Station’s rich history celebrated. But what about the next 75 years? It was on April 5, 1948 when Col. Robert McCormick fired up the transmitter to join the herd in taking advantage of a then-brand new medium to reach the masses – television. People stood outside of Tribune Tower in Chicago to see what the hubbub was about. It was […]
Nexstar financial chief says money from sale of printing press property helped purchase The CW [Editor’s Note: This story was updated November 19.] It turns out there is a Chicago connection to the recent purchase of The CW network by Irving, Tex.-based Nexstar Media Group – and it involves a future casino in our town. As reported by Hollywood trade […]
Brash billionaire likely to send social media platform to ruins, similar to what Zell did to the Tribune As you know by now, billionaire Elon Musk has bought Twitter, Inc. for $54.20 a share, or for $44 billion. The outright purchase of the social media platform by the world’s richest man came after Musk acquired shares in the company, […]
Possible sale could reunite network with company’s WGN-TV According to a Wednesday night report from The Wall Street Journal, AT&T and ViacomCBS are exploring a sale of The CW and according to sources, Nexstar is the leading suitor to buy the network. As of an owner of 197 stations, Nexstar owns more CW affiliates than any other group, including the […]
Nexstar spin-offs a network from Antenna TV Usually in TV land, we have spin-offs of shows, some of the most successful being Gomer Pyle, USMC; Facts Of Life; Maude; Good Times; and Laverne & Shirley. Now for the first time, we have a spin-off of an entire channel. On September 1, Nexstar is launching Rewind TV, featuring 1980s and 1990s […]
It’s [another] end of an era in Chicago media. But this one particularly stings In a deal anticipated for months, New York City-based hedge fund Alden Global Capital announced Tuesday it has decided to acquire the 68 percent of Tribune Publishing they already didn’t own in a $630 million deal, giving them full control of the Chicago-based media company. In […]
Another television group exits Illinois Atlanta-based Gray Television announced Monday the acquisition of Quincy Media’s television and radio properties for $925 million, a move expected as the Quincy, Ill.-based company announced late last year it was putting their media properties up for sale. Once the deal is completed, Gray would own stations in 102 markets, mostly mid-sized and small metros. […]
Second broadcaster/MSO dispute this week Here we go again. Irving, Tex.-based Nexstar Broadcasting removed its stations from satellite provider Dish Wednesday evening at approximately 7 p.m. Central Time due to a retransmission consent dispute, another in a long line of blackouts over the last several years. Nexstar owns 197 stations in over 100 markets including WGN-TV in Chicago and […]
Broadcast group jumps into the cable news game with a different approach to news – the traditional way With the announcement of a new national newscast originating from Chicago, Nexstar is making a huge financial investment in the Windy City. The Irving, Tex.-based broadcaster announced Wednesday the launch of a three-hour prime-time national newscast originating from Chicago’s WGN-TV Bradley Place […]
There are flops, and then there are….flops. For every success in the most recent decade, there were products coming off so badly, you don’t know how the hell they were even conceived in the first place – you basically had to see it to believe it! If you thought the 2000s version of “The Dirty Dozen” were bad, they have […]
Disney Plus made the biggest splash of the year 2019 saw the end of several institutions, big media battles, and disappointing sports teams. Let’s start with the huge changes in big media, as Disney closed on its purchase of the 20th Century Fox film studio and Viacom reuniting with CBS again with a new name (ViacomCBS) as the race […]
Nexstar pulls plug on local cable news channel after a little over 25 years In a move you can blame on cord-cutting and general cost-cutting, Nexstar announced Monday the closure of local news channel Chicagoland Television, or CLTV after nearly 27 years of operation. The channel goes dark at the end of this month. In a memo from WGN-TV and […]
Nexstar makes footprint known As first reported by Robert Feder Wednesday night, WGN-AM made significant changes to its schedule, seeing several realignments and the exit of one of Chicago’s longest-running radio duos. The Nexstar-owned radio station parted ways with Bill Leff and Wendy Snyder even though Leff was on vacation, depraving their fans of at least one final goodbye. Their […]
Plus: WGN replaces This with Court; Bears slide in the ratings; PlaystationVue to close Hubbard-owned WTMX-FM (101.9 The Mix) bounce back from sixth place back into first place is certain to raise more question than answers. After falling out of the top five last month, the hot AC station “miraculously” surged back to the top spot in the last survey, […]
Move ends 95 years of local control I guess this is another way for the Trump administration and Republicans to stick it to Chicago. In another… all together now – partisan divided vote, the FCC approved the transaction of Nexstar Broadcasting, swallowing up Chicago-based Tribune Media for $6.4 billion. This gives Nexstar over 100 stations in 114 markets with a […]