Also: Peoria’s WEEK absorbs rival’s news operation; name change ahead for CBS Media Ventures?; L.A. independent TV station ends long run [Editor’s Note: An earlier post had the incorrect title of a Beyonce song as the word “Ring” was replaced with…something else. It has since been corrected. – T.H.] It’s not a format change per se, but a slogan one: […]
Sinclair’s plans for world domination accelerates while the rest of broadcasting industry stays silent By now, everyone knows Sinclair Broadcasting has a right-wing bent in its newscasts, and panders to the Trump administration. But what they’re doing may put the nail in the coffin of local television- and linear television in general. Sinclair recently ordered its news stations to read […]
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 […]
Illinois broadcasters take the quick cash. But are they driving viewers away from live TV? If you thought 2015 would be free of political advertising – think again. Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner – you know, the one who headed GTCR – the investment firm who funded Randy Michaels’ Merlin Media, and Sam Zell – the one who destroyed the Chicago Tribune – […]
– I guess he ain’t “winning” anymore: Harry Teinowitz is out as afternoon co-host at ESPN 1000 (WMVP). Teinowitz, who was paired up with John “Jurko” Jurkovic and Carmen DeFalco for the 2-6 afternoon shift, was given his walking papers Thursday after twelve years at the ESPN-owned radio station. Jurko and Carmen will continue with the show for the time […]
Another all-local edition of the Grab Bag… including an item on a possible sale of some downstate TV stations: – Julian Nieh, one half of the duo of B96’s (WBBM-FM’s) The JNiice & Julian Morning Show, exited the station on Wednesday to pursue other interests. The seven-year veteran of the contemporary-hit station was paired with Jamar “JNiice” McNeil in January […]
Rosie is over and out; Canadian media consolidates further; and other items of note A lot of items to cover in this week’s Grab bag: In a move that was speculated for some time, struggling cable network OWN finally canceled The Rosie Show after five months on the air. The series’ future was questioned after Rosie O’Donnell sold her Lakeview […]
Will Nielsen ratings play in Peoria? Not anymore. Peoria-Bloomington’s commercial television stations have recently told the ratings service to take a hike. According to this TVNewscheck story, the downstate market’s two owners – Nextstar and Granite – has ditched Nielsen as their main television ratings provider. Instead, the stations are replacing the service with “qualitative research and smart sales promotion” […]