Also: Bally Sports facing eventual end; SiriusXM goes through an extensive overhaul; Detroit CW battle heats up After a years-long wait, Chicago TV stations will finally launch the next generation of over-the-air signals. Named ATSC 3.0, the new technology enables viewers to watch shows in 4k (2160p) definition, superb Dolby Atmos sound, and in HDR (high dynamic range.) The signals […]
Sinclair is the winner in auction; pays $10 billion for 21 Fox RSNs including Fox Sports Wisconsin The long national nightmare is over: after months of being on the sales block, the Fox Sports RSNs (regional sports networks) finally have a new owner. Sinclair Broadcast Group announced Friday it is buying the 21 sports networks and three Fox Sports College […]
Viewers may be getting tired of rhetoric Are you tired of hearing that racist, sexiest, woman-groping, Chicago-hating, wannabe rapist running as the Republican nominee for President? Yours truly know he is. And so are millions of Americans. Sunday night’s second debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump drew 66 million viewers, down from the record 84 million the first had on […]
Bears decline in ratings Sidenote: From here on out, all ratings news will be here in the notepad. – Is it too early to declare the Bears season over? Last Sunday’s defeat at the hands of the Arizona Cardinals drew a 22.2 household rating according to Chicago Business Journal, down 20 percent from last week’s Packers game and down 33 percent from last […]
Despite close game, the seventh annual edition declines in ratings Is the NHL Winter Classic losing its luster? The seventh annual outdoor hockey game between the Chicago Blackhawks and the Washington Capitals drew a 2.3 overnight household rating on New Years’ Day, down 21 percent from last year’s classic between the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Detroit Red Wings, played […]
Big tune in locally – and nationally The Stanley Cup Final began Wednesday night between the Chicago Blackhawks and the Boston Bruins. This marks both teams’ second appearance in the last four years with the Blackhawks last appearing in 2010 and the Bruins in 2011. The Blackhawks not only won Game 1 in a triple-overtime thriller against the Boston Bruins, […]
– In a stunning move, the Chicago Sun-Times fired almost all of its photography staff on Thursday, which left 28 people out of work. The Wrapports -owned paper instead plans to train reports to take pictures with smartphones. Yes, smartphones. Among those who were laid off include 35-year veteran Pulitzer-prize winning photographer John H. White, one of the first African-American […]
Grab baggin’: – ABC-owned WLS-TV widened its lead over its competitors during the just-completed May sweeps, according to Nielsen. According to CRM, ABC 7 swept all local news time periods in households (25-54 demos weren’t available at press time), with a decisive victory at 10 p.m., surging 11 percent from May 2012 with a 10.0/18, leaving NBC-owned WMAQ-TV (5.9/11, +4% […]
The next time someone tells you a playoff game doesn’t resonate in Chicago – even when the hometown team is down 3-to-1 in a series – don’t believe them. According to Ed Sherman on his Sherman Report blog, Game 5 of the Chicago Bulls-Miami Heat NBA playoff series drew a surprisingly strong 8.9 household rating locally for TNT, despite the […]
– One up, one down: Archer just received a vote of confidence from FX as the cable net green-lighted the animated series for a fourth season for thirteen new episodes. Ratings for the show in the Thursday night time slot are up 32 percent in total viewers and 62 percent among adults 18-34. In addition, the show’s creators (Adam […]
Finally tallies of the NBA Finals and the Stanley Cup Finals: – The five game series between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Orlando Magic drew 14.3 million viewers for ABC, down 4 percent from last year’s Lakers-Celtics series. Game 5 drew fewer viewers than Game 4 did, with only 14.2 million viewers tuning in. – Among ratings, it is […]
– The Chicago Blackhawks may have lost its Western Conference Finals series with the arch rival Detroit Red Wings, but they were big winners locally in the ratings. Despite the fact Versus isn’t carried on a few systems (WOW to name a few), Game 5 still earned a 7.1 household rating Wednesday night where the Wings beat the Hawks to […]
A lot of sports-related news today: – CBS and Fox have extended their deals with the NFL until 2014 with CBS getting rights to carry Super Bowl XLVII (47) in 2013 while Fox has Super Bowl XLVIII (48) in 2014. – The NFL has also agreed to bury the hatchet with Comcast over the NFL Network. The two struck an […]
The third annual NHL Winter Classic which featured an outdoor game played at Wrigley Field between the Chicago Blackhawks and Detroit Red Wings drew an 2.9 Nielsen overnight household rating for NBC on New Year’s Day, up 12 percent from the 2007 Classic between Buffalo and Pittsburgh. Here in Chicago, WMAQ-TV notched an 11.8 household rating and 21 share – […]
Detroit’s two main newspapers (The Free Press and News) are scaling back their delivery due to the worsening economic conditions. Beginning in March, both papers will be delivering to homes only three days a week, while being exclusively on newsstands and retail outlets the other four in a slimmed-down version. Both papers are refocusing on their respective online sites, with […]