The Media Notepad: Fox 32 gets Amazon Thursday night Bears game – report (updated)

Also: local Atlanta station removes popular syndicated show to air more news; controversial political ad removed from local airwaves; the GOP looking to deregulate the media business even more; Ramsey Lewis dies [Editor’s Note: There is an update to the second story in this piece. See below.] Thursday Night Football may have left Fox, but its owned stations certainly haven’t […]

iHeartMedia’s new Black Information Network launches

Replaces fifteen terrestrial radio stations including Atlanta conservative talk outlet In the aftermath of the George Floyd police murder and protests for racial justice nationwide under the Black Lives Matter movement, there have been calls for more diversity in every faucet of life – especially in the media business, particularly when it comes to news and information. On Tuesday, iHeartMedia […]

The Media Notepad: 101.9 The Mix, The Drive dominate Chicago radio ratings

Also: Decades finds new station group; FCC votes to modify kidvid rules and strike down San Francisco apartment broadband law Hubbard Broadcasting continued its dominance of local Chicago radio in the recently released May PPM Nielsen rankings. As reported by Robert Feder, WTMX finished first again, with sister station The Drive (WDRV-FM) finishing a strong second.  The Minnepaolis-based company also […]

25 years ago: The deal heard around the world

25 years ago this week, Fox’s Rupert Murdoch changed the TV world by inking a deal to trigger the biggest affiliation switch in history.  It goes back to what happened on December 17, 1993. The networks were complaining about paying too much for sports – the NFL in particular – as the packages were losing money and looking to pay […]

DMA Report: Chicago continues to lose ground, but less so

Most top markets lose TV homes as streaming, other alternatives take hold New York, Miami, Orlando only markets in top twenty to post gains while last year’s big winners slipped As a nation, it looks like were are ditching the traditional boob tube when it comes to TV. With streaming on devices such as laptops, smartphones, and tablets are becoming […]

Nostalgia wave boosts Chicago radio stations

Break out the leg warmers and Rubik’s Cubes : WDRV, WLS-FM score record ratings There must be gold in retro music – because it is paying dividends for several Chicago radio stations. And it is for two stations in particular: Hubbard’s Classic Rock WDRV-FM (The Drive) and Cumulus’ Classic Hits WLS-FM both scored their highest rankings ever and their highest […]

The Media notepad: Chicago’s African-American radio stations hold their own despite population drop

As yet another report showing the Chicago area’s African-American population on the decline, the market’s black-targeted radio stations seem to be holding their own. Even the entrance of classic Hip-Hop/R&B station 104.3 Jams (WBMX) didn’t have much of an impact on the overall share of African-Americans listening to radio in the Chicago market, though WBMX reportedly had taken audience away […]

The Media Notepad: Meredith Corp. buys Time

Also:  Tom Joyner loses home in Atlanta; Chicago sports hit a rough spot; the Crowd disbands;  In yet another media merger, Meredith Corp. announced its acquisition of Time Inc. for $2.8 billion. The union brings together Time’s magazines (Time, Sports Illustrated, People, Entertainment Weekly, Fortune) with Meredith’s (Better Homes And Gardens, Family Circle, Midwest Living, etc.) Headquartered in Des Moines, […]

DMA Report: Chicago, other big markets losing households

New DMA rankings show large markets losing population Chicago, San Diego, Indianapolis big losers; Nashville, Portland big gainers An analysis of the 2017-18 Nielsen designated market area (DMA) television household rankings shows a shift in population away from the top markets of New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago to other DMAs while other big markets such as Washington D.C., Houston, […]

T Dog’s Media Notepad: Megyn Kelly stumbles, bumbles in premiere

If you are employed during the day, be extremely grateful you don’t have to witness the battle of the mediocre at 9 a.m.: September 25th saw the premiere of Megyn Kelly’s new talk show on NBC competing with Live With Kelly and Ryan on ABC affiliates in most markets, including nine of the ten largest with programs actually tying each […]

T Dog’s Think Tank: The “R” word

Chicago sports teams now have something in common with media companies – rebuilding when the good times end  Chicagoans better get used to a word they’ve been hearing a lot: rebuild. Last week, two of Chicago’s sports franchises – the Bulls and Blackhawks announced changes that dramatically overhauled their lineups for next season. On the day of the NBA Draft, […]

“Family Feud” returns to Hollywood

Game show returns to Los Angeles. If Los Angeles is seeing a boost in production recently, city leaders ought to send a thank you note to Steve Harvey. As first reported by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Rodney Ho, Family Feud is leaving Atlanta to return to Los Angeles, where it left eight years ago when Steve Harvey became host of the […]