Minneapolis stations, cable networks to carry proceedings in the death of George Floyd The landmark Derek Chavin murder trial began Monday and viewers can get a front row seat to one of the biggest legal proceedings in a generation. It’s a historic trial to begin with: it marks the first time a Minnesota criminal trial has been televised gavel-to-gavel from […]
Continues programming expansion at Bradley Place Nexstar once again continues its push for more programming out of WGN’s Bradley Place by launching a nightly sports show at 10:30 p.m. Billed as “GN Sports”, the program is hosted by WGN sports anchors Dan Roan and Jarrett Payton. The show displaces one of two airings of off-network sitcom The Goldbergs, which relocates […]
Broadcast group jumps into the cable news game with a different approach to news – the traditional way With the announcement of a new national newscast originating from Chicago, Nexstar is making a huge financial investment in the Windy City. The Irving, Tex.-based broadcaster announced Wednesday the launch of a three-hour prime-time national newscast originating from Chicago’s WGN-TV Bradley Place […]
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 […]
Nexstar pulls plug on local cable news channel after a little over 25 years In a move you can blame on cord-cutting and general cost-cutting, Nexstar announced Monday the closure of local news channel Chicagoland Television, or CLTV after nearly 27 years of operation. The channel goes dark at the end of this month. In a memo from WGN-TV and […]
LaQuan McDonald trial has city on edge; local media is ready to cover with CLTV airing live proceedings September 5th began the biggest trial the city has seen in decades. Police officer Jason Van Dyke is being tried for the murder of LaQuan McDonald, videotaped in October 2014 and wasn’t released until a year later, when it was shown worldwide. […]
In order to have government regulators approve the merger with Tribune, Sinclair agree to withdrew controversial plans to sell stations in three markets including Chicago FCC votes to send matter to Administrative Law Judge (Editor’s Note: This story is frequently changing. Follow @tdogmedia on Twitter for updates.) Aren’t you sick of this already? After being smacked down by FCC Chairman […]
Mega deal is the biggest in television history: 42 station-group sold to Maryland-based broadcaster Ends local ownership of WGN-TV and WGN Radio after more than 60 years Sinclair’s purchase of Tribune Media will change the landscape of local television as we know it. For one, Tribune – with roots in television going back to 1948 as the WGN Continental Broadcasting […]
Potential mega mergers could be on the horizon – and Sinclair-Tribune may be first The worst-case scenario many in the TV industry fearing could come true. Several reports surfaced this week if the FCC relaxes – or eliminates the TV ownership rules, Hunt Valley Md.-based Sinclair Broadcasting could merge with Chicago-based Tribune Media. Talks are preliminary, according to sources. Neither company […]
Tribune has found a new vice president and general manager for WGN-TV and his name is Paul Rennie, who comes from sister stations WTTV and WXIN in Indianapolis. Rennie succeeds Greg Easterly, who moved to New York to take the open WPIX GM position. Rennie also will oversee CLTV, Tribune’s local Chicago news channel. Rennie will have the task of […]
Hello, and welcome back to T Dog Media! Here are some notable news and notes from the last two weeks: Tom Doerr has resigned as news director of Fox-owned WFLD-TV here in Chicago after just three years and six years overall at the station. Doerr is heading back to Florida to deal with personal family issues. During his tenure, ratings […]
– WLS-TV returns to the top of the late news heap – American Idol continues to slide With the Olympics over and done with, normal viewing patterns have resumed – good news for ABC-owned WLS-TV, which saw its 10 p.m. news dominance temporarily usurped by NBC-owned WMAQ. In March, WLS returned to the top spot at 10 with a 9.0 […]
– WLS-TV returns to the top of the late news heap – American Idol continues to slide With the Olympics over and done with, normal viewing patterns have resumed – good news for ABC-owned WLS-TV, which saw its 10 p.m. news dominance temporarily usurped by NBC-owned WMAQ. In March, WLS returned to the top spot at 10 with a 9.0 […]
After three years, the Tribune bankruptcy saga is finally coming to end – but at a price. A federal judge approved the bankruptcy plan created by banks and creditors on Friday. Those entities – Angelo, Gordon, and Co., JP Morgan Chase, and Oaktree Capital Management – now take control of the media company, which means for the first time in […]
“I’m CEO of Chicago, b-tch!” Chicago elected new mayor Rahm Emmanuel in a historic election – the first in 22 years without the name Daley on the ballot. But in the end, the ratings for Chicago’s broadcast TV stations looked like what you normally find on a Tuesday night as low voter turnout morphed into a huge viewer tuneout. WGN-TV […]