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 […]

The Think Tank: Lightfoot’s decision on journalists forces discussion on racial diversity

Lightfoot’s decision to exclude white journalists sets off firestorm. But it’s a conversation long overdue The latest dustup between the Chicago media and minority communities is unusual because the person behind it happens to be the Mayor of Chicago. On Tuesday, Mayor Lori Lightfoot – the first Black woman to be elected to the position in the city’s history, decided […]

CBS lays off staff, including Chicago’s CBS 2

More than a dozen staffers let go, including longtime investigative reporter Pam Zekman  [Editor’s Note: This story has been updated.]  Pulitzer-prize winning investigative reporter Pam Zekman was one of a dozen staffers let go at CBS-owned WBBM-TV Wednesday as parent company ViacomCBS made 300 to 400 layoffs at CBS Entertainment Group.   It appears CBS 2 bore the brunt of the […]

CBSN to expand to other markets, including Chicago

Local news streaming service to be based out of CBS 2 Chicago is about to get its first local news streaming service. As announced on Thursday, CBS Television Stations and CBS Interactive announced an expansion of their local news streaming service to Chicago and twelve other cities, with content provided by CBS owned-and-operated stations in those markets. Modeled after CBS’ […]

25 years ago: The deal heard around the world

25 years ago this week, Fox’s Rupert Murdoch changed the TV world by inking a deal to trigger the biggest affiliation switch in history.  It goes back to what happened on December 17, 1993. The networks were complaining about paying too much for sports – the NFL in particular – as the packages were losing money and looking to pay […]

Super Bowl ratings: Super Dud

Viewers tune out Patriots-Rams; lowest ratings in over a decade Thanks to numerous punts and less-than-inspiring play, Super Bowl LIII turned into a Super Dud. In the lowest-scoring game in Super Bowl history – sixteen points in total, the New England Patriots and Los Angeles Rams settled for a 3-3 tie at halftime in a game featuring numerous punts and […]

The Media Notepad: “Man Of The People” set for season two

Also: WCIU to air Black History special; Record ratings for radio stations airing Christmas music; St. Louis anchor suspended for racial slur. In a battle for local TV and comedy justice, The Man Of The People defeated the evil Captain Chesapeake from Baltimore. WGN-TV announced last week the renewal of locally-produced comedy Man Of The People hosted by WGN morning […]

Tribune’s deal with Sinclair dies

And in a surprising twist, Tribune is suing Sinclair for breach of contract Captain Chesapeake isn’t coming to Chicago after all. Blame overpaying a hand in a regulatory poker game leading to his ship sinking faster than the Exxon Valdez. Approximately fifteen months after it was announced, Chicago-based Tribune Media announced Thursday morning it was walking away from its merger […]

Sinclair to divest WGN-TV? Not so fast

Sinclair selling off WPIX, WGN to win approval? Meet the Shell Answer Man. During the eight years I worked at the Better Business Bureau, yours truly has seen plenty of scams perpetrated onto by the public the organization had to warn about. But even those can’t compare to what Sinclair and the FCC are pulling. In a filing revealed on […]

Sinclair to buy Tribune Media for $4 billion 

Mega deal is the biggest in television history: 42 station-group sold to Maryland-based broadcaster Ends local ownership of WGN-TV and WGN Radio after more than 60 years Sinclair’s purchase of Tribune Media will change the landscape of local television as we know it. For one, Tribune – with roots in television going back to 1948 as the WGN Continental Broadcasting […]

T Dog’s Media Notepad: “All In” special on Chicago violence draws decent numbers

Discussion on Chicago violence draws over a million viewers; also, news on CBS, The Bulls, and Big Bang As gun violence continues to plague Chicago, the national spotlight on the city isn’t dimming anytime soon with MSNBC’s All In With Chris Hayes the latest television program to come here to discuss the issue. Despite a last-minute scheduling change (originally scheduled […]

T Dog’s Media Notepad: Bears-Packers score in ratings

Bears surprise; ABC 7 dominates November ratings; another new game show planned; Tom Joyner’s future On paper, it looked like another game against the Packers where the Bears would get blown out and the ratings would take a hit, given what happened last year. Turns out it wasn’t the case. Led by Jay Cutler, the Chicago Bears stunned their Green […]

The Grab Bag: Tony Sculfeld heads to WSRB-FM

News and notes from around the industry – WSRB, a Crawford-owned urban adult contemporary station previously known as Soul 106.3, is trying its luck with an other former WGCI alum – Tony Sculfield, who’ll soon take over the evening slot vacated by Ramonski Luv, who was out after less than six months on the air. Recently, Sculfield was part of […]

Think Tank Express: Random thoughts

Oh, when are the upfronts? It’s been slow here at the T Dog Media newsdesk. So here are some random thoughts: – Dr. Oz said, for some reason “We will not be silenced” in response to some Columbia University doctors questioning his credentials. But would silence him is low TV ratings. – Instead of reporting the news, CNN and Fox try […]