Packers-Bears, FIFA World Cup, and more could be affected For Chicago-area DirecTV subscribers, the possibility of losing the Green Bay Packers-Chicago Bears game from Soldier Field Sunday probably would be a bigger deal if Justin Fields wasn’t questionable to play and both teams had better records. But since the FIFA World Cup and the Big Ten Championship Game are on […]
Peacock to get big boost as number of games increases. Also: HBCU games go to CBS’ twelve non-primary affiliates The reports were circulating but now it’s official: The Big Ten has re-upped with Fox Sports, while striking new deals with Paramount Global and Comcast’s NBCUniversal for CBS and NBC/Peacock, respectively as first reported by Sports Business Journal. The Fox […]
The Worldwide Leader frozen out of the Big Ten after carrying games from the conference for 40 years After 40 years, ESPN is apparently out of the Big Ten business. The network on Tuesday withdrew from negotiations on trying to keep a Big Ten package in some form after the conference is expected to strike mega-deals with Fox, CBS, and […]
Viewers receive Fox 32 and My 50 via Dish again in time for Sunday’s Bears game After a little over a week of being knocked off the air, Dish and Fox Corporation announced Sunday morning the two companies came to a long-term carriage agreement, restoring Fox, FS1, FS2, Big Ten Network, and Fox Deportes to the satellite service. The impasse […]
Here comes another retrans dispute as impasse knocks Fox 32, My 50, FS1 off Dish In a move that surprised and stunned a lot of observers – not to mention Dish subscribers, Fox Corp. announced Thursday it has pulled their signals off Dish. This means Fox-owned local channels WFLD-TV and My Network TV affiliate WPWR-TV are off Dish and their […]
Blockbuster deal includes 20th Century Fox film studio and programming library, cable and sports networks, and more In a history-making deal, The Walt Disney Company agreed to acquire much of 21st Century Fox for $52.4 billion. The deal was speculated about for the last few weeks on this blog and elsewhere, as 21st Century Fox owner Rupert Murdoch was looking […]
The Voice finds… its “voice”… Looney Tunes returns… and other news of note – It’s official: the sale of Bonneville’s radio stations in Chicago and a few other cities is now complete: Twin Cities (Minneapolis-St. Paul) -based Hubbard Broadcasting has officially taken over The Mix (WTMX), The Drive (WDRV), and WILV-FM on May 2. The formats and management who served […]
Let’s reach into the bag today and see what we can scoop out… – New fall syndication updates: WPWR plays the Feud again: Debmar-Mercury’s Family Feud returns to WPWR-TV for the third time beginning on Sept. 8, airing back-to-back episodes at 2 p.m, while Debmar’s new Trivial Pursuit: America’s Plays airs at 3 p.m. Family Feud aired on WPWR from […]
The Chicago Tribune is reporting Comcast and the Big Ten Network have reached an agreement for the collegiate sports network to be put on Comcast’s expanded basic package effective on August 15 in states with Big Ten schools including Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. After the 2008-09 college basketball season ends, Comcast has the option to put BTN on an […]
It’s too late for the just-about-to-conclude college basketball season, but Comcast and the Big Ten Network are close to a deal that would put the new college sports net on its extended basic package.Comcast recently dropped a provision in its stance, stating BTN was a “niche” channel, and should be regulated only to a sports tier. Currently, BTN is not […]
In a huge victory for the Big Ten Network, Wide Open West, which serves much of Chicago area (the same territory as Comcast), has signed a deal with the fledging sports net to carry the network on an expanded basic cable package in the eight states where there are Big Ten schools. Later in the day, BTN also struck a […]
Now on to some real news… In a move that brings rejoice to Big Ten fans (and makes cable look bad), Echostar’s Dish Network has struck a deal with the Big Ten Network to carry its collegiate regional sports network on its basic service. The channel will also be carried in HD.
They support a la carte programming (which is no surprise given they are staunch supporters of the FCC’s indecency campaign and the war in Iraq.) Of course, when was the last time The Chicago Tribune Editorial Board’s opinion on anything was revelant to anybody? Aren’t newspapers supposed to be dead by now? And since yours truly didn’t go to a […]
It looks like the nation’s cable channels are getting fed up with sports leagues taking them for a ride – Comcast and Time Warner – two of the nation’s largest cable companies – are taking a stand. Comcast has pushed the NFL Network into a pay-tier with other sports channels -like CSTV and NBA TV for example, while Time Warner […]
Teddy Greenstein in today’s Trib talks about the soon-to-launch Big Ten Network and how it is struggling to get carriage among the Midwest’s biggest cable operators, including Comcast, Time Warner, Wide Open West, and Charter systems. The Big Ten Network also wants to be on an expanded sports tier, and not a pay-for-play sports tier. BTN officials point that the […]