Also: MLB teams desert Bally; “Velma” canceled With local hockey fans struggling to find Blackhawks games on the TV dial this season, the AHL’s Chicago Wolves are back for another season on WPWR (now branded as Fox Chicago Plus) with 30 games scheduled, mostly on weekends. “The Wolves are thrilled to be back on WPWR-TV for the upcoming season,” said […]
Podrumedic, Kotsy exit as ratings fall The sting of media layoffs has arrived in Chicago. Minneapolis-based Hubbard Radio announced two departures from its Chicago cluster this week. On Thursday, 101.9 The Mix’s Violeta Podrumedic exited the station’s morning show after six years. “I will keep everyone posted with updates, and I know this is change and change can be somewhat […]
A change in Presidential administration toward Trump could help Venu Is the Venu-Fubo fight becoming politicized? To the surprise of some, it is. As first reported by Awful Announcing on September 28, six Republican Attorney Generals and five Republican Congressmen are filing separate friend-of-the-court briefs with Venu in their fight with Fubo over the right to exist. The Attorneys General […]
CBS-owned WBBM-TV turns to virtual and augmented reality to present weather A significant development occurred in the post-Tom Skilling era as Chicago TV viewers were introduced to the “Weather Sphere.” CBS-owned WBBM-TV—branded locally as CBS Chicago—debuted a new weather technology on October 1 using 3D virtual and augmented reality technology (VR/AR technology for short) in a separate, brand-new studio. The debut […]
Launched Tuesday The Chicago Sports Network, or CHSN, launched officially at 5 p.m. Tuesday and announced two new distribution deals. Astound Broadband announced an agreement to carry CHSN, filling a major Chicago distribution hole. Astound is the former RCN and WOW cable systems, serving nearly a million homes in the area. Astound took over the parent company of RCN and […]
Audacy to go private The FCC approved a controversial Audacy bankruptcy plan in a politically divided three-to-two vote in which Soros Fund Management becomes the biggest shareholder in the company with a 57 percent stake through the Laurel Tree Opportunities Corporation. As a result, Audacy – who filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last year, will go private and David Field […]
Creates the largest pay-TV provider in the country with an estimated 18 million subscribers As anticipated amid rumors over the weekend, DirecTV has agreed to purchase rival satellite TV provider Dish DBS (direct broadcast satellite) from Echostar for $1 and the assumption of $9.75 billion in debt. The transaction, subject to government approval, will create the largest pay-TV conglomerate in […]
Cites declining ad revenue, political polarization Cincinnati-based E.W. Scripps announced it is significantly scaling back Scripps News and is dropping its over-the-air channel. As a result, 200+ jobs are being eliminated with about 50 retained in Scripps’ Washington D.C. Bureau to report for their local stations. Scripps News’ streaming platform is being left intact but is being significantly paired […]
Also: So long My50…again; “Wheel”, “Drew” off to strong ratings start; ABC 7 promotes Nwosu to marketing position While NBC Sports’ other RSNs are preparing for the future, NBC Sports Chicago is ending its 20-year run Monday – but not quietly as the station plans to air over 36 hours of live and past content Sunday, celebrating its time on […]
Laurence Holmes now paired with Matt Speigel in afternoons Audacy’s 670 The Score (WSCR-AM) announced Monday morning changes in midday and afternoon shows. Starting today, Laurence Holmes is moving from middays to afternoons from 2 to 6 p.m. weekdays, joining Matt Speigel. Holmes is replacing the since-departed Danny Parkins, who left the station last month for FS1’s new weekday morning […]
Follows move by Bulls, Blackhawks, and White Sox Monday Expected after the soon-to-be-defunct Bally Sports New Orleans and the NBA’s New Orleans Pelicans parted ways, the team announced a multi-year deal with Gray Television to form the Gulf Coast Sports Network to air all non-network games on Gray’s stations stretching from the Ark-La-Tex area to the Florida panhandle starting next […]
Strikes deal with WJYS for carriage The new Chicago Sports Network (CHSN) has been firming up its on-air talent and distribution plans over the last week by announcing a deal with a local TV station for carriage. CHSN will appear on the digital subchannels of religious independent WJYS-TV 62.2 and 62.3, which are currently occupied by home shopping networks Jewelry TV […]
Signals return in time for Emmys and MNF After thirteen days, The Walt Disney Co. and DirecTV settled their beef with a new tentative carriage agreement, restoring Disney’s sixteen channels to the service, including ABC and ESPN. The settlement also returns those channels – including all ABC affiliates nationwide, to DirecTV Stream and U-Verse. The signals returned Saturday morning just […]
Also: WGN-TV’s Jewell Hilary gets promoted; FCC head rejects Trump ABC license revocation request Three months after its official announcement, the Sun-Times reported Thursday the new Chicago Sports Network (CHSN) is close to a deal with DirecTV, DirecTV Stream, and U-Verse. This comes as an email was sent to YouTubeTV subscribers (including me) Wednesday stating NBC Sports Chicago – the […]
New TV era means a new way of doing business Back in the late 1980s when cable TV was growing, a big deal was made about syndicated exclusively, or “syndex” as local broadcasters complained about national “superstations” such as WWOR-TV in New York and WGN-TV in Chicago draining rating points from their programs. And so, on January 1, 1990, […]