NBA announces new media deals: NBC, Peacock in; WBD out

Deals worth $76 billion NBA returns to NBC for the first time in 21 years Amazon Prime gets streaming games for first time  Warner Bros. Discovery may take legal action against the league in an unprecedented move  [This article has been updated. See the bottom of this post for notations.] Roundball Rock is coming home.  After months…and months of speculation, […]

NBC, affiliates get ready for Paris Olympics

NBC 5 sends Alex Margos to cover games NBC and its more than 200 linear TV affiliates are getting ready for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, France with the Opening Ceremonies beginning Friday afternoon with soccer and rugby getting a head start on Wednesday. Running through August 11, the games are also an opportunity for NBCUniversal’s streamer Peacock to gain […]

NASCAR Chicago Street Race’s fate unknown for 2025

Declining attendance, mixed audience numbers, and less TV exposure could spell doom for event [Editor’s note: This post was updated on July 12 with updated ratings information.] The Chicago Street Race (The Loop 110 and The Grant Park 165) sped through its second edition this past weekend through downtown and DuSable Lake Shore Drive. But it seems the bloom is […]

2024 NBA Finals underperform as Celtics win 18th title

Celtics win in five in a truly awful series If one were to measure the excitement of the 2024 NBA Finals, it would be right between reruns of “Joanie Loves Chachi” and a White Sox game.  But that’s where we are, and the matchup between the Dallas Mavericks and the Boston Celtics was one to forget from a competitive and […]

DirecTV to offer package without local stations

But only for traditional satellite customers In a controversial move, DirecTV announced Sunday it was offering a new package without local stations. As first reported by Broadcasting & Cable (NextTV), DirecTV would offer consumers a package that would let subscribers save $12 a month (roughly $144 per year) if they dropped them. It's now officially official (thanks) https://t.co/JlHu8kTsF0 — T […]

Rewinding media in 2023

it’s Elon Musk, 2023 had No Chance In Hell to be a quiet year. (LA Times) A year dominated by labor strife, awful Chicago sports teams, and – oh yeah, Elon  If you watched the WWE, you remember Vince McMahon playing himself as an arrogant CEO and billionaire, ruling over anything and everything – the ultimate heel. It’s a real-life […]

WMAQ-TV marks 75th Anniversary

Joins ABC 7 and WGN in doing so with special segments So far, 2023 saw ABC’s WLS-TV and Nexstar’s WGN-TV mark their 75th anniversaries, the latter with a two-hour special. And now NBC-owned WMAQ-TV (branded as NBC 5 and NBC Chicago locally) is also joining the party.  Several WMAQ alumnus will be joining the station for special segments during the […]

The dual Hollywood strikes: Where things stand now

Both the WGA and SAG-AFTRA are om strike outside of Paramount Studios in Hollywood. With no settlement in sight, the entire 2023-24 TV season for scripted shows could be wiped out When SAG-AFTRA joined the WGA on the picket lines on July 12, the entire industry shut down and the thinking was, this would spur some kind of progress in […]

The first ever NASCAR Chicago Street Race is a winner all around

NBC, NASCAR, City of Chicago benefit despite near-rainout [Editor’s note: This post will be updated as more ratings data comes in.] Despite the constant complaining from numerous residents and local media types, the first-ever NASCAR Chicago Street Race was a smash hit with not only viewers but also fans who attended the race.  The NASCAR race was indeed a boon […]

Gentlemen, start your engines: The NASCAR Street Race descends on Chicago

First-ever street race a boon for the city, NBCUniversal looks to capitalize on unique event For the first time in a very long time, Chicago is hosting a NASCAR race within the city limits and it’s not at some race track – it’s the streets of downtown Chicago in the inaugural NASCAR Street Race.  Former Mayor Lori Lightfoot signed a […]

The Media Notepad: Cubs, Marquee to launch direct-to-consumer service

Also: NBC Sports Chicago plans extensive NHL Draft coverage; Magnum P.I. canceled a second time; Paramount Plus guts lineup as sale rumors of the studio swirl  Soon, they’ll be some relief for Cubs fans who are shut out of watching their games if they don’t subscribe to a cable or satellite provider or Fubo. As first reported by the Sun-Times […]

PGA Tour, LIV Golf announce merger

The CW will continue to air LIV Golf matches this year. After that, nobody knows. With the surprise merger of the PGA Golf Tour and LIV Golf, the situation regarding TV rights is up the air.  Announced Tuesday morning on CNBC, the PGA Tour, Europe’s DP World Tour, and LIV Golf merged – catching golfers on each professional tour off […]

What’s on TV for fall 2023: The best we can do

Schedules affected by writer’s strike with possibly more labor unrest to come This post has been updated.  The 2023 Writer’s Strike has put a monkey wrench into the fall schedules of the five broadcast networks as a few are holding off on making announcements and erecting temporary schedules as it’s likely scripted programs will be delayed. The wild card in […]

NBC decides to keep last prime-time hour – for now

  Good news for Hollywood and other producers; not so much for affiliates With NBC looking to add more multi-cam sitcoms and procedural dramas, the network has decided to shelve the idea of giving affiliates back the last hour of prime-time – for now. As first reported by Deadline, the decision was made after a careful canvass was made of […]

The Media Notepad: Former TV personalities have rough election night

Also: NASCAR Chicago race lines up radio, TV outlets;  Chicago’s Thanksgiving Parade returns to TV  It was not a great election night if you were a former television personality. Republican challenger Dr. Memhet Oz, who quit his daytime talk show to run for the U.S. Senate last year, lost to Pennsylvania Democratic challenger John Fetterman in a race where four […]