Win or lose, Jackie Robinson West scores big weekend numbers

The Emmys may have been Monday night (Breaking Bad and Modern Family – again – were the big winners), but the biggest winner this past weekend was a team of little leaguers from the South Side of Chicago. The Jackie Robinson West little league squad games on Saturday and Sunday were a huge ratings draw, with the weekend games on […]

Jackie Robinson West Little League team packing Chicago viewers in

Jackie Robinson West run to title sets ratings records Little League Squad outdraws both Cubs and White Sox combined in the ratings  Aside from the Chicago Blackhawks winning two Stanley Cups, the last few years have been an absolute nightmare for the Windy City on the national stage, with idiot pundits taking shots at our murder rate, quality of living, […]

Growing opposition to dropping sports blackout rule

  Illinois’ Black Caucus latest to voice objection With the NFL now selling out stadiums coast-to-coast with the increased popularity of the league, the logic would be the rule that blacks out home National Football League games on TV 72 hours before a game is sold out would be outdated. You might want to think again. Led by FCC Democratic […]

Craig Ferguson in talks to land new talk show – in prime access

According to Variety, Craig Ferguson is in “advanced talks” to host a new talk show produced by Tribune Media. But instead of the show being targeted for daytime, early fringe, or late night time slots, which usually is the case for most programs in this genre, Ferguson’s show would be targeted to prime access, generally 6-8 p.m., depending on what […]

T Dog’s Grab Bag: Back to the future for ABC 7’s daytime lineup

– Inside Edition/Jeopardy return to old time slot – WMAQ adds 11 a.m. newscast – Chicago Little Leaguers success on and off the field – Dan McNeil, Cheryl Scott exit while Dish Nation adds a Real Housewife  – Back to the future in early fringe: as expected, ABC-owned WLS-TV is returning syndicated first-run series Inside Edition and Jeopardy to its […]

T Dog’s Think Tank: The media fails us on Ferguson

  What can you say about the coverage of the Ferguson, Mo. disturbances from the broadcast networks and cable news networks? They dropped the ball, of course, with the lack of live coverage of the events unfolding in the St. Louis suburb over the last few nights. And if you were a journalist, you sure as hell didn’t have an […]

Indianapolis to get new CBS affiliate

In a surprise move, CBS announces its moving its affiliation to WTTV, ending a 58-year relationship with WISH-TV The current battle over retransmission money has claimed another victim – and ended a longtime relationship. Tribune Broadcasting and CBS Corporation announced a new affiliation deal which shifts CBS from LIN Broadcasting’s WISH-TV – which has been a CBS affiliate since 1956 […]

Robin Williams dies

The world is reacting to the stunning news of actor and comedian Robin Williams’ death. The Chicago native was found dead at 12:02 p.m.. Pacific Time Monday, at his home near Tiburon, Ca. The Marin County Coroner’s office investigated, and Williams death was ruled a suicide. Williams had been suffering from severe depression, and recently entered a rehab facility to […]

Cubs, White Sox viewers continue to flee for exits

White Sox now dead last in TV ratings, with Cubs right behind them It’s been a tough summer for local Chicago television. First, Chicago viewers are turning off local news in greater numbers (and as a reward, we’re getting more news!) And now, they’re turning off local baseball – again – as both the Cubs and the White Sox continue […]

More news on weekends is good news for CBS 2

Also: CBS 2 adds “Good Wife”, “Blue Bloods” to weekend late fringe On the surface, CBS 2’s decision to expand their weekend newscasts would be greeted with as much enthusiasm as driving on the Eisenhower. But to the political advertising community, the news of a another news expansion was like waking up on Christmas morning. As first reported by Robert Feder Tuesday […]

Tribune does the split

  Tribune finally divides into two separate companies – introducing Tribune Publishing and Tribune Media Meanwhile, WGN Radio sinks to historic ratings low Say goodbye to the Tribune Company as you’ve known it for 66 years. As of Monday, the entity has split into two companies: Tribune Publishing, which handled print, and Tribune Media, which handles television and radio – […]

Chicago’s late newscasts continues to lose steam

              Maybe Chicago viewers are tired of hearing about all the shootings and murders. Maybe viewers are tired of the constant weather hype, even when its nice and only 75 degrees. Maybe viewers are tired of the Breaking News and Developing Story monikers every four goddamn minutes. Or maybe viewers are just tired (and […]

Journal, Scripps continue to fuel media merger frenzy

Two Midwest media companies combine as media merger frenzy continues to sweep the nation In the latest media hookup, Milwaukee-based Journal Communications announced a merger with Cincinnati-based E.W. Scripps. With the merger, the newspaper division would be spun-off into a separate company. Once everything is said and done, Scripps would would own and operate 34 television stations in 24 markets, […]