Also: WBEZ ties for 1st in PPMs; WTMX has a new afternoon show; Black News Channel update It looks like the technician strike at Chicago’s WTTW isn’t going to end anytime soon. IBEW 1220, who represents technicians and electricians at the North Side public television station, went on strike on March 16 demanding better pay, working conditions, and against shifting […]
Live, daily sports talk programming returns to NBC Sports Chicago For the first time since the cancellation of Sports Talk Live, NBC Sports Chicago is launching new local half-hour nightly sports program Unfiltered With David Kaplan beginning Monday, coinciding with the start of baseball season later in the week. According to a press release, Kaplan “will bring the entertainment to […]
The “slap seen around the world” takes dominates on night where it should have been about historic wins [Editor’s Note: This story was updated March 29 to add final Nielsen ratings and to make some minor corrections.] Ratings for this year’s Academy Awards telecast increased from last year but as we know, this isn’t the biggest story if the […]
Closure displays challenges of operating a cable network in streaming era In a move coming seemingly out of nowhere, the Black News Channel announced Friday it was suspending operations. Targeted to black viewers and others of color, BNC launched on February 10, 2020 – just a month before the pandemic took a hold of the U.S. Based in Tallahassee, […]
Dr. Willie Wilson takes over a promotion radio stations have abandoned Here’s something you should think about this morning when you go to the free gas giveaway at your local Chicago-area filling station. Didn’t radio used to do these type of promotions back in the day? Before businessman and perennial political candidate Dr. Willie Wilson and others started doing […]
Gives up full-time position as 670 The Score co-host but remains to co-host on Wednesdays Appearing on NBC 5/WMAQ-TV’s Sports Sunday has now led Leila Rahimi to a full-time position handling sports anchor duties, beginning next month, becoming the first full-time female sports anchor in the history of the station. She’ll appear on the station’s 5, 6, and 10 p.m. […]
On The Block to cover neighborhood news One of the Chicago area’s newest non-profit journalism start-up is expanding into the linear TV realm. Block Club Chicago and Weigel Broadcasting are teaming up to launch a new half-hour weekly newsmagazine show featuring stories from the city and suburbs. Titled On The Block and hosted by Brandon Pope, the show aims […]
B96 unveils new Morning Mess show; Amazon’s purchase of MGM finalized The news was tipped by Broadcasting & Cable in January 2021 and mentioned here in July 2021, but the best-kept secret in television is now out of the bag: Maury Povich and his “who’s the father” show Maury is finally ending after 31 years on the air […]
Trailblazing woman worked at WGN-TV, WCIU, and WSNS Longtime media personality Merri Dee – one of the first Black television personalities in Chicago, passed away at the age of 85 Wednesday. This is a tweet from her official account, posted the same day: Merri loved connecting with people anywhere, everywhere — in-person, on-air, often in the airport, & always online. […]
Also: NewsNation makes more changes with the departure of Jon Donlon; Jussie Smollett saga ends with a jail sentence…or does it? One thing is guaranteed next NFL season: The Bears won’t be good. Outside of that however, is the mystery of who’s going to be calling games when The NFL Lakefront Team (for now) gets blown out by […]
Apple lands their first major sports package A few months ago during a game, soon-to-retire Chicago Blackhawks broadcaster Pat Foley bemoaned the shift of sports from linear TV to streaming, pointing out the only way to watch the team’s next game was if you were an ESPN+ subscriber, as the NHL struck a deal last year with Disney for […]
Hat trick of pink slips within 24 hours dooms shows In a bizarre occurrence, not one but three first-run syndicated strips were canceled within a span of hours Wednesday – a first in recent memory as their services were no longer needed: three-season veteran Judge Jerry from NBCUniversal Syndication Studios; Debmar-Mercury’s Nick Cannon; and Sony’s The Good Dish, a […]
Also: All CHGO launches; two network TV shows canceled; restaurant with a sitcom connection burns down Much has been made about the lackluster Winter Olympics ratings, but one angle wasn’t talked about much – their effect on NBC affiliates – or lack thereof. And no one experienced a bigger disappointment than Chicago’s NBC 5 (WMAQ.) As reported by Robert Feder […]
Decision is a blow for sexual harassment case It looks like it’s back to square one for Melissa McGurren after her $10 million defamation suit against WTMX and parent Hubbard Broadcasting was dismissed by a federal judge. McGurren sued Hubbard after executives slandered her in e-mail messages regarding her harassment claims against now-departed morning host Eric Ferguson. In a ruling handed […]
Fox 32 to air new show in fall Chicago-born Grammy, Emmy, and Oscar-award winning actress Jennifer Hudson’s new talk show from Warner Bros. is officially a firm go for September with a wide-ranging deal with the Fox-owned stations, including Fox 32 (WFLD) here. The program is also landing on Fox-owned WNYW New York and KTTV Los Angeles in nation’s […]
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