Jenniffer Colleen Weigel (born October 6, 1970), known professionally as Jenniffer Weigel, is a
Chicago
Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
radio and television personality, as well as an author and performer who owns her own Chicago-area production company. She was a morning cohost on WLS-AM alongside
Mancow Muller
Matthew Erich "Mancow" Muller (born June 21, 1966) is an American radio and television personality, actor, and former child actor. Considered a shock jock, his career has been well known for controversy and clashes with the Federal Communication ...
; she now hosts her own show on WLS-AM from 10:00 pm to midnight Monday through Friday. She previously hosted ''Taste'', a program aired on
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...
affiliates both in New York and in Chicago, and she also previously wrote a column for the
Chicago Tribune
The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...
and appeared on WGN Television and CLTV in Chicago to discuss her columns as the emcee of Trib University.
Early life and education
Weigel graduated from
Evanston Township High School
Evanston Township High School (ETHS) (District 202) is a public high school in Evanston, Illinois. The campus is located in a northern suburb of Chicago along the Lake Michigan shore. ETHS was established in 1883 and serves the city of Evanston a ...
in
Evanston, Illinois
Evanston is a city in Cook County, Illinois, United States, situated on the North Shore (Chicago), North Shore along Lake Michigan. A suburb of Chicago, Evanston is north of Chicago Loop, downtown Chicago, bordered by Chicago to the south, Skok ...
and earned a bachelor's degree in theater from the
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United States. Established in 1867, it is the f ...
in 1992.
Professional career
Weigel began her professional career as an actress, appearing in productions at
The Second City
The Second City is an improvisational comedy enterprise. It is the oldest improvisational theater troupe to be continuously based in Chicago, with training programs and live theaters in Toronto and New York. Since its debut in 1959, it has b ...
Northwest, the Wisdom Bridge Theatre and the National Jewish Theater. She also performed voiceover work.
In 1995, Weigel began working as a traffic reporter for
WMVP
WMVP (1000 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station licensed to Chicago, Illinois, carrying a sports radio format. Owned by Good Karma Brands, the station serves the Chicago metropolitan area as the market affiliate of ESPN Radio, the flagship st ...
-AM and
WLUP-FM in Chicago. In 1997, she shifted to being solely a news anchor for
WMVP-AM
WMVP (1000 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station licensed to Chicago, Illinois, carrying a sports radio format. Owned by Good Karma Brands, the station serves the Chicago metropolitan area as the market affiliate of ESPN Radio, the flagship sta ...
, working alongside program hosts like
Danny Bonaduce
Dante Daniel Bonaduce (; born August 13, 1959) is an American retired radio personality, actor, television personality and professional wrestler. Bonaduce is the son of veteran TV writer and producer Joseph Bonaduce ('' The Dick Van Dyke Show'' ...
and
Steve Cochran
Steve Cochran (born Robert Alexander Cochran, May 25, 1917 – June 15, 1965) was an American film, television and stage actor. He attended the University of Wyoming. After a stint working as a cowboy, Cochran developed his acting skills in loca ...
. From late 1997 until early 1999, she worked as an entertainment reporter for
WGN-TV
WGN-TV (channel 9) is a television station in Chicago, Illinois, United States, serving as the local outlet for The CW. It is owned and operated by the network's majority owner, Nexstar Media Group, and is sister station, sister to the company ...
in Chicago.
In 1999, Weigel and her husband, Clay Champlin, began co-hosting a Saturday evening radio show on
WCKG
WCKG (1530 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station licensed to Elmhurst, Illinois, and serving the Chicago metropolitan area. It broadcasts a sports radio format and is owned by DuPage Radio, LLC. WCKG is a Fox Sports Radio Network affiliate. ...
-FM in Chicago. From 2002 to 2003, Weigel co-hosted a Saturday afternoon talk show on
WLS-AM
WLS (890 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station in Chicago, Illinois. Owned by Cumulus Media, through licensee Radio License Holdings LLC, the station airs a talk radio format. WLS studios are in the NBC Tower on North Columbus Drive in the city ...
in Chicago. She continues to occasionally work as a fill-in radio host on
WGN-AM
WGN (720 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station in Chicago, Illinois, featuring a talk radio format. WGN's studios are in the Chicago Loop, while the transmitter is in Elk Grove Village. WGN also features broadcasts of Chicago Blackhawks hockey ...
in Chicago.
In 1999, Weigel began working as a free-lance entertainment contributor for
WBBM-TV
WBBM-TV (channel 2) is a television station in Chicago, Illinois, United States, serving as the market's CBS network outlet. Owned and operated by the network's CBS News and Stations division, the station maintains studios on West Washington St ...
in Chicago. In 2000, she won the job on a full-time basis, and in 2001, she won a Chicago Emmy award for her feature reporting. In 2002, Weigel asked for an early release from her contract with the station after being reassigned to general news reporting duties. After that, Weigel did some free-lance television reporting for
ABC News ABC News most commonly refers to:
* ABC News (Australia), a national news service of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation
* ABC News (United States), a news-gathering and broadcasting division of the American Broadcasting Company
ABC News may a ...
' Chicago bureau and did some commercial and voiceover work. She also formed her own production company, JCW Productions, in 2002.
In 2005, Weigel began hosting and producing a weekly lifestyle magazine show on
WMAQ-TV
WMAQ-TV (channel 5) is a television station in Chicago, Illinois, United States, serving as the market's NBC outlet. It is owned and operated by the network's NBC Owned Television Stations division alongside Telemundo station WSNS-TV (chann ...
in Chicago called ''Taste.''
In 2007, Weigel published her first book, ''Stay Tuned; Conversations With Dad From the Other Side'', a book about her relationship with her late sportscaster father
Tim Weigel and her spiritual attempts to contact him after his death. The next year, Weigel adapted the book into a one-woman show called "I'm Spiritual, Dammit!" at the Viaduct Theatre in Chicago.
Her second book, "I'm Spiritual, Dammit!" was published in October 2010, and is being published in German, French, Spanish and the United Kingdom.
Weigel also has had several acting roles since beginning her television and radio career. In 1999, she played a television reporter in an episode of the series ''
Early Edition
''Early Edition'' is an American fantasy comedy-drama television series that aired on CBS from September 28, 1996, to May 27, 2000. Set in Chicago, Illinois, it follows the adventures of a man who mysteriously receives each ''Chicago Sun-Times' ...
'', and in 2001, she played a news anchorwoman in the
John Hughes John Hughes may refer to:
Arts and Entertainment Literature
*John Hughes (poet) (1677–1720), English poet
*John Hughes (1790–1857), English author
*John Ceiriog Hughes (1832–1887), Welsh poet
*John Hughes (writer) (born 1961), Australian au ...
movie ''
New Port South
''New Port South'' is a 2001 American drama film. It was released on September 7, 2001. The film is set in the fictional town of New Port, near Chicago. It stars Will Estes, Todd Field, and Blake Shields, was written by James Hughes and directed ...
''. She played a TV news reporter on ''
Chicago Fire'' in December 2014.
In July 2018, Weigel was hired as the director of community development for the Chicago Sun-Times newspaper.
In March 2019, Weigel signed on as the cohost of
Mancow Muller
Matthew Erich "Mancow" Muller (born June 21, 1966) is an American radio and television personality, actor, and former child actor. Considered a shock jock, his career has been well known for controversy and clashes with the Federal Communication ...
's morning radio show on WLS-AM in Chicago.
Personal
Weigel is the daughter of the late
Tim Weigel, a longtime Chicago television sports and news anchor, and his first wife, former
WGN-AM
WGN (720 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station in Chicago, Illinois, featuring a talk radio format. WGN's studios are in the Chicago Loop, while the transmitter is in Elk Grove Village. WGN also features broadcasts of Chicago Blackhawks hockey ...
radio reporter Kathy Worthington. She also is the sister of television newscaster
Rafer Weigel
Rafer Weigel (born May 5, 1969) is an American broadcast journalist who most recently was an early morning weekday news anchor and general assignment reporter at WFLD-Channel 32 in Chicago. Formerly, he was the weekend sports anchor and reporte ...
.
In June 1998, Weigel married Clay Champlin, a Chicago radio traffic and news reporter. They divorced in 2011.
Weigel has said that her parents added an extra "f" in her first name to differentiate her, given how common her first name is.
References
External links
Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Weigel, Jenniffer
Living people
Television anchors from Chicago
American television reporters and correspondents
1970 births
University of Illinois College of Fine and Applied Arts alumni
Evanston Township High School alumni