Courtesy the Chicago Tribune

(August 2, 2010) With sportscaster Corey McPherrin replacing David Novarro as morning co-anchor of Fox's WFLD-Ch. 32's "Good Day Chicago," the station expected Jill Carlson would take the sports segment McPherrin left behind on its marquee 9 p.m. news.

It did not expect her to leave at the end of this month after almost 11 1/2 years with the station.

"Personally, I was a little surprised," Mike Renda, who runs Fox-owned WFLD and WPWR-Ch. 50, said Monday. "I think if someone has an opportunity, you would think they would want to jump at it. But these things happen."

Carlson (pictured right), whose current contract runs out this month, told Channel 32 news director Carol Fowler last week that she wanted to be assured of McPherrin's old position as lead sportscaster. Before giving her that title officially, WFLD first wanted to see how Carlson handled with the new, looser 9 p.m. format the station is adopting increasingly on its prime-time newscast. Carlson, who has been at Channel 32 since the spring of 1999, wanted the job but not on a trial basis, especially with her contract in limbo.

So she may fill in at 9 for a while on WFLD for McPherrin, who smoothly eased into his new news-and-talk role in Monday's debut alongside fellow "Good Day" newcomer and co-anchor Anna Davlantes. But Carlson's days at Channel 32 are numbered, barring a last-minute change of heart .
Steve Mandell, Carlson's agent, declined comment on Carlson's WFLD situation, except to indicate there will be many opportunities for her. She will remain host of "Golf Chicago TV," which runs on Comcast SportsNet Chicago.

"Her contract was coming up and we have an obligation to talk about the status of that and what we're going to do there," WFLD's Renda said. "We said, 'Look, you have an opportunity right now to fill in in this role and we're going to give you a shot.' And she was not interested.

"I can't characterize it because I was not in the meeting, but the fact is we gave her an opportunity," Renda said. "We said we would consider it past the end of her contract just so we could see how she filled the role and she basically said to us what she thought she was due and she wanted to move on."

Carlson, who grew up in suburban Lombard and is a graduate of Glenbard East High School and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, joined WFLD's sports department after three years with Chicago Tribune parent Tribune Co.'s CLTV cable channel. She previously covered sports for TV outlets in Lexington, Ky.; El Paso, Texas; Evansville, Ind.;and Milwaukee.

Since 2004, Carlson has been WFLD's weekend sports anchor in addition to working as a sports reporter and contributing to Channel 32's late Sunday-night sports show, "The Final World," and its Sunday-morning pre-pregame show during pro football season.

News of Carlson's imminent exit from WFLD came first from Chicago Public Media, which accused "the Fox publicity machine putting out false or misleading information to the press" and public when it said Carlson would replace McPherrin "at least for the foreseeable future."

Renda, however, said the station did not expect to run into a snag with Carlson, resulting in her becoming a free agent. WFLD now will consider its sports options.

"We're searching to put the right people in the right place, and we're giving people opportunities," Renda said. "Sports is very important in this market, so this not a knock on that. I just think, in this case, this person wanted to take her skills elsewhere. I guess it's being portrayed in a different way, but those things happen."

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