NBC Expected to Move Fast on New Chicago GM

Last week, FTVLive told you that WMAQ GM Larry Wert had left the NBC O& for a gig at Tribune.

It  doesn't appear that NBC is going to take long to fill Wert's job.

Robert Feder says that all eyes are on Valari Staab (pictured), president of NBC Owned Television Stations.

Staab is expected to act quickly in appointing a replacement for Wert. The obvious insider is Frank Whittaker, station manager and vice president of news under Wert.

But Staab went outside of the company last March when she named Eric Lerner general manager of WCAU-TV in Philadelphia. Lerner, a former ABC 7 news director, most recently headed KIRO-TV, the CBS affiliate in Seattle.

Wert’s departure capped a period of unprecedented upheaval for Chicago broadcast management, with top bosses departing five stations — ABC 7, CBS 2, Fox 32, NBC 5 and WGN 9 — all within the last nine months.