ESPN, ABC affiliates tussle over sports

Many affiliates are upset with ABC and ESPN over a decision to remove several Sunday afternoon NASCAR races from the broadcast network to ESPN, leaving them with just three prime-time races to carry. The move rankled affilates – particuarly in Southern television markets, where NASCAR is very popular. NASCAR – whose season begins this Sunday with the Daytona 500 – […]

Chicago ratings box

Here are some notable ratings items: – Lewis Lazare’s Sun-Times column noted ABC-owned WLS-TV’s continued ratings dominance in the month of December. According to the ratings “book”, WLS finished first at 10 p.m. in households, followed by CBS-owned WBBM-TV and NBC-owned WMAQ-TV, which continues to suffer from having Jay Leno as a news lead-in (though that may not be the […]

Fox dumps BCS; heads for ESPN

Chalk up another victory for The Worldwide Leader in B.S. And the coup involves an organization that put the B.S. in BCS. After Fox Sports rejected to match an offer, the Bowl Championship Series – or BCS – is headed for ESPN beginning in 2011 in a four-year, $500 million deal. The deal means the Orange Bowl, Fiesta Bowl, Sugar […]