ABC Taps John Idler To Head WLS Chicago

The ABC Owned Television Stations Group, today named John Idler to succeed Emily Barr as president and general manager of WLS Chicago.

Barr announced last month that she was leaving the station to succeed Alan Frank as president of the Detroit-based Post-Newsweek Stations. That job opened up after Frank said he would retire at the end of this year.

Idler joins WLS from WTVD, the ABC O&O in Raleigh-Durham, N.C. where he has been GM since December 2007.

Idler has shuttling back-and-forth between WLS and WTVD over the past decade. He joined WLS as a sales executive in 1998, moved to WTVD in 2000 and then moved back to WLS as general sales manager in 2004. He then returned to WTVD in 2007 to become the GM there.

“John Idler’s outstanding track record in Raleigh-Durham and his earlier local TV management experience in Chicago demonstrate a consistent commitment to excellence in community service and station operations,” said the station group President Rebecca Campbell in a prepared statement. “We all congratulate John on his promotion as he returns to WLS-TV in Chicago as president and general manager.”

Prior to his posts with the ABC Owned Television Stations Group, Idler advanced through various account executive and account management positions at NBC Television Stations Sales and Marketing, Tribune Broadcasting and Telerep/Cox Enterprises.

Idler earned his MBA from the University of New Haven and his BA in history and communication from the University of Wisconsin at Madison.