Rewinding media in 2025: Da Pope

Pope Leo, immigration raids, the return of Trump dominated 

If 2025 is remembered for anything, it’s for two words: Da Pope.

In a stunning and surprising decision, Robert Prevost – who grew up in south suburban Dolton, ascended to the Vatican as he became the first American to be named The Pope and christened Pope Leo XIV to succeed the late Pope Francis. The appointment became a source of pride for Chicagoans, knowing one of our own is in one of the highest-profile positions in religion.

And even better… he’s a White Sox fan!

The Pope’s ascension to the Holy Grail was just one of many stories defining 2025, marked by censorship, immigration, media consolidation, the Chicago Bears’ surprise success, and of course, the return of Donald J. Trump to the White House, for better or worse (all worse.)

Here are the stories that defined media in 2025:

Chicago media

It was a busy year for Chicago’s newsrooms, which covered the Pope, but also the increased immigration activity that engulfed the Chicago area causing chaos and outrage, with ground zero being a detention facility in west suburban Broadview. Local radio stations saw a brief ratings boost, and even the local media became part of the story – a CBS Chicago reporter had a tear gas canister thrown in her vehicle by an overzealous ICE agent, and a WGN-TV producer was slammed to the ground by agents while Nexstar looked the other way. Chicago received a taste of what would come later when Dr. Phil McGraw and a camera crew came to town in January with ICE head Tom Homan to boost his barely-watched Merit Street Network, which filed for bankruptcy last summer.

Like the rest of television, Chicago’s TV stations saw ratings declines as two local stations made changes, with WGN-TV naming Ric Harris as GM and poaching Akemi Harrison from NBC 5 as news director, and Fox 32 naming Glenn Berk as new VP/GM and Sean O’Hair as news director, replacing Glenn Dacy, who left abruptly. Both WGN and Fox 32 offered more local programming options through their respective streaming apps, but much of it leaves a lot to be desired. Meanwhile, Weigel’s The U added Sky basketball and a few Chicago White Sox games from CHSN to its syndicated-heavy schedule as a deal with Comcast forced CHSN to pull its network from WJYS’ digital subchannels, which many viewers did not receive – even with a strong antenna.

There was a lot more movement in radio. Kiss FM’s The Fred Show and WGN’s morning man Bob Sirott each received new renewal deals, while WFMT’s John Clare quit his morning show after only five months. Also out was Dan Bernstein, as 670 The Score fired him for doxing a social media user, but started…what else? A podcast with Hubbard Broadcasting, and so was Amy Jacobson, who lost her job as co-host of WIND-AM’s Morning Answer. In the management suites, iHeartMedia dumped Derrick Brown from overseeing the company’s three Black-oriented stations and replaced him with Kashon Powell. WBBM Newsradio named Geoff Buchholz as their new political editor, and Michelle Rutkowski arrived from Milwaukee to become brand manager at WXRT.

Journalism continued to take blows this year, with several Chicago Public Media employees taking buyouts as the Sun-Times reduced its staff by 20 percent, while The U canceled On The Block after three seasons, parting ways with hyperlocal news website Block Club Chicago. And Sinclair had enough of being in Illinois, selling their TV stations in the state and WVTV Milwaukee to a new outfit called Rincon Broadcasting.

On the production scene, Colin Cowherd moved his daily FS1 show to Chicago. But he won’t be producing it from Regal Mile Studios, as the South Side project located near 79th and Stony Island collapsed, despite the local alderman representing the area denying this was the case. In a more positive development, the Museum of Broadcast Communications returned in October with a new location in a “pop-up” space in the West Loop.

And while Pope Leo XIV made Chicago proud, another Leo did likewise, as the already well-known Leo High School Choir saw their profile elevate even higher as they appeared on NBC’s America’s Got Talent, finishing fourth overall, and won praise for their performances (this writer graduated from Leo in 1990). But to be sure, Chicago became a renewed target of President Trump’s ire, as he tried to send National Guard troops into the city, once again bringing Chicago’s image problem regarding crime into focus.

Among those calling it a career are WGN Radio’s Dave Eanet and Walter Jacobson, CBS Chicago news anchor Jim Williams, and although he shifted his radio show online in 2010, Dr. Demento hung up his top hat after 55 years on the air, which included a long run at the former WLUP. Meanwhile, ABC 7’s Stacey Baca departed for the West Coast, landing at sister ABC-owned station KABC-TV in Los Angeles.

Sports and Sports Media

The surprising success of the Chicago Bears under new head coach Ben Johnson and second-year QB Caleb Williams has fans talking about our NFL Lakefront Team again (and this time, I’m positively using the phrase!) with increased ratings for local games and a higher national profile. The rest of the NFL isn’t doing so bad either, as Nielsen’s adjustment by adding “Big Data” has resulted in record regular-season ratings for the league, which saw its influence grow by acquiring a ten percent stake in ESPN, with the Worldwide Leader taking over operations of the NFL Network once the deal is finalized.

But the news was dire elsewhere for other Chicago teams as they continued to…what else, suck – though the  Cubs did manage to make the playoffs only to lose to the Milwaukee Brewers.

2025 was a very active year in sports media. The planned Venu joint venture with Disney, Fox, and Warner Bros. Discovery collapsed, but remnants of it surfaced in the launches of Fox One and ESPN Unlimited. Streamers continued to add sports, but complaints grew from fans, frustrated with trying to find their games spread out over so many services. If you thought that was bad, the former Bally Sports RSNs (now FanDuel) may be heading toward bankruptcy again after new owner MainStreet Sports claims it may shut down soon if a deal to sell the company to UK-based streamer DAZN doesn’t go through.

The NBA made a triumphant return to NBC in October after a 23-year hiatus as the league kicked off $76 billion worth of deals, including a streaming component for the first time through Prime Video and Peacock. The NHL had something to crow about as the Four Nations Face-Off was an unexpected ratings smash in both the U.S. and Canada, and speaking of our neighbors to the north, the Toronto Blue Jays-Los Angeles Dodgers World Series was a memorable one, including a marathon Game 3 and an awesome, edge-of-your-seat Game 7, which the Dodgers won in extra innings.

With a ratings drop due to a move from NBC to TNT, thanks to a new rights deal taking effect, NASCAR’s The Great Chicago Race was “paused” for 2026, but could return in 2027.

National media 

If anything marked 2025, it was the influence of a returning Donald J. Trump to the White House, impacting the media business.

The Commander-In-Chief weighed in on everything – and I mean everything – in media from late-night TV to ownership caps. With his influence, it made for an unprecedented – and exhausting year covering this business – even for longtime observers like me.

Late-night was impacted as CBS dumped Stephen Colbert and the Late Show franchise, which David Letterman started in 1993, and also canceled After Midnight, giving the hour to Byron Allen’s Comics Unleashed. ABC suspended Jimmy Kimmel after an ill-timed joke about the assassination of Charlie Kirk, which drew ire from FCC Chairman and Trump ally Brendan Carr. He threatened ABC’s station licenses, forcing Nexstar and Sinclair to temporarily pull his show from their stations, and soliciting outrage from viewers.

The Kimmel controversy also highlighted tensions between station groups and the networks they’re affiliated with, over everything from program content to “reverse compensation”. One station in Miami (WPLG) gave up its decades-old ABC affiliation and became a news-intensive independent. In Atlanta, CBS opted to shift its affiliation to an existing station they’ve owned in the market (WUPA) for nearly 30 years, as former affiliate WANF returned to being an independent after 31 years.

Trump also had his stamp on the Paramount-Skydance deal as CBS News agreed to install an ombudsman and hired Bari Weiss from right-of-center publication Free Press as editor-in-chief. Her impact was felt immediately as she pulled a segment from 60 Minutes on December 21 about conditions at an El Salvador prison, which was leaked online the next day by Canada’s Global TV, which airs the show.

Media consolidation intensified in 2025 when Nexstar acquired Tegna, while Gray acquired several Scripps stations to challenge the 39 percent ownership cap. Station groups are seeking to eliminate the rule, believing that current regulations are hindering their ability to compete with Big Tech. And speaking of Big Tech, Netflix announced it was purchasing Warner Bros. Discovery, but not before Paramount launched a hostile takeover for the company, as this battle is likely headed for court.

Retrans disputes were plentiful in 2025 as Google’s YouTubeTV threatened to pull the channels of Paramount, Comcast, and Disney – all in one calendar year. In the end, the Disney channels were dropped in a dispute that lasted two weeks.

With cable TV on the decline, NBCUniversal spunoff its channels (except Bravo) into a new company called Versant, which rebranded MSNBC as MS NOW and rolled out new logos for CNBC and Golf Channel. Meanwhile, Warner is spinning off its cable to Discovery Global Networks – depending on what happens to the company.

CBS and Sony engaged in a legal standoff over longtime game shows Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy!, but came to a settlement that sees Sony take over the distribution of both to local TV stations beginning in 2028, the same year the two shows will be streaming same-day on Hulu and Peacock.

Since I didn’t have time to watch a lot of non-sports fare this year, I’ll pass on TV’s best of 2025, but streaming shows Pluribus and Canadian import Heated Rivalry generated a lot of buzz, especially the latter in recent weeks.

In Memoriam

Just this month, actor, director, and writer Rob Reiner was murdered in his Los Angeles home along with his wife, as their son was arrested for the crime. He was 78. Also passing away was Cosby Show star Malcolm-Jamal Warner, who died in a drowning accident last summer. Other notable deaths include Diane Keaton, Twin Peaks’ creator David Lynch, Gene Hackman, The Osbournes‘ Ozzy Osbourne, and Robert Redford, whose production company was behind CNN’s 2014 Chicagoland documentary.

Chicago media figures who died this year include Beyond The Beltway and former MBC head Bruce DuMont, local artist Tony Fitzpatrick, Chicago-born actors George Wendt and Lynn Hamilton (of Sanford and Son and Dangerous Women fame), former WBBM-TV and WMAQ-TV reporter Renee Ferguson, local radio personalities Harry Teinowitz and Joe “JoBo” Colburn, former Tribune and Sun-Times media columnist Gary Deeb, Chicago Tribune’s Bruce Dold, and longtime WLS-AM news reporter Jim Johnson.

One organization that won’t be missed or mourned is the Parents Television Council, as the media watchdog group went bankrupt in October.

Happy New Year from T Dog Media and we’ll see you in 2026, as this website celebrates its 20th anniversary!