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Super Bowl ratings: One for the record books (again)

Super Bowl numbers break own record set last year while racial divide is a factor in halftime show  [Editor’s Note: This was updated from an earlier post to add more rating information.]  It turns out “Chiefs fatigue” wasn’t a thing. The game wasn’t much, but viewers poured into the entrances Sunday for Super Bowl LIX and set another viewership record. […]

2025 Super Bowl Commercial Review: The hair has left my body

$8 million per spot gets you fleeting facial hair, women’s empowerment, and AI If there was a theme running through this year’s Super Bowl Ads, it was one balancing female empowerment with traditional family values as we saw advocation of women’s athletics along with touching ads featuring families, hugging and all. If anything, both can manage to co-exist. Last year, […]

Chicago Sky heads to WCIU on a full-time basis

WNBA games to be made available for local over-the-air viewers Weigel Broadcasting independent WCIU and the WNBA’s Chicago Sky announced Thursday a partnership to broadcast all non-network televised games, totaling 30-plus games.  WCIU has been carrying Chicago Sky games for years; for the last three seasons, WCIU shared rights with Marquee Sports Network, a regional sports network run by Sinclair […]

Bob Sirott re-ups at WGN Radio

Signs multi-year extension Nexstar’s WGN Radio announced a multi-year contract extension for Bob Sirott, who will continue to host the station’s morning show.  “Management has given me a terrific on-air and behind-the-scenes team, plus freedom to do whatever I want,” said Sirott in a statement. “That’s why waking up at 4:30 am is fun now. Actually…that last line is a […]

Chuck Goudie jumps to NBC 5

He’ll head the station’s investigative unit after decades at ABC 7 In a coup for the NBC-owned station, WMAQ-TV – known as NBC 5 – announced Monday the hiring of Chuck Goudie as chief investigative reporter with his first day scheduled for February 10. He shifts over from ABC-woned WLS-TV (ABC 7) as he led the station’s I-Team unit until […]

Colin Cowherd moves “The Herd” to Chicago

First national daily show to be set here since Steve Harvey left in 2017 Fox Sports announced Thursday that The Herd, a daily talk show strip hosted by Colin Cowherd on FS1, will shift production to Chicago later this year.  The move is part of a new contract with Fox that Cowherd recently signed, as he and his wife are […]

Fox dumps syndicated shows – and possibly Jennifer Hudson, too

Pictionary, Person Place Or Thing, and Dish Nation to end as Fox’s TV stations plan to make significant changes next season In a surprise shellacking, Fox First-Run canceled three syndicated half-hour shows Tuesday: Person Place Or Thing, Pictionary, and the long-running Dish Nation, according to TVNewsCheck as Fox’s owned stations – including Fox 32 (WFLD) and Fox Chicago Plus (WPWR), […]

T Dog’s Think Tank: Dr. Phil makes mockery of immigration crisis

Former daytime host “rides along” with officials to boost his fledgling TV network This space in September 2023 jokingly suggested Dr. Phil McGraw should come to town and give a hardened pep talk to the Chicago Bears after the Kansas City Chiefs blew out the team in front of millions of viewers and Taylor Swift, who was at the game. […]

Rufio, “The Fred Show” part ways

Kiss 103.5 FM personality exits iHeartMedia after 17 years As first reported by Radio Insight Sunday morning, Kevin Santiago, known as “Rufio” on the show, has exited WKSC-FM’s The Fred Show after a seventeen-year run.  In a lengthy post on Instagram, Rufio explained his decision:  “After 17 years at iHeartRadio and 7 years as part of The Fred Show, my […]

The Media Notepad: Chicago Public Media to offer buyouts to selected employees of WBEZ, Sun-Times

Also: Meteorologist loses job due to social media post; new game show announced; Trump Country returns to SW Florida With revenues falling short of expectations, WBEZ and Sun-Times owner Chicago Public Media announced Wednesday it was offering buyouts to certain employees, including journalists at the paper and business employees from the radio station. In a staff meeting Wednesday, newly installed […]

Jesse Jackson Jr. heads to WVON as afternoon host

Joins Jim Laski and Clifford Kelley as convicted felons rehabilitate their image as radio hosts On a day when a convicted felon returned to the White House, it’s only fitting another convicted felon lands a job as a radio talk show host in Chicago.  Former disgraced congressman Jesse Jackson Jr., whose father is a civil rights icon, is back with […]

Report: Chuck Goudie out at ABC 7

The longtime investigative reporter was at the ABC-owned station for 44 years Axios Chicago is reporting that Chuck Goudie has been let go from ABC-owned WLS-TV after a four-decade-plus run at the top-rated station.  “Chuck Goudie was a valued member of our ABC7 team for many years and we thank him for his groundbreaking contributions,” a station spokesperson told Axios […]