It's not a beautiful thing. Or sight.
With all the news regarding the digital TV transition, this piece of news came out of left field: Mike North was ousted at ChicagoSportsWebio.com today, after helping launch the Internet radio sports station earlier this year.
Also ousted were his wife, BeBe North; and Jeff Schwartz.
North was fired after he asked CEO David Hernandez about Webio's finances, given some of the company's checks have bounced in the last several weeks. North said 30 checks were bounced this week and 12 checks issued to Webio employees also bounced.
In a story on Crain's Chicago Business' website Monday, Hernandez claimed Webio was profitable, though reports surfaced it was spending a lot of money on TV ads, marketing, and personalities including Chet Coppock and former boxer Ray "Boom Boom" Macini.
There are also questions on how the venture could afford to send crews to cover to Detroit to cover the Blackhawks in their playoff series against the Red Wings when more established outlets could not due to budget constraints.
Given the recent developments, the future of ChicagoSportsWebio is definitely in question. Also in question is the future of Monsters in the Morning, whose time is bought for on Comcast SportsNet. Hosted by North and Dan Jiggetts, the daily strip was simulcast on Webio.
Without its most recognizable star in Mike North and now with these newly discovered financial problems, this ChicagoSportsWebio venture has just sunk.
Updated 11:02 a.m. on 2009-06-13 (added Sun-Times link)
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