ESPN fights its way back into the boxing business

More boxing on the way As the sports world Saturday was focusing on the Floyd Mayweather-Conor McGregor pay-per-view fight from Las Vegas, ESPN made some boxing news of its own over the weekend by announcing a new, multi-deal year to carry boxing matches from Top Rank, a promotion run by legend Bob Arum. Top Rank tested the waters recently with […]

Fun, food, and fights at the ballpark

Vicious brawl between Yankees, Tigers the likes of which not seen in years As Haray Caray once said, “you can’t beat fun at the ol’ ballpark.” And for once, there was a fight on daytime TV that didn’t involve President Trump or the Jerry Springer show. Thursday’s game between the New York Yankees and Detroit Tigers turned into a series […]

Cubs, White Sox ratings stumble into All-Star break

Lackluster play continues trend of declining sports ratings locally With the Cubs’ shockingly poor play and the White Sox’s rebuild (there’s that word again), it isn’t any surprise the ratings for both Chicago baseball teams are down from last year as both teams resume play after the All-Star break. According to Crain’s Danny Ecker, the Cubs – who were 2016 […]

Welcome to “The Cutler Factor”

Jay Cutler signs with Fox Sports. Caution! You’re about to enter “The No Fumble Zone”. That’s because we now know Jay Cutler won’t be anywhere near a football anymore. But the former Chicago Bears quarterback did decide to trade in his cleats for a broadcasting career by joining Fox Sports’ NFL crew. Beginning next season, he’ll hoof it up with play-by-play […]

Black day at Bristol

As anticipated, ESPN lays off staffers, writers, on-air personnel Several recognizable names cut, including two with Chicago ties As expected, ESPN announced Wednesday it was laying off around 100 people – many of them on-air personnel and a few of the layoffs were surprises. ESPN has suffered some ratings downturn in the last few years, and revenues have declined as more and more […]

Media Notepad: Chances for writer’s strike increase

Also: ‘Showtime At The Apollo’ returns; The end of the road for “MyTV” branding? Blackhawks’ ratings for 2016-17 drop An update on the WGA labor situation: With the May 1 deadline approaching, the chances of a walkout by the Writer’s Guild seems to be increasing. According to the New York Times, progress has been made on issues such as pay […]

Predators-Blackhawks game could be moved if headed to OT

As first reported by Sports Media Watch, tonight’s Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Playoff Quarterfinal between the Nashville Predators and the Chicago Blackhawks could be moved to CNBC if the game runs past 10 p.m. due to Saturday Night Live. Tonight is the first time ever Saturday Night Live is going live across the country, including the Mountain and […]

WLS-TV suspends Mark Giangreco for anti-Trump tweet

Second incident in a week where as someone in the media is disciplined for tweeting As first reported by Robert Feder Thursday evening, WLS-TV sports anchor and director Mark Giangreco has been suspended for “multiple weeks” after sending a tweet critical of President Donald Trump. On Sunday, the 35-year veteran of Chicago television responded to a tweet sent by a […]

Updated post: “Winter Classic” slides in ratings

Despite Blackhawks loss, Winter Classic draws viewers in Chicago, St. Louis – but Chicago numbers down significantly from 2015’s game Celebrity Apprentice return disappoints And other ratings news of note (Editor’s Note: Contains spoilers for Monday’s edition of “The Wall”. This post has been updated from earlier today – T.H..) Though the Chicago Blackhawks didn’t win, the ninth NHL Winter […]

T Dog’s Media Notepad: Chicago radio stations to carry Mayor Emanuel interview

Also: Conviction canceled, becomes first casualty; NFL ratings continue to decline; WLIT to flip to Christmas music Thursday; PlaysttionVue drops Viacom channels Fresh after a bruising election season, Chicago radio listeners are going to subjected to a half-hour with Mayor Rahm Emanuel – whether they like it or not. On Monday, over 40 radio stations in the Chicago area are airing a half-hour interview […]

WGN-TV dominates Cubs parade coverage ratings

But who finished second in adults 25-54 is a surprise Tribune-owned WGN-TV has been the home of Chicago Cubs baseball since 1948 – and their exposure through the former WGN Superstation helped expose the team to a nationwide audience. So it is appropriate that WGN would be the station most viewers turned to for their historic World Series parade. According […]

Cubs World Series’ victory is also one for all involved

Fox, WFLD, MLB, advertisers also have reason to pop out the bubbly The Chicago Cubs’ World Series win is historic in many ways – and not just for the team. Wednesday night’s achievement – the first championship for the team since 1908, brought dividends for Fox, advertisers, the game of baseball, and over-the-air television in general. For one – the edge-of-your-seat, […]

Cubs win World Series title

108 years of frustrations wiped away The Chicago Cubs are World Series Champions. Repeat after me. The Chicago Cubs are World Series Champions. The city’s North Side baseball team did what was unthinkable few years ago – win the World Series. In an epic Game 7, the Cubs bet the Cleveland Indians 8-7 Wednesday night in ten innings  to claim […]

World Series rolls on with the Cubs

First two games show massive viewership increases as Chicago viewers turn out in droves As expected, the Chicago Cubs’ appearance in the World Series gave a lift to Fox and drew throngs of viewers to Fox-owned WFLD-TV. According to Nielsen, game two of the Cubs-Indians series drew a local 35.4 live-plus-same day household rating, up from the 34.1 drew the […]