Super Bowl Update

Midwest Communications has eliminated the operations manager position at its Terre Haute-area radio stations, and the move has put Bill Cain out of a job, All Access reports.

Cain, who was born in Evansville and raised in Rockville, got his start in radio in Terre Haute, and also worked at several Evansville-area stations (WYNG, WKDQ, WJPS, WABX and WIKY), as well as in Indianapolis; Champaign, Ill. and Missoula, Mont. before returning to Terre Haute in 2008.

Since that time, he's served as market manager, general sales manager and operations manager for Midwest's four stations in the Terre Haute market, which became six when the company acquired WDWQ-102.7 FM and WBOW-1300 AM from Crossroads Investments earlier this year.

"I have been blessed in my career that it has taken 21 years for this to happen," Cain told All Access. "I have truly enjoyed my 4 1/2 years working back in my home town and wouldn't trade it for anything. Over the last 6 months, we have built one of best programming staffs I have ever had the privilege of working with and I wish them the absolute best as they continue to build this cluster."

Chicago Cubs TV analyst Bob Brenly made it official Wednesday: He's decided not to return to the team’s broadcast booth in 2013, and plans to look for another baseball broadcasting job.
 

It might be a short job search.

The Chicago Tribune reports that Brenly, the former Arizona Diamondbacks manager who has been in the Cubs' booth since replacing Steve Stone in 2005, is widely expected to return to Arizona and take over for Mark Grace, whom the D-backs placed on leave after a DUI arrest this summer.

"Working here in Chicago was one of the most enjoyable experiences of my professional career," Brenly said in a statement. "I was very blessed to have the best play-by-play man in the game as my partner for eight years and Cubs’ fans are very fortunate to have Len Kasper as the voice of the Cubs. I’ll miss working with him and we look fondly toward returning to Chicago in the future."

"We wish Bob well in his next broadcasting position and thank him for his years of outstanding work on Cubs games on WGN-TV," said Steve Farber, WGN's acting GM and VP of programming for Tribune Broadcasting.

No word yet on who will replace Brenly in Chicago's booth.

Another familiar face at Eyewitness News has departed.

Reporter Drew Gardner, who joined WTVW in late 2010 and was kept on board when Local 7's news operations merged with those of WEHT Local late last year, will now be reporting for WATE, the ABC affiliate in Knoxville, Tenn.

On his Facebook page Friday, Gardner wrote, "That's a wrap, Tri-state! It's been a true pleasure! To all the viewers and my colleagues, you are the BEST! I will miss you!"

Staff members at The Weather Channel were informed via email this morning that longtime meteorologist Jeff Morrow, who has been with the network for 27 years, is leaving.

The email, which didn't explain why Morrow is departing, was sent by Helen Swenson, TWC's VP of live programming.

“Jeff has been an important contributor to the growth and evolution of The Weather Channel and we appreciate the many years of forecasting and live field coverage Jeff has delivered as part of the best weather provider in the country,” Swenson wrote.

TVNewser reports that Morrow may not be the only meteorologist on the way out at TWC, although no names were mentioned in the report.

Stay tuned.

From Indianapolis today comes word that WRTV Good Morning Indiana anchor Grace Trahan has announced that she is stepping down at the end of this week.

Trahan joined RTV6 in 1994, and has co-anchored GMI for the past 14 years.  She said in a statement that she wants to spend more time with her family.  "After much thought and consideration, I have decided that my family time is suffering and I cannot be the kind of mom I want to be to my three children. While I have enjoyed 23 wonderful years in the news business (18 of those right here at RTV6), I have decided it is time to put my family first," Trahan said.

She also wrote on her Facebook page that she plans to join the corporate world, although she did not divulge specifics.

Meanwhile, back at RTV6, a former 14WFIE reporter and anchor will step in to fill Trahan's shoes in the morning, at least for now.  Tanya Spencer (who Tri-State viewers will remember as Tanya Jourdain during her time in Evansville) will fill as the morning newscast's co-anchor on an interim basis until a permanent replacement is named.

Spencer joined WRTV in 2005.

Julie Dolan is leaving Eyewitness News at the end of this week.

Dolan, who joined WTVW in October 2007, has accepted a new job at WLEX in Lexington, Ky.

"It's a bittersweet move -- as I will certainly miss my friends here in the Tri-State," she wrote on her Facebook page. "Thanks to all of you for your support and viewership over the past 5 years."

Dolan has anchored Daybreak alongside Randy Moore since December, when WEHT Local and Local 7 WTVW combined their operations in Henderson after Nexstar's purchase of Channel 25.  Prior to that, she co-anchored WTVW's evening newscasts with Moore for more than two years.

At WLEX, Dolan will join fellow Evansville TV alumni Josh Breslow (formerly of WTVW) and Courtney Fischer (formerly of WEHT).

Julie, we wish you the very best of luck.  We'll miss you!

After 31 years with the network and nine as its president, CNN's Jim Walton is calling it quits.

"CNN needs new thinking. That starts with a new leader who brings a different perspective, different experiences and a new plan," Walton, who has been president of CNN since 2003, wrote in a memo to the network's staff earlier today.

CNN has been on the ropes for a good while now, falling behind both Fox News and MSNBC during the all-important primetime hours.  In the second three months of this year, the network posted its worst ratings in more than two decades and lost 35% of its audience from the same period in 2011.

Part of CNN's problem is that its #1 and #2 competitors have turned blatantly partisan, which is seen by some as the secret to their success.  Walton wouldn't go there, and viewers began to turn away.

It also hasn't helped that CNN has had its share - some say more than its share - of goofs in the recent past.  The most recent of these happened when the network erroneously reported that the Affordable Care Act had been struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court, when the opposite was, in fact, true.

No word yet on Walton's replacement.

There are two departures at 14 News to tell you about this week.

Kendra Whittle, who began reporting for WFIE in Oct. 2010 after working at WEEK in Peoria, is leaving at the end of this week.  She's returning to her home state and will work at WGEM-TV, the NBC/Fox/CW affiliate in Quincy.

The move comes after Whittle's husband accepted a teaching job in the Quincy area.

Also, Owensboro bureau reporter Jasmin Embers left the station recently.  I'm told that she left the station to spend more time with family.

A new reporter is expected to join the station's bureau in Owensboro alongside Dave Kirk soon.

We wish both Kendra and Jasmin well!

TV viewers in part of Southern Illinois will see a new anchor soon on one of St. Louis' TV stations, as KMOV News 4 anchor Vickie Newton announced Friday evening that she has resigned.

According to the station, Newton will leave the station and return to Arkansas to be closer to family sometime in August.

Newton joined KMOV, the Belo-owned CBS affiliate, in January 2002, and has anchored both News 4 at 10:00 and News 4 at 5:00.  She has also been very active in the community, having served with several organizations over the past 10 years.

"St. Louis has been my home for 11 years, and next to the time I spent in my hometown of Bearden, it’s the place I’ve spent the most time," Newton said. "I have loved my time in this wonderful town, and with this great station. I’ve had the opportunity to work with some great people here at KMOV, and have been blessed to have had the opportunity to be deeply involved and support some amazing organizations."

"Vickie has been a St Louis fixture for more than a decade," said KMOV news director Sean McLaughlin. "In that time she has made an incredible connection with the people of St Louis. She will be missed, and we wish her great success in her future endeavors."

KMOV can be seen on the following Southern Illinois cable systems:  Hamilton Co. Communications (ch. 104), Mediacom (ch. 10 in Clay City and ch. 4 in Louisville) and Wabash Independent Networks (ch. 104 in Clay and Marion counties and ch. 4 in Flora and Xenia).