Also: Bally Sports facing eventual end; SiriusXM goes through an extensive overhaul; Detroit CW battle heats up After a years-long wait, Chicago TV stations will finally launch the next generation of over-the-air signals. Named ATSC 3.0, the new technology enables viewers to watch shows in 4k (2160p) definition, superb Dolby Atmos sound, and in HDR (high dynamic range.) The signals […]
Roe v. Wade dissolution will have impact from New York to Hollywood, and from Washington D.C. to Chicago. If you think Friday’s decision by the Supreme Court to overturn the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling legalizing abortion won’t have an impact on media…you’d better think again. The landmark decision to appeal the woman’s right to choose will have a ripple […]
Also: Black Chicagoans (still) not happy with media outlets; Syndicated ‘Dateline’ shifts to new local outlet; Rock 95.5 surges in ratings After just four weeks, CNN Plus is getting… subtracted. The Warner Bros. Discovery-owned service announced Thursday it was closing April 30 after launching on March 28, debuting to poor reviews and a cumbersome price of $5.99 monthly or […]
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 […]
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 […]
Also: iHeartMedia likely to go bankrupt; Fox wants more stations – and it could effect longtime Miami affiliate. As first reported by Robert Feder Friday, Cara Carriveau has exited Hubbard-owned adult contemporary station WSHE-FM after approximately three years. Her replacement is Jenny Milkowski, who was recently the morning traffic reporter at Fox-owned WFLD-TV. She takes over starting Monday. “I am […]
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 […]
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 […]
* As first reported by Ed Sherman in Wednesday’s Chicago Tribune, CBS Corp. is the leading candidate to land the radio rights to the Chicago Cubs in 2015 and beyond. The most likely destination would be WBBM-AM, who already hold rights to the Chicago Bears and whose sports station (WSCR) holds rights to the Chicago White Sox. Current rights-holder […]
Also: Colin Cowherd comes to Chicago A pair of exec hires were announced on Tuesday: – David Doebler was named president and general manager of WMAQ-TV here, replacing Larry Wert, who is now head of Tribune’s station group. Doebler comes over from sister NBC-owned station WVIT in Hartford-New Haven Conn. During his eight-year tenure, WVIT (on Channel 30) was competitive […]
How does it feel to become the second Silverman in history to screw up a network – in fact, the SAME network ? Goodbye, Mr. “Party All The Time”. Don’t hit your head when you get in that limo… Yours truly doesn’t know if the departure of Ben Silverman will immediately improve NBC’s fortunes. But it is a start. Yes, […]