In what is a first for a local Chicago Bears TV outlet, Fox-Ch. 32 is quietly working on an hourlong prime-time documentary on the team slated to air Sept. 1.
Fox has two camera crews at training camp, and at least one has been dedicated to chronicling the players, including rookies, as they go through the highs and lows of a pro football training camp.
The show is the brainchild of executive sports producer Greg Miller, who was in Platteville, Wis., for the first four days of training camp, setting the wheels in motion for what will likely be between 50 and 100 hours of footage shot for the documentary.
According to Miller, much of the show will be a behind-the-scenes look at the veteran players, and it will focus heavily on some who were fighting for a spot on the roster.
“It’s just documenting what happens in this training camp,” Miller said. “It’s more real-life stuff, rather than having it all sports-oriented.”
Much of the show will be based on interviews with players, though main sports anchor Corey McPherrin will narrate some of the documentary.
No doubt a highlight of the show will be the impact of the Bears’ surprise decision to dump former quarterback Erik Kramer in favor of the just-signed Cade McNown.
The yet-to-be-named show got the green light from new Bears President Ted Phillips earlier this summer.
Classical battle: WFMT-FM 98.7 executives say that they are close to a resolution in a fight to get the green light from the Federal Communications Commission to move its transmitter to the Sears Tower from the John Hancock Center.
The classical station owned by Window to the World Communications has been looking to move its transmitter to Sears primarily to clear up the signal going to a big part of its audience on the North Side and along the North Shore.
Part of its current signal from the Hancock reflects off the Sears Tower and is fragmented to some of its audience north of the Loop.
But earlier this year, WFMT’s main competitor, WNIB-FM 97.1, petitioned the FCC to force WFMT to lower its power once atop the Sears Tower; the new location would effectively give WFMT further reach.
“They would have a significant competitive advantage,” said Lita Grier, a spokeswoman and producer for WNIB.
WFMT executives confirmed that the WNIB petition has slowed the approval process, but the station expects to complete the signal move before its lease runs out at the Hancock in September.
Rampy back: Grant Rampy, a former reporter with Tribune Co.-owned CLTV in 1994, has been hired as a Washington D.C.-based correspondent for TribNet, which supplies news programming to Tribune Co.-owned TV stations. He replaces Gary Nurenberg, who left the network in April after a dispute with Washington bureau chief Cissy Baker.
`Inc.’ debut: The Tribune’s Terrence E. Armour is moving. That is to say he’s leaving the Chicago Bulls beat to join Ellen Warren as co-author of the paper’s “Inc.” column, beginning Aug. 16.
Armour, who had been the sports section’s “Odds and Ins” columnist before covering Michael Jordan and the Bulls for the past four seasons, replaces Teresa Wiltz, who left the paper last month.
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Jim Kirk’s “Media Talk” appears Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.
Contact Jim at JKirk@tribune.com.
