Tom Hudson taking job with 'Nightly Business Report'

Tom Hudson, co-anchor and managing editor of First Business Network's nationally-syndicated "First Business" is leaving the program after an eight-year stint to take a job with PBS' longstanding "Nightly Business Report." First Business Network is a subsidiary of Chicago-based Weigel Broadcasting.

Hudson has been a fixture on the locally-produced "First Business" program since mid-2003. A search is currently underway for Hudson's successor.

Hudson's co-anchor Beejal Patel will continue on with the show. "Tom Hudson is an exceptional broadcast journalist, and we wish him the best," said "First Business" Executive Producer Harvey Moshman, who hopes to have Hudson's replacement on board by the end of the year.

In recent years, the 30-minute "First Business" product had featured Hudson and Patel offering commentary from the floors of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and Chicago Board of Trade, as well as the show's expanded studios in the west loop.

The show launched in 1989 as a production of the United States Chamber of Commerce in Washington, D.C., and it is now syndicated in 126 markets nationally. Over the years "First Business" has attracted various high-profile sponsors, including Sprint, Ameritrade and IBM.