“Dr. Oz” future in question after host announces Senate run

FCC’s equal-time rules takes show out of New York City, Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh markets [Editor’s Note: This post was updated at 8 p.m.]  The future of Sony Pictures Television’s Dr. Oz is in serious question after the host of said show announced Tuesday he was running for a U.S. Senate seat in Pennsylvania.  Mehmet Oz – who is a cardiac […]

The Media Notepad: Leila Rahimi heads to NBC 5 as sports anchor and reporter

Also: ESPN 1000 gets new GM; Packers have new Milwaukee radio home; Sinclair still have trouble from ransomware attacks  Leila Rahimi, who joined WSCR-AM/The Score earlier this year as Dan Bernstein’s co-host, is now returning to television as a part-time sports reporter and anchor. The Denton, Tex. native has joined NBC-owned WMAQ-TV/NBC 5’s sports department as part of a rotation […]

Eric Zorn, Chicago Tribune under fire for controversial column on Adam Toledo shooting

Eric Zorn’s column on police shooting highlights latest clash between the local media and minority communities In the latest example of how the Chicago media often bump heads with minority communities, Chicago Tribune opinion writer Eric Zorn published an article last Tuesday that generated a lot of heat. The subject matter was the fatal police shooting of thirteen-year-old Adam Toledo […]

Fox Television Stations launch new streamer Fox Soul

Fox-owned stations launch OTT service targeting African-American viewers; Fox 32’s Later With Leon to be featured  In an ambitious move, Fox Television Stations announced Monday the launch of Fox Soul, a over-the-top service targeting African-American viewers between the ages of 25 and 54. The new streaming service is featuring live-streaming original programming in prime-time and late night, roughly from 8 […]

CBSN to expand to other markets, including Chicago

Local news streaming service to be based out of CBS 2 Chicago is about to get its first local news streaming service. As announced on Thursday, CBS Television Stations and CBS Interactive announced an expansion of their local news streaming service to Chicago and twelve other cities, with content provided by CBS owned-and-operated stations in those markets. Modeled after CBS’ […]

25 years ago: The deal heard around the world

25 years ago this week, Fox’s Rupert Murdoch changed the TV world by inking a deal to trigger the biggest affiliation switch in history.  It goes back to what happened on December 17, 1993. The networks were complaining about paying too much for sports – the NFL in particular – as the packages were losing money and looking to pay […]

“Dish Nation” renewed; “Millionaire” axed

Millionaire runs out of lifelines as game show comes to an end (Editor’s Note: This story has been updated.) Friday was the ultimate final answer for the fate of two long-running syndicated shows. According to TVNewscheck, Dish Nation was renewed for an eighth season, taking the show through September 2020. “Yeah eight seasons,” said Stephen Brown, Fox’s executive vice president […]

What’s next for WGN-TV sports?

Sun-Times article talks about a future without sports on WGN as station, teams head into transition In 2016, WGN-TV decided to cut their ties to The CW and become an independent station once again, going all in on sports featuring the Cubs, White Sox, Bulls and Blackhawks. Come October 2019, WGN might not have any sports on its schedule at […]

Bears loss doesn’t clank in ratings (updated)

Thrilling game proves to be a ratings hit – Golden Globes less so (Editor’s note: This post has been updated with new ratings information.) Despite the odious outcome, the NFC Wild Card Game between the Philadelphia Eagles and Chicago Bears was a ratings success for NBC and the NFL. The Bears hosted their first playoff game since the 2010 season […]

Media Notepad: WLS-AM’s “Big John” shifts to afternoons

Plus… big day for Bears as they beat rival; Channing Dungey heads to Netflix; Extra adds Fox stations in large markets With Steve Dahl set to depart Cumulus-owned WLS-AM this Friday, the station announced last week it was shifting Big John Howell to afternoons from mornings starting January 3, from 5 to 7 p.m. weekdays. In a statement, the thirty-year […]