On January 14, T Dog Media laid out the predictions on what to look for in the media business for 2022. So how did they turn out? Well, we got the answers right here: 1. WBEZ and the Sun-Times “merger”. Little has been released about a potential merger between the Sun-Times and public radio station WBEZ. How is this going to […]
Departures marked 2022 in local, national media If anything marked 2022, it was an exit sign. The media industry was rocked by retirements, departures, and goodbyes this year with numerous people leaving as the business was being redefined by the decline of linear TV and terrestrial radio; the increasing indication 2023 is going to be a rough year financially if […]
Package was last NFL property still out on open market; heads to YouTube TV After 29 seasons on DirecTV, NFL Sunday Ticket is on the move. Google and the NFL announced an agreement Thursday with the tech giant acquiring the out-of-market package of games for an estimated $2 billion as an add-on option to existing YouTube TV subscriptions and a-la-carte […]
After nine shows were wipe off the schedule, a quieter 2023 is ahead If there’s anything after the great syndication purge of 2022, 2023 is shaping up to be much different. An article on NextTV’s website Tuesday detailed how there are very few first-run syndicated programs in development as this year’s new entries are likely to stick around. Even though […]
Saturday evening, Nexstar and Comcast came to terms on an agreement to keep their stations and cable news network NewsNation on their systems nationwide. Nexstar owns WGN-TV in Chicago while Comcast is the metro area’s largest subscription TV provider. A blackout could have hurt WGN’s ratings, as it regularly tops the weekday morning news race in the adult 25-54 demo […]
Good news for Hollywood and other producers; not so much for affiliates With NBC looking to add more multi-cam sitcoms and procedural dramas, the network has decided to shelve the idea of giving affiliates back the last hour of prime-time – for now. As first reported by Deadline, the decision was made after a careful canvass was made of […]
Plus: MeTV expands Svengoolie; MLS and Apple makes linear broadcasting deals; PBS stations to stream on LocalNow. One of the top-rated overnight voices in Chicago radio is coming back for an encore. The husband-and-wife team of Steve King and Johnnie Putnam will be returning to WGN Radio on Saturday nights starting January 7, where they’ll have a weekly show airing […]
Collation of media organizations blast plan, saying public safety is threatened; New York City may follow Chicago media organizations and community leaders are blasting a plan to encrypt police radio scanners, saying doing so would be a threat to public safety. In a letter signed by three publications, five television station newsrooms, and WBEZ parent Chicago Public Media, the collation […]
Nation’s largest station group is up against the nation’s largest cable operator in retrans battle Just a week after local DirecTV subscribers dodged a bullet when the satellite TV provider made a last-minute deal with Fox to keep the network and its related channels on the service in midst of the FIFA World Cup and a Packers-Bears game, Chicago viewers […]
Trailblazer at WMAQ and WGN radio dies at 92 One of the first African-Americans to break the color barrier at a mainstream Chicago radio station has died. Floyd Brown, who was known to be one of the few Black radio personalities to appear on WGN Radio, passed away Friday at 92. Born in Dallas, Brown arrived in Chicago enrolling in […]
Hee Haw Empire launched with high expectations but fell flat A day after its season finale aired, Fox announced it was cancelling Monarch after eleven episodes. Set in the world of country music, the drama featured Trace Adkins and Susan Sarandon and instantly drew comparisons to former Fox drama Empire, which ran from 2015 to 2020 and had a similar […]
Also: DirecTV and Fox avert blackout; NHL, Roku launch FAST channel; Debmar-Mercury to offer local stations People Puzzler Another news anchor has called it a career: NBC 5 (WMAQ) anchor Rob Stafford announced last week he is retiring after over 30 years in the business. HIs final day is on December 23. “I turn 65 next year and my wife […]