Also: So long My50…again; “Wheel”, “Drew” off to strong ratings start; ABC 7 promotes Nwosu to marketing position While NBC Sports’ other RSNs are preparing for the future, NBC Sports Chicago is ending its 20-year run Monday – but not quietly as the station plans to air over 36 hours of live and past content Sunday, celebrating its time on […]
New TV era means a new way of doing business Back in the late 1980s when cable TV was growing, a big deal was made about syndicated exclusively, or “syndex” as local broadcasters complained about national “superstations” such as WWOR-TV in New York and WGN-TV in Chicago draining rating points from their programs. And so, on January 1, 1990, […]
Also: American Crimes replaces NBC Home LX on digital subchannel space; Last Call for Last Call; TMZ launches new spin-off show WGN-TV vice president and general manager Paul Rennie announced his retirement, effective August 30 after a seven-year run. “It has truly been a great run, and I am filled with a mix of emotions as I prepare to leave […]
Plans to make digital initiative a daily TV show by August In an unusual way of launching a TV show, Fox Television Stations announced Tuesday it is launching Battleground, a new series tracking the 2024 Presidential Election, which is expected to be the most contested in history. The show will focus on seven battleground “swing” states, hence the name: Arizona, […]
Deal includes Fox 32 and My50 Sony Pictures Television made their first deals for the two-hour syndicated version of NFL Network’s Good Morning Football by signing the Fox Television Stations group. Known in syndication as GMFB, Fox did sign their duopoly markets including Chicago, but several non-duopoly ones as well, including WITI Milwaukee, WAGA Atlanta, WTVT Tampa-St. Petersburg, and WTXF […]
Fox, CBS stations commit to new projects, respectively While Ken Jeong’s talk show project couldn’t get off the ground, two others did on Monday, scoring much-needed station group anchor deals. Warner Bros. Television Group announced Monday a new hour-long strip called True Crime News, hosted by ABC News’ 20/20 contributor Ana Garcia, who also hosts a podcast called True Crime […]
…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 […]
Marquee expands Bears programming by adding “Bears Post Game Live” ; NBC Sports Chicago resumes similar shows Even though neither Marquee Sports Network and NBC Sports Chicago carries any Chicago Bears games, it doesn’t mean the two regional sports networks are ignoring them – in fact, both are stepping their game bigtime to serve fans who are looking for more […]
Subsidiary Dembar-Mercury to handle domestic sales Also: Big Bang Theory reruns shift to WGN next month [Editor’s Note: This post was updated August 22. See below.] If you forgotten about ABC’s The Conners, well…it’s still around – long enough for it to now enter off-network syndication. Lionsgate announced Wednesday it has acquired the rights to past and future episodes of […]
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 […]
Was in position since January 2013 After nearly a decade at the helm, Fox 32 and My50 General Manager Dennis Walsh has called it a career, announcing his retirement after 26 years at Fox Television Stations with the last nine at the duopoly of WFLD and My Network TV’s WPWR. Welsh is stepping down at the end of the month […]
Also: Person, Place, or Thing gets greenlight to fall series; Pat Robertson dies; Chris Licht out at CNN After forty-plus years as host of Wheel Of Fortune, Chicago native Pat Sajak announced on Monday he was stepping down effective at the end of next season. The 76-year old made his announcement Monday evening on Twitter: Well, the time has come. […]
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 […]
Drastically different schedules begins today (Editor’s Note: This post was updated on September 17.) There are a ton of changes in television outside of prime-time with the new season beginning today. For one, there is no more Ellen DeGeneres as she danced off the stage last spring while Maury Povich and his paternity tests retired to Florida, leaving us with […]