Feder: When ABC 7 fired a star sportscaster at the top of his game
In a move that stuns his colleagues and angers his fans, an immensely popular sportscaster suddenly finds himself out of a job at Chicago's top-rated television station.
Named in multiple viewer surveys as "Chicago's best sports anchor," he still has more than a year left on his contract when ABC-owned WLS-Channel 7 shoves him out the door without so much as a word of thanks.
"I will dedicate the rest of my career to making them regret that decision," Tim Weigel declares on his way out.
It was front page news in December 1994 when ABC 7 fired Weigel, a hometown superstar, after a 17-year run as sports anchor (interrupted by a brief experiment as a news anchor).
In a raid that caught nearly everyone by surprise, station boss Joe Ahern lured a younger rising star from rival WMAQ-Channel 5 with a five-year, $5 million guaranteed contract the NBC-owned station couldn't come close to matching.
That's how Mark Giangreco landed at "Eyewitness News" 27 years ago.
Today Giangreco, 68, is on the verge of being forced out too. He's been off the air since January 28 when he jokingly suggested that news anchor Cheryl Burton could "play the ditzy, combative interior decorator" in a fictional do-it-yourself fix-up show. Burton complained and Giangreco was suspended.
Get the full report, and more Chicago media news, at robertfeder.com.