d fit in well on WGN and is known by the audience. It would be a very safe, predictable move.

But what about a Bob Sirott? He’s certainly got Chicago media street cred and could bring a certain edge to morning drive. His name recognition among non-listeners might be a little higher than Cochran. Perhaps he attracts new, younger listeners.

At almost the same time WGN will be making a change, WLS will also likely be dumping Don Wade & Roma, whose contracts expire in early November. It’s unlikely that the Citadel news talker will re-up with the Wades to the tune of seven figures again. Some of the names being tossed around as possible replacements are Citadel’s syndicated morning man Don Imus, Mancow, or even current WLS afternoon host Roe Conn.Technorati Tags: WGN, Steve Cochran, WLS, Spike O’Dell, Bob Sirott, Don Wade

Jacobson claims that the report, which led to her departure from NBC 5, has also prevented her from finding gainful employment during the last year.

The civil suit claims defamation, invasion of privacy, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Defendants in the suit include Ch.2 president and general manager Joe Ahern, news director Carol Fowler, and several others, including a Northwestern University professor who appeared in the story.

Phil Rosenthal from the Trib:

The suit asserts Channel 2 portrayed her as “an adulteress and disreputable reporter” and said the station leaked word of the tape to newspapers, leading to published reports it used to justify airing the video.

The whole suit seems fairly ridiculous. While I can appreciate Jacobson’s angst over not being able to secure gainful employment during the last year, but that’s hardly Ch. 2’s fault. If Ch. 2’s camera had not captured the scene at the Stebic house, Jacobson was still wrong for showing up, in a bikini, and putting herself in that position. Had her bosses Ch. 5 found out in some way other than Ch. 2’s report, she still would have been fired.

Her inability to find gainful employment has more to do with her poor judgment (and her high price tag) than any suggestion by Ch. 2 that she was some kind of whore.

Technorati Tags: Amy Jacobson, Craig Stebic, WMAQ, WBBM