Creates the largest pay-TV provider in the country with an estimated 18 million subscribers As anticipated amid rumors over the weekend, DirecTV has agreed to purchase rival satellite TV provider Dish DBS (direct broadcast satellite) from Echostar for $1 and the assumption of $9.75 billion in debt. The transaction, subject to government approval, will create the largest pay-TV conglomerate in […]
Struggling satellite provider drops conservative news channel as contract expires In a dispute that only came to light Tuesday afternoon, DirecTV dropped conservative-leaning news channel NewsMax at 10:59 p.m. Central Time the same day, as as the two parties couldn’t come to an agreement. The dispute centered on NewsMax demanding a large carriage fee from DirecTV as it was […]
Failure to disclose romantic relationship with staff member leads to his demise In the sixteen years of writing this blog, there have been a number of media executives I’ve written about who came off as total assholes – Sam Zell, Randy Michaels, Jimmy deCastro, Michael Ferro, Jan Jeffries, Les Moonves, Marv Nyren, Larry Tisch, and probably more, enough to […]
DirecTV is an independent company once again. But can they recapture their own glory? AT&T completed the spinoff of the satellite provider to private equity firm TPG Monday in a deal valued at $15 billion. The transaction includes streaming provider AT&T Now and U-verse systems, which are being rebranded as DirecTV Stream. In a three-way split, AT&T gets $7. 8 […]
Plans to merge assets with WarnerMedia to spinoff to own company Here we go again. Sunday morning, Bloomberg published a report stating Discovery Communications and AT&T’s WarnerMedia would be merging assets, marrying Bugs Bunny and Friends with Oprah Winfrey and Chip and Joanna Gaines. The news was made official Monday, with AT&T spinning off those assets into a new, […]
Part of larger deal involving Sinclair Broadcast Group. If you are a Cubs fan, and a Comcast subscriber, you might want to send the peeps at Sinclair Broadcasting Group a thank you card. Yeah, yeah I know. In a deal announced literally hours before the first pitch Friday night at Wrigley Field against the Milwaukee Brewers, the Cubs’ new Marquee […]
But here’s the rub: it’s only going to air monthly Hulu becomes latest operator to sign deal with Marquee In an odd move, the Cubs’ new Marquee network is planning to launch a new talk show featuring former Cubs pitcher Ryan Dempster. Speaking to reporters at Sloan Park in Mesa, Ariz. on Saturday, Dempster said his new show would not […]
Disney Plus made the biggest splash of the year 2019 saw the end of several institutions, big media battles, and disappointing sports teams. Let’s start with the huge changes in big media, as Disney closed on its purchase of the 20th Century Fox film studio and Viacom reuniting with CBS again with a new name (ViacomCBS) as the race […]
Welcome to the 14th annual T Dog Media Turkey Awards – celebrating the worst in media, sports, and life in general. We have 17 recipients to announce, so let’s get gobblin’: Survivor. The way CBS handled – or mishandled the latest Survivor controversy leaves a lot of be desired. An extra side turkey is given to Jeff Probst for what […]
Sinclair strikes deal to bring Cubs channel in 2020 We are now at a point where Cubs games are being shown in Des Moines but not in the Chicago area itself on cable. Thankfully, Marquee isn’t launching until February. As first reported by the Chicago Tribune Wednesday, the Chicago Cubs and Sinclair announced a carriage deal with cable provider Mediacom. […]
New deal part of overall pact with Sinclair Broadcasting and AT&T. If you don’t know what the word “leverage” means if you’re a Cubs fan and a DirecTV subscriber, you know now – and you can thank Sinclair Broadcasting. As a part of Sinclair’s new carriage agreement with AT&T, the new Marquee Network featuring the Chicago Cubs will be available […]
Chicago to become next battleground in retrans battle between RSNs, satellite providers If you are going to gloat when Marquee launches with a lack of distribution while NBC Sports Chicago is in your Dish and DirecTV channel lineup, you might be in for a rude awaking come October 1. That’s because with the Cubs dropping out of the NBC Sports […]
In news first reported by Robert Feder a week ago (and mentioned here in passing), WCIU (The U) and ABC-owned WLS-TV (ABC 7) announced they were ending the 7 p.m. weeknight newscast produced for the Weigel-owned station August 30th. Launched in 2015, the newscast was meant to attract viewers who were just arriving home from work and want an update […]
Also: No relief in sight for those missing CBS on DirecTV; Dish drops Fox RSNs; WCIU drops new CW 26 trailer; This TV future? Entercom country-music outlet uS 99 WUSN-FM finally announced their new morning show last week, featuring Jason Pullman and Chicago-area native Katie Bright as they replace Stylz & Roman, who were dismissed in May after three years. […]
July 19 is deadline In what could be the biggest retrans showdown yet, CBS on Tuesday afternoon warned of a looming blackout for AT&T customers for this coming Friday, including those who subscribe to DirecTV, U-Verse, and the DirecTV Now streaming service. This is big because CBS is one of the nation’s largest broadcasters, and own stations in almost all […]