I wrote about the difficult balancing act for WBBM-Ch. 2 in today’s Chicago Tribune.

Tornadoes already had hit in Central Illinois, and with the threat of severe weather looming at Soldier Field and elsewhere in the area, Ch. 2 had to inform the public of a potentially dangerous situation. As a result, we missed of NFL Today for weather coverage.

However, shortly after noon, Ch. 2 switched to the game. Bears fans wanted to hear from Jim Nantz, not weatherman Ed Curran. You can’t pre-empt a Bears game here. Ch. 2’s switchboard would have exploded.

From the story:

“Certainly, a Bears game is a big event for Chicago. It’s a big event for WBBM,” said Jeff Kiernan, station vice president and news director. “But you have to make tough decisions. Public safety and information is our No. 1 priority. There’s nothing more important than informing viewers of a dangerous and threatening situation.”

Channel 2, though, did not pre-empt coverage of the game. It joined CBS and Nantz just as the Bears’ Devin Hester grabbed the opening kickoff in the end zone. The station provided weather updates coming out of commercials until play was suspended late in the first quarter.

Outside of the Super Bowl, Bears games deliver the highest local ratings of the year for the networks. Channel 2, the CBS affiliate in Chicago, only gets two shots at the Bears this year; it had the season opener against the Bengals. Under the NFL television contract, CBS has the rights for Sunday afternoon inter-conference games when the AFC team is the visitor.

“We found balance (after the opening kickoff),” Kiernan said. “We showed the game, but we also were able to communicate critical information through the updates and the on-screen crawls.”