The Media Notepad: Bulls, Blackhawks, and White Sox go a different direction to launch new RSN

Also: Daily Herald makes changes; CBS releases fall sked early; US 99’s Drew Walker exits  The new proposed regional sports network featuring the Blackhawks, Bulls, and White Sox now may have a behind-the-scenes change. In a surprising move reported by The Athletic Saturday night, the new regional sports network Jerry Reinsdorf is looking to launch will now be handled by […]

Remembering the NBC “Checkerboard”

On September 14, 1987, NBC’s owned-and-operated stations decided to launch a bold experiment, airing a different sitcom every weeknight leading in to prime-time. It was a disaster.   Before streaming, where you can watch what you want when you want – or what day you want, there was a time where local stations did something called “checkerboarding”. As you know, prime-time […]

Betty White dies at 99

Longtime cultural icon passes just two and a half weeks before she turned 100 In a week filled with devasting deaths, here’s another one: Betty White – a beloved television icon and wonderful all-around person, died Friday, December 31 at the age of 99 – just two and a half weeks before she was to turn 100 on January 17. […]

T Dog Media’s Notepad: Tom Joyner out at Soul 106.3

Also: WGN-TV unveils new set and logo; Jon Kelley gets a new gig as host of a syndicated game show; Kathy Hart still MIA; “Wheel” celebrates Chicago In another huge blow to his nationally syndicated radio show, Crawford Broadcasting-owned Soul 106.3 (WSRB-FM) announced Tuesday it was grounding the “flyjock” the syndicated Tom Joyner Morning Show after eight years due to […]

Mancow wins WLUP morning gig

The “contest” saw Mancow beat out three other competitors. Was the fix in?  Given this is Chicago, you knew the outcome before this was even thought of. To no one’s surprise, Erich “Mancow” Mueller has won WLUP’s morning personality search (The Chicago Way, of course), beating out three other competitors jockeying for the job: former WKQX jock Abe Kanan; former […]

The return of Arsenio Hall

Bethenny, The Test also make their debuts in syndication today When Arsenio Hall debuted his late-night show in syndication on January 3, 1989, consider this: Johnny Carson was still the king of late-night at NBC; David Letterman still appealed to a cult audience; CBS was about to debut Pat Sajak as a late night talk show host; and ABC and […]

T Dog’s Grab Bag: Rob Johnson re-ups with CBS 2

Plus: Meredith clears NBC 5 and other NBC O&Os; Heroes returns – in comic book form; the “Car Bomb” departs; and another old syndication name resurfaces – Rob Johnson is here to stay – the co-anchor of CBS-owned WBBM-TV’s 5 p.m., 6 p.m., and 10 p.m. newscasts has signed a contract renewal in news first reported by Robert Feder on […]

The Grab Bag: It’s Chicagolicious!

The Grab Bag today includes a revival of a classic game show – with a hip-hop bent; a local time slot change for syndicated reruns of 30 Rock; and Chicago lands another reality TV show: – Oprah and Rosie are long gone from the Windy City, but believe it or not, television production is expanding in Chicago – of the […]

The Grab Bag: The Santa edition

Ho, Ho, Ho! It’s Terry Claus about to deliver you a special Christmas edition of The Grab Bag! I got special presents from the world of media that will make you happy – or cringe. Let’s start handing out the gifts! Ho! Ho! Ho! – WGN-TV has extra good reasons to cheer this holiday season – the Tribune-owned CW affiliate’s […]

"American Top 40" to celebrate 40 years

American Top 40 – the legendary radio program which counted down the week’s popular hits from number 40 to number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and gave us the Long Distance Dedication, marks its 40th anniversary on July 4 – the exact day the program was born back in 1970, when it was heard on only seven stations. Two […]

Ahern out at Channel 2

One of the deacons at The Church of Tisch has been shown the door. WBBM-TV General Manger Joe Ahern was fired today after six years at the CBS-owned station, this after they moved into new digs on Washington Blvd. in the Loop and started broadcasting their news in HD. Replacing Ahern is Bruno Cohen, who is currently GM at CBS’ […]