A year dominated by labor strife, awful Chicago sports teams, and – oh yeah, Elon If you watched the WWE, you remember Vince McMahon playing himself as an arrogant CEO and billionaire, ruling over anything and everything – the ultimate heel. It’s a real-life trend we’re seeing as we close 2023. Led by billionaire Elon Musk, CEOs – whether they’re […]
The NBA’s Washington Wizards and NHL’s Washington Capitals are on the move after owner Ted Leonsis announced Wednesday he was moving the teams out of Capital One Arena in downtown Washington D.C. come 2028 and to a new $10 billion sports and entertainment complex in nearby Alexandria, Va. known as Potomac Yard. “We are committed to providing world-class fan experiences […]
Your winners/losers in the 18th annual roundup of the worst in everything: Donald Trump. He’s back. Elon Musk. I’ll tell you what. You can click on this link, which leads to every story this space has featured on the arrogant billionaire, none of it positive. Jerry Reinsdorf. Speaking of arrogant billionaires, the 87-year-old is currently one of the worst owners […]
Also: Lakers and Spectrum announce DTC option; record set for shortest affiliation deal; Too much Judy? Have Chicagoans had enough of the Bears? An interesting take surfaced Monday as Chicago’s radio ratings were released. Radio Insight noted most cities’ sports talkers went up at the dawn of the NFL season – with the exception of Chicago’s 670 The Score/WSCR , […]
Joins ABC 7 and WGN in doing so with special segments So far, 2023 saw ABC’s WLS-TV and Nexstar’s WGN-TV mark their 75th anniversaries, the latter with a two-hour special. And now NBC-owned WMAQ-TV (branded as NBC 5 and NBC Chicago locally) is also joining the party. Several WMAQ alumnus will be joining the station for special segments during the […]
Also: Timberwolves strike iHeartMedia deal; CBS affiliates decline Bears game in large numbers; Survivor names a tribe after an old media company Longtime Chicago radio veteran Rick O’Dell is the latest media figure to announce his retirement, doing so on Facebook. His final day is October 4. Currently the program director of MeTV FM (WRME-FM), O’Dell is best known for […]
Bears sink in ratings locally despite gains for football – pro and collegiate elsewhere Last year, Chicago football fans had hope the Bears would drastically improve as they finished 3-14 and earning the first draft pick, whom they traded to the Carolina Panthers to get even more draft picks and acquiring a few standout veterans such as DJ Moore and […]
…or not, as reruns, court shows dominate local schedules As linear TV viewership continues to tumble, fall schedules for local television stations across the country certainly reflect the trend. Unlike last year when Sherri Shepard and Jennifer Hudson debuted with new syndicated talk shows, there is no such new programming being offered – especially with an ongoing work stoppage in […]
NFL team took team’s non-regular season game rights to market, opts to stay with Fox While the Chicago Bears are now expanding their search for a new home to suburbs other than Arlington Heights, at least the team isn’t going anywhere when it comes to official team programming on local TV (and answers one of our ten questions in […]
Good Karma-owned station takes over radio broadcasts this fall With the all-important NFL Draft approaching, ESPN 1000 (WMVP) announced its game day lineup for Bears games this upcoming season. Gameday starts with the Network Pre-Game Show (assuming the word “network” is a placeholder for a yet-to-be named corporate sponsor) with Marc Silverman (known on-air as Silvy), Dionne Miller (of ABC […]
Also: Mayoral debates scheduled; CBS-owned stations to rebrand news properties Audacy’s all-news WBBM-AM/WCFS-FM announced last week the hire of Craig Schwalb as brand manager and news director of the station effective January 23. He succeeds Ron Gleason, who retired last month. Schwalb comes from Hubbard’s dominant all-news station WTOP in Washington, D.C., a station who typically leads the country in […]
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 […]
Good Karma is new flagship home of the Chicago Bears – and they may looking for a new TV partner as well While the Chicago Bears are remaking their team for the future by trading away players for future draft picks, the team also made a major move on the radio front and may look to do so on the […]
Also: prime-time’s future debated; Pluto takes streaming lead You wonder if Amazon has a return policy for defective football games: Much like the teams on the field, the October 13 edition of Prime Video’s Thursday Night Football was completely forgettable. The newly renamed Washington Commanders played the Chicago Bears on a 40-degree night and viewers figured the game between two […]
Also: Jennifer Hudson, Sherri Sheppard start off well; Clippers return to broadcast TV in L.A. We won’t go into this as much as we did in previous years when the Bears and Packers play in primetime as what has been said about this…has already been said. The Chicago team’s 27-10 loss to Green Bay drew 20.8 million viewers across NBC, […]