White Sox debacles, and news crews getting robbed spotlight the tremendous failure of city institutions If you were a kid in the 1970s or 1980s perhaps you remember a commercial for Resse’s Peanut Butter Cups when someone got peanut butter into their chocolate, and vice versa. So what happens when the problems of sports’ worst-run franchise mash-up with the […]
Could throw the future of NBC Sports Chicago into question A report in Crain’s Chicago Business Monday suggested the Chicago White Sox may be looking to leave the South Side. With six years left to go on their lease at Guaranteed Rate Field, the baseball team is looking at some options, including a move to the suburbs, somewhere else […]
Local stations, broadcast and cable networks battle it out to ring in the new year I think the question we should be asking is who isn’t doing a New Year’s Eve show this year? The major networks and local stations are throwing their hats in the New Years’ Eve ring as they look to capture their share of an audience […]
Also: Jonathan Brandmeier returns with a podcast; daytime talkers perform from home; changes at Tamron Hall. Even though iHeartMedia and other radio companies are either furloughing or laying off employees due to the loss of advertising revenue caused by COVID-19, one station did manage to announce a promotion: iHeart’s WGCI announced last Tuesday that Zach Boog is the new evening […]
Judge Jerry, Later With Leon also debuted Monday Two of the most talked about names in the last few months finally debuted Monday with NBCUniversal Television Distribution’s Kelly Clarkson and Disney-ABC Domestic Television’s Tamron Hall and both good of to good starts. Clarkson earned an overnight live-day 1.9 household rating and 6 household share according to Nielsen while Hall earned […]
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 […]
Production commitments likely after station clearances top 70 percent, plus other syndication news of note As expected, new talk shows headlined by former American Idol winner Kelly Clarkson and former WFLD news anchor and Today co-host Tamron Hall received a big boost as both programs announced new stations at the beginning of NATPE from Miami, which begins today. NBCUniversal’s Kelly […]
Also: Start TV starts; Jenny Mikowski exits WSHE; Pickler & Ben goes national, comes to Chicago on two stations As Chicago-based Tribune Media prepares itself to go on the sales block again, the company Thursday pulled the plug on its NewsFix and news programs on several of its stations, including CW affiliates KIAH in Houston and KDAF in Dallas, a […]
Syndicated country morning show joins Big 95.5’s lineup In a move a lot of insiders saw as inevitable, languishing iHeartMedia-owned country station WEBG-FM (branded as Big 95.5 FM) is bringing in nationally syndicated host Bobby Bones for mornings, beginning Monday. Based at iHeartMedia’s WSIX-FM in Nashville, the show replaces Amber (Alabama) Cole’s program but is shifting to a late morning […]
Sinclair selling off WPIX, WGN to win approval? Meet the Shell Answer Man. During the eight years I worked at the Better Business Bureau, yours truly has seen plenty of scams perpetrated onto by the public the organization had to warn about. But even those can’t compare to what Sinclair and the FCC are pulling. In a filing revealed on […]
New DMA rankings show large markets losing population Chicago, San Diego, Indianapolis big losers; Nashville, Portland big gainers An analysis of the 2017-18 Nielsen designated market area (DMA) television household rankings shows a shift in population away from the top markets of New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago to other DMAs while other big markets such as Washington D.C., Houston, […]
CNN, Fox News lag in Chicago market – as local news expansion is starting to go bust in some markets You’d think with all the local newscasts saturating Chicago television, there would be a lot of people watching, right? A recent study released has confirmed this fact – but cable news may be another […]
Pittsburgh repeats but smaller market as opponent actually drew more viewers than last year’s matchup Who needs those Blackhawks anyway? The 2017 Stanley Cup Final between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Nashville Predators had something last year’s matchup did not: country music stars, lively crowds, and catfish being thrown on the ice. And that’s just in Nashville. The series between the […]
And… other news of note To the surprise of absolutely nobody, Fox has pulled the plug on 24: Legacy after one season. The series was left off the fall schedule when it was announced last month, increasing speculation its days would be numbered. In addition, Fox said it was putting the brakes on more episodes of its Prison Break revival after […]
As first reported by Sports Media Watch, tonight’s Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Playoff Quarterfinal between the Nashville Predators and the Chicago Blackhawks could be moved to CNBC if the game runs past 10 p.m. due to Saturday Night Live. Tonight is the first time ever Saturday Night Live is going live across the country, including the Mountain and […]