ABC-owned stations produce Blago documentary for Hulu

  ABC-owned stations produced documentary on Blago – but you won’t see it on ABC 7 The ABC-owned stations are producing a new documentary on disgraced former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich.  But in a marked departure, the new series is not appearing on WLS-TV/ABC 7 or any of the ABC-owned stations themselves or even their digital channel Localish. It’s streaming […]

Eric Ferguson out at 101.9 The Mix

Allegations of sexual harassment sink Hall Of Fame career It must be “fall from grace” in Chicago week because we have another case of a success story going down in flames. Eric Ferguson resigned as morning host of Hubbard’s hot adult contemporary station The Mix/WTMX-FM Friday afternoon, stepping down over allegations of sexual harassment at the station. It marks a […]

The Media Notepad: Leila Rahimi heads to NBC 5 as sports anchor and reporter

Also: ESPN 1000 gets new GM; Packers have new Milwaukee radio home; Sinclair still have trouble from ransomware attacks  Leila Rahimi, who joined WSCR-AM/The Score earlier this year as Dan Bernstein’s co-host, is now returning to television as a part-time sports reporter and anchor. The Denton, Tex. native has joined NBC-owned WMAQ-TV/NBC 5’s sports department as part of a rotation […]

Chicago Blackhawks: The rise and fall

  Once one of the premier teams in sports, a sex scandal sends the team’s popularity into the toilet  Scandal gives Chicago’s image yet another black eye – one of a lot as the team’s decline also reflects the city’s If you’ve read the blog over the years, this space has devoted quite a bit to Chicago sports and how […]

Chicago Bulls ink multi-year extension with The Score

Future prospects for young team look good With the rest of Chicago men’s sports teams swimming in a dumpster fire right now (the Blackhawks have yet to win a game and the Bears are…well, the Bears), it’s the Chicago Bulls who’ve stepped up and played like a real professional sports team, instead of a bunch of junior varsity rejects on […]

Sinclair Broadcasting hit with ransomware attack

Numerous stations still struggling as of Tuesday; station group facing a host of other problems A ransomware attack on Sinclair’s local stations has crippled the nation’s second-largest broadcast group.  The attack has hampered e-mails, phone systems, and computer networks; affected stations’ traffic departments as they were unable to run commercials, costing stations ad revenue; and unable to produce graphics and […]

NHL drops the puck on new season with new TV deals

  New rights holders TNT, ESPN begin new deals The puck dropped on a new NHL season a few days ago, and it also marked a new era in broadcasting rights in the U.S. ESPN and Turner each began separate seven-year deals with the league last week, with ESPN broadcasting their first game in 17 years last Tuesday night from […]

The Media Notepad: Few are partying with “Chicago Party Aunt”

Bad reviews, viewer feedback sink show as show falls off radar. Also: ESPN 1000’s Mike Thomas exits; ex-B96 jock Roxanne Steele leaves Detroit radio job; Peanuts specials back on PBS Remember a month ago when this space crowed about Chicago Party Aunt, telling her to party on? Well, the party may be soon over as not too many viewers are […]

Morning radio upheaval: B96 drops Gabe and Nina morning show; Eric Ferguson off WTMX (for now)

Low ratings cited as factor; Eric Ferguson off the air until end of month Get ready for changes at two local radio stations in morning drive, and one of them involves Chicago’s highest-paid radio personality.  For starters, there are big changes in store for Audacy’s WBBM-FM/B96 in the morning.  The incumbent show on the contemporary-hit radio station is expected to […]

It’s Newsy

Scripps’ digital news service relaunched October 1 as an all-news channel, targeting cord cutters  Another all-news channel has launched. But this one – called Newsy, isn’t entirely new.  But Scripps is revamping the network to add to their growing stable of digital subchannels, with one joining a space now dominated by CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, and others – but targeted […]

WBEZ, Sun-Times strike “non-binding” deal to merge

Historic deal aims to strengthen journalism For the first time since the Chicago Tribune and WGN-AM had the same owner, a daily newspaper and a local radio station could team up – though the transaction is unusual.  But unlike the Tribune and WGN-AM, the transaction discussed here is non-profit. Chicago Public Media’s WBEZ-FM and the Chicago Sun-Times on Wednesday night […]