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Published on Tuesday, 02 August 2011 13:46
Chicago-based television company Weigel Broadcasting today announced that Rob Morhaim will be taking over as Senior Executive Producer for WCIU-TV's morning program "You & Me This Morning." In this position, Morhaim will be overseeing further development of content and ratings growth for the show. His appointment is effective immediately.
Rob Morhaim is a veteran media executive and producer of entertainment content for both television and the web. Most recently, Morhaim had been the creator and Executive Producer of the website,
Momversation.com, one of the more highly visited Internet sites for women. It features many well-known Mom bloggers and is sponsored by Target Stores.
Prior to his Momversation project, Morhaim spent 14 years as a television producer and studio executive overseeing numerous daytime television programs. At Big Ticket Television, Morhaim served as Vice President of Alternative Programming. In that role, he was the company's lead executive in charge of all non-fiction development and production, overseeing such shows as the syndicated hits "Judge Judy" and "Judge Joe Brown." He was also part of the team which developed "The Jamie Kennedy Experiment" for the WB Network. After Big Ticket Television closed in 2004, Morhaim went on to Disney's Buena Vista Productions, where he developed and launched Disney/ABC's "The Tony Danza Show," which ran from 2004-2006. While at Disney, Morhaim lead the division's production and development efforts, as well as serving as the studio's point-person overseeing the long-running franchise, "Live with Regis and Kelly." In 2007, Morhaim was hired as a consultant by NBC Universal Television Distribution to work on the development and production of a number of cable and first run shows, including NBC's "Deal or No Deal" and "The Megan Mullally Show." While there, Morhaim also created the format for a talk project starring Food Network star Paula Deen for the NBC-owned television stations.
Morhaim's other production and executive credits include the weekly syndicated series "Sightings." In addition to his television series credits, he's also a multi award-winning documentary producer. Rob Morhaim was a producer on the highly-acclaimed "Scared Silent: Exposing and Ending Child Abuse," hosted by Oprah Winfrey. It was seen by more than 55 million viewers when simulcasted on CBS, NBC and PBS, making it the most-watched non-news documentary in the history of American television.
Bob Ramsey, WCIU-TV's Vice President and General Manager said in a statement this afternoon: "We are fortunate to have someone of Rob's caliber on the show. Rob is a great addition to the "You & Me" team. His pedigree is indicative of how much we believe in this show."
Neal Sabin, President of Content and Networks for Weigel Broadcasting Co. added: "The pairing of Bob Ramsey and Rob Morhaim brings significant experience and success in multi-platform content creation and execution to our local programming efforts hosted by Melissa Forman and Jeanne Sparrow. It will be exciting to see what Bob, Rob, Melissa, Jeanne, and our team, create."
The move bring Morhaim back to the midwest. He, along with his wife and two young sons, have recently relocated to north-suburban Wilmette from Sherman Oaks, CA. Morhaim received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Radio-Television from Southern Illinois University in downstate Carbondale, IL.
Rob Morhaim himself said in today's statement: "I'm ecstatic to return to Chicago to lead this unique and innovative live television show. Melissa Forman and Jeanne Sparrow have a chemistry that is special and I can't wait to work with them and the talented staff at 'You & Me This Morning' to make it appointment television for women in Chicago."
With Rob Morhaim joining WCIU-TV's morning show, this means that Patrick Baldwin, Weigel's Director of News Content exits. A spokesperson for Weigel Broadcasting says to CRM that they "appreciate everything he has done for the company and the program."
"You & Me This Morning" launched on WCIU-TV/"The U" in October 2009, originally airing throughout the weekday morning hours in segments, but now airing for two straight hours each weekday, from 6:00am to 8:00am, hosted by former Chicago radio stars Melissa Forman and Jeanne Sparrow. The adult female-targeted television program covers topics ranging from local news, weather, entertainment, beauty and fashion, community features and events, home and family, health and fitness, as well as celebrity guests.
