Chicago stations in for political ad revenue windfall

With Mayor Richard M. Daley’s decision not to run for a seventh term, it could mean good news for local television and radio outlets in the terms of revenue in the form of increased political advertising. While the rest of us will being running to our nearest electronics store to buy Tivos, the announcement would mean a huge influx of […]

WFLD revamps Good Day Chicago… again

In a long due overhaul, Fox-owned WFLD-TV has decided to revamp its low-rated Good Day Chicago morning news program with the announcement of two new anchors to take over the show – reporter Anna Davlantes and sports anchor Corey McPherrin, effective August 2. News of a possible anchor change first surfaced on July 14 in Robert Feder’s blog at Vocalo […]

WBBM-TV names new 10 p.m. co-anchor

CBS-owned WBBM-TV is undergoing yet another change with its 10 p.m. weeknight newscast by pairing current anchor Rob Johnson with Kate Sullivan, a morning anchor at sister station WCBS-TV in New York City, also a CBS O&O. The report first surfaced Wednesday on Robert Feder’s blog at Vocalo. The change is expected to take place in September. Johnson had been […]

Bob Sirott returns to WFLD

He’s back! Veteran Chicago media personality Bob Sirott  is returning to Fox-owned WFLD as an anchor for the station’s signature 9 p.m. newscast on July 19, alongside Robin Robinson. He replaces Jeff Goldblatt, whose contract at the station was not renewed. The station initially denied it was pursuing Sirott, even though Vocalo’s Robert Feder and the Tribune’s Phil Rosenthal said […]

Nine O’Clock news numbers not so nice

Jeff Goldbatt out at WFLD; WISN, WTMJ tie in 10 p.m. news race in Milwaukee The recent trends in local news is somewhat puzzling to figure out sometimes – while two stations scored rating increases at 10 p.m. with their local newscasts, the two local 9 p.m. newscasts were down from year-ago averages. Both CW affiliate WGN-TV and Fox-owned WFLD-TV […]

Join the dawn patrol

It looks like more and more stations are joining the extremely early morning dawn patrol. If you thought 5 a.m. was early, you haven’t seen nothing yet. In two big markets, local stations have or are in the process of expanding their morning newscasts – to 4:30 a.m. In Los Angeles, four stations already have 4:30 a.m. newscasts (compared to […]

WFLD wins a Peabody, but still loses in the ratings race

WFLD continues to struggle at 9 p.m. with its local newscasts, despite the fact of a strong prime-time lead-in. The March numbers show the Fox-owned station continuing to lag behind WGN and the other stations in the market in households and key demos. According to Nielsen and numbers supplied by the Sun-Times, WFLD averaged a 3.1 household rating for its […]

Asking the questions: Why is WFLD struggling at 9 p.m.?

The T Dog Media Blog is “asking the questions”… why is Fox-owned WFLD squandering prime-time lead-ins from its parent network? Maybe they should find some answers. According to Nielsen and from Lewis Lazare’s column today, WFLD continues to lag behind its competitors in the month of January. Despite changes to the 9 p.m. newscast – notably adding Anna Davlantes as […]

T Dog’s Fridge Pack: The twelve items that made the decade

In his 2008 speeches, President Barack Obama talked about change. Well, in the media world, change arrived in the 2000s. And boy, did it ever! When the decade started, who knew we would be watching clips on YouTube, or friending people on Facebook, or watching network TV shows online? Or how broadcast television and terrestrial radio would both have trouble […]

T Dog’s Fridge Pack: The dirty dozen of the decade

The 2000s brought with us a decade of change on how we consume media – whether if its at home or on the go. But it also brought a decade of  flops – some which you have to see – or hear – to believe. Here are the T Dog Media Blog’s twelve biggest media blunders of the decade, in […]

2009’s Excellent 10 – and more

Despite a down year (or decade, depending on your point of view) 2009 has had some good moments too! Here is the best of the best – the Top 10 items of 2009, count them down from ten to one – remember, this list includes not only TV shows, but events as well… The Excellent 1010. Glee (Fox). A surprise […]

2009’s Toilet 10 – and more

Over the next week, we will be reviewing the year in television and other things – the best and worst – as well as the events and issues that helped define the decade. We’ll start at the absolute bottom – with the worst shows and other items in the annual year-end lineup of the Toilet 10 – with a few […]

WBBM-TV to handle Monsters and some Money in the Morning

In a surprise move, CBS-owned WBBM-TV announced it is dropping its current morning show and has hired Mike North, Dan Jiggetts, and financial analyst Terry Savage to host Monsters and Money In The Morning, beginning on February 1.The program is scheduled to run from 5 to 7 a.m., leading-in to the network’s Early Show. The program once again reunites North […]

Anna Davlantes moves to WFLD

In a coup for Fox-owned WFLD-TV, the station landed one of Chicago’s most popular news personalities. Anna Davlantes, who spent nearly a decade at NBC-owned WMAQ until leaving the station earlier this year, has now signed a multi-year deal with WFLD, where she will be handling contributing anchor and reporting duties. The move is a plus for the struggling station, […]

T Dog’s Think Tank: Chicago’s lament

WARNING: This Think Tank contains material not suitable for more sensible readers (but of course, so has every item on this blog for the last three years!) Reader discretion is advised. This piece is rated B – for brutal. On Friday, the International Olympic Committee told Chicago to get lost as the organization picked Rio as the site of the […]