The Media Notepad: ABC 7’s Ryan Chiaverini named lead sports anchor
Also: SAG-AFTRA strike ends; Jennifer Hudson’s ratings grow; Disney names two cable networks as possible sale candidates
It’s official – Ryan Chiaverini was named lead sports anchor by ABC-owned WLS-TV Thursday, succeeding Jim Rose, who retired in September after 41 years at the station.
“Ryan knows Chicago sports inside out and cuts right to the heart of what this city’s sports fans want to know about their favorite teams,” said Jennifer Graves, VP of news at ABC 7. “His infectious personality and creativity bring a sense of fun to every sportscast he anchors.”
“I’m honored to be part of the ABC 7 Sports team and the legacy of top-notch sports coverage in Chicago. I hope to carry on that tradition while bringing new and creative ways to engage our audience,” Chiaverini said.
Chiaverini joined ABC 7 in 2006, first as a fill-in anchor/reporter, then became a weekend sports anchor and hosted a non-official Chicago Bears show, Chicago Huddle. Chiaverini also co-hosted the successful Windy City Live daytime talker for ten seasons with Val Warner (he still co-hosts Windy City Weekend, airing Friday mornings.)
Like other Chicago sports media anchors, Chiaverini also played football at the University of Colorado, joining others who did so. Among the former athletes who dotted Chicago media as sports anchors include Johnny Morris, Mark Malone, and WGN-TV’s Jarrett Payton
While a third season of The Jennifer Hudson Show isn’t official yet, numbers released this week show the odds of returning look good.
According to The Wrap, the Warner Bros Discovery-syndicated show is now the second most-watched show in first-run among women 18-34 with a 43 percent increase from October 2022, only behind Disney’s Live With Kelly And Mark and third overall in the adults 18-34 demo, only behind Live and Kelly Clarkson, up 33 percent from October 2022.
Here in Jennifer’s hometown of Chicago, her show posted a 100 percent viewership increase for Fox-owned WFLD at 11 a.m. weekdays and posted similar increases in Los Angeles and Atlanta.
The show was sold in two-year deals to stations with Fox as the primary launch group, though Jennifer doesn’t air on all of them (among those who don’t include Detroit and Tampa, where her show is cleared on WDIV and WMOR, respectively.)
The second season of the show was delayed until October 2 due to the WGA strike.
All of this should point to a third season – but keep in mind Warner Bros. Discovery isn’t a trustworthy organization, such as Thursday’s decision to scrap the nearly completed Coyote vs. Acme movie and take a $30 million tax write-off – a completely unpopular and ridiculous move.
You know, like the Chicago White Sox, who made a move just as unpopular and idiotic the very same day and covered up a shooting in their own ballpark last August.
After a record 118 days on the picket line, SAG-AFTRA and AMPTP Wednesday night announced a tentative agreement to end the walkout.
“This is an ongoing, living thing – a contract,” SAG-AFTRA president and former Nanny stat Fran Drescher said at a press conference to discuss details of the deal Friday. “And we’re not over. We’re only just beginning.”
The three-year deal calls for a seven percent raise in most minimums, a $40 million bonus of actors whose streaming shows achieve a threshold of success, and a billion in new wages and benefit plan funding. On artificial intelligence, or AI, the emerging technology can be used to create digital replicas – if actors get paid for it and use permission to do so. Negotiations nearly fell apart earlier in the week when it was revealed the studios were planning to use digital replicas without the actor’s permission.
“If we didn’t get that package, then what are we doing? We’re not really able to protect our members in the way that they needed to be protected… If we didn’t get those barricades, what would it be in three years?” Drescher went on to say.
This marks the end of six months of work stoppages in Hollywood, starting May 1st when the WGA went on strike, followed by SAG-AFTRA on July 12 marking the first time both guilds walked out simultaneously since 1960.
With both strikes in the rearview mirror, it would be interesting to see how soon Hollywood gets back up to speed. But don’t be surprised if we see more cost-cutting ahead, meaning fewer productions and more foreign filming as the studios are under pressure from Wall Street to improve profitability as streaming services continue to lose tons of money.
A little more light was shed this week on what Disney would do with ABC and some of its underperforming cable networks and it looks like some of them could be sold.
Per The Wall Street Journal, Disney is looking to sell Freeform and National Geographic (NatGeo) to A+E Network, allowing them to retain a stake in the two channels as A+E is a 50/50 joint venture with Hearst, who owns numerous ABC affiliates. A+E’s channels include its namesake, Lifetime, and the History Channel.
NatGeo content is currently repurposed by ABC in the form of FAST Channels on its app and ABC.com as 
“unlocked channels”.
Originally known as CBN and The Family Channel, Freeform (along with Fox Kids) was bought by Disney in 2001 from News Corp. and renamed ABC Family, from Fox Family Channel. Nat Geo and Nat Geo Wild were bought from 21st Century Fox as part of Disney’s $71.3 billion deal to buy much of the company, which closed in March 2019.
This is a result of a review recently conducted by Disney Entertainment co-chairman Dana Walden and Disney networks and television operations president Debra O’Connell, who each identified ESPN, ABC, and FX as channels most valuable to the company. Back in July, Disney CEO Bob Iger noted he could put up several properties for sale – including ABC and its owned stations and several cable networks as linear TV continues to decline.
Now it appears ABC and its eight stations – including WLS-TV here, are staying put. For one thing, ESPN has sports rights contracts that specifically outline programming to air on ABC including Monday Night Football and SEC football starting next fall. Also, Disney is building new studios for Good Morning America in New York as it’s moving out of its Times Square Studios, signaling Disney is continuing its investment in the network.
Disney meanwhile, is expected to take full ownership of Hulu and combine its app with Disney Plus next year.
Keep in mind nothing’s been set in stone yet, so stay tuned.