Also: Retro TV adds WGBO; This TV reportedly closes; and Astound offers discounted internet A few days ago, this space wondered how the pending closure of NBC Sports Chicago would impact NBC’s other RSNs. For one of them at least, it might not have much impact. An article in the Philadelphia Inquirer last Wednesday stated that the sister network NBC […]
On September 14, 1987, NBC’s owned-and-operated stations decided to launch a bold experiment, airing a different sitcom every weeknight leading in to prime-time. It was a disaster. Before streaming, where you can watch what you want when you want – or what day you want, there was a time where local stations did something called “checkerboarding”. As you know, prime-time […]
Streaming news wars escalates as CBSN rebrands Following in the footsteps of CBSN Chicago, NBC 5 (WMAQ-TV) launched a new 24/7 all-news streaming service on the Peacock streaming platform last Thursday. Both NBC 5 and Peacock share Comcast’s NBCUniversal as a corporate parent. Branded NBC Chicago News, the new 24/7 channel features live simulcasts and encores of NBC 5 […]
WGN-TV picks up show in Nexstar deal. Also: Access: Hollywood renewed through 2025 Are you ready to put up with Young Sheldon five nights a week? You’d better be. Already airing on Nick at Nite, the Big Bang Theory prequel has been sold in 90 percent of the country by Warner Bros. to broadcast stations this fall, including Nexstar stations […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
New daytime show to air on NBC 5 locally; replaces Steve on NBC O&Os In a deal before the fall season begins, NBCUniversal Television Distribution has struck a deal with the NBC-owned stations to carry Kelly Clarkson’s new daytime talk show scheduled to debut exactly a year from now. The Grammy Award and first American Idol winner shot a talk […]
But 103.4 million viewers isn’t bad Super Bowl LII gave us what we wanted in a football game – a close contest throughout, an exciting finish, and best of all, the Philadelphia Eagles beating the favored New England Patriots for their first Super Bowl title and their first overall championship since 1960. But despite all the theatrics, it wasn’t enough […]
Highest-rated NBA contest since 1998 In terms of Cleveland media, the last time the city won a championship, WJW-TV was still a CBS affiliate, and the KYW call letters – now used for CBS’ TV and radio stations in Philadelphia – were owned by Westinghouse and used for its TV and radio properties here. And so the Cleveland Cavaliers – […]
In market’s fourth affiliation change, NBCUniversal to move affiliation to WNEU-TV WHDH owner Ed Ansin promises fight Politicians question move In a bold move, Comcast Corp. announced Thursday it is launching a new NBC-owned and-operated station in Boston, the nation’s eighth-largest market approximately a year from now. NBC plans to move its affiliation to Telemundo affiliate WNEU-TV (Channel 60), a […]
Ellen signs new deal; enables NBC-owned stations to add news at 4 p.m. ‘Meredith’ axed after two seasons Ellen DeGeneres will be dancing up a storm in daytime for years to come. That’s because Warner Bros. and NBC announced on Monday a huge mega-renewal deal for her daytime/early fringe talker Ellen through the year 2020, taking the show through her […]
ABC-owned station to run 25 games a season from 2015 through 2019 “Catch the action on WLS”… That’s right, you heard me… ABC-owned WLS-TV (that’s TV, not AM) struck a five-year deal with the Chicago Cubs to air 25 games a season beginning this spring. According to the station’s website, WLS would air games in daytime, primetime, and weekend […]
Could have implications for Chicago’s WPWR A brewing affiliation fight in Seattle could have implications for a local Chicago TV station. According to a story in Tuesday’s edition of the New York Post, Fox is expected to yank the affiliation from Tribune Media’s KCPQ in Seattle-Tacoma. As it was reported in local media circles over the last few weeks, Fox […]