Incumbent ousted as she finished third in non-partisan race; had tension-filled relationship with media Back in 2019, Lori Lightfoot stunned everyone by sweeping all fifty wards to become Chicago’s next mayor and the first Black woman and LGBTQ person to do so. But in the end, she was ineffective as a leader in City Hall and she was blown out […]
Calls it a career after 21 seasons Dr. Phil McGraw announced Tuesday evening that he’s leaving his successful syndicated talk show after 21 seasons to focus on other projects, including developing prime-time programming and forming a “strategic partnership” in the daypart. As first reported by Deadline, Dr. Phil is exiting as his contract with CBS Media Ventures ends after this […]
Also: Mayoral debates scheduled; CBS-owned stations to rebrand news properties Audacy’s all-news WBBM-AM/WCFS-FM announced last week the hire of Craig Schwalb as brand manager and news director of the station effective January 23. He succeeds Ron Gleason, who retired last month. Schwalb comes from Hubbard’s dominant all-news station WTOP in Washington, D.C., a station who typically leads the country in […]
Also: prime-time’s future debated; Pluto takes streaming lead You wonder if Amazon has a return policy for defective football games: Much like the teams on the field, the October 13 edition of Prime Video’s Thursday Night Football was completely forgettable. The newly renamed Washington Commanders played the Chicago Bears on a 40-degree night and viewers figured the game between two […]
Drastically different schedules begins today (Editor’s Note: This post was updated on September 17.) There are a ton of changes in television outside of prime-time with the new season beginning today. For one, there is no more Ellen DeGeneres as she danced off the stage last spring while Maury Povich and his paternity tests retired to Florida, leaving us with […]
Also: NewsNation add late morning news block; Scripps adds digital subchannels to DirecTV; Samsung bulks up Plus TV As expected, CBS 2 (WBBM-TV) is launching a new 9 a.m. half-hour newscast, starting September 12: We're launching a new show! Hope to see you weekdays at 9am on @CBSChicago and streaming from 9:30-10am – starting next week! @LBannonWX @RyanBakerMedia pic.twitter.com/9w4HEcjZxU — […]
Local stations pre-empt programming on holiday For a city used to the horrors of gun violence, even this was too much to take. On a sparkly clear day, a Fourth Of July parade in the north suburban community of Highland Park was interrupted by a gunman who opened fire from a roof of a commercial building, hitting spectators below. As […]
Also: iCrime debuts this fall; another syndicated show calls it quits; TV/radio stations shifting to the burbs? Catching up on some news: After deciding to delay for a few weeks, Fox released their 2022-23 schedule on June 6 without much fanfare. As expected, much of the lineup remained intact, including The Masked Singer on Wednesdays, Smackdown on Fridays, and the […]
Also: Black Chicagoans (still) not happy with media outlets; Syndicated ‘Dateline’ shifts to new local outlet; Rock 95.5 surges in ratings After just four weeks, CNN Plus is getting… subtracted. The Warner Bros. Discovery-owned service announced Thursday it was closing April 30 after launching on March 28, debuting to poor reviews and a cumbersome price of $5.99 monthly or […]
Teams with Irika Sargent for newscasts Former WGN-TV and NewsNation executive Jennifer Lyons has landed another Nexstar alum to join her at CBS-owned WBBM-TV (CBS 2). As first reported by Robert Feder, Joe Donlon is joining Irika Sargent as co-anchor of the station’s 5, 6, and 10 p.m. newscasts starting May 2. This is the second NewsNation alum to join […]
Show will have new format to accommodate local news expansion The struggling Drew Barrymore Show has been renewed for a third season. Making it official, CBS Media Ventures announced Friday that the show is returning for the 2022-23 season, but with a twist – Drew is being split into two half-hours stations can run separately or together as an […]
Popularity isn’t exactly overrated as 2021 ends a wild year in media Like mystery of the sphinx or crop circles, you just can’t explain the continued popularity of certain things despite questionable changes. After the firing of Mark Giangreco and seemingly public disdain for one of her former co-anchors, ABC 7 remains on top of local Chicago news ratings, […]
WBBM-TV joins others in competitive time slot After years of speculation, CBS-owned WBBM-TV is finally back in the 4 p.m. news business. As first reported by Robert Feder Thursday, CBS 2 plans to launch the early afternoon newscast January 24 with news veteran Jim Williams and newcomer Marie Saavedra. “With breaking news events occurring 24/7 and the appetite for local […]
New shows dot local schedules The new television season outside of prime-time begins Monday and you will see some new faces and new places. For one, Jay Leno is returning to daily TV seven years after he left The Tonight Show for a second time. Now, he’s taking his act to earlier time slots with his new You Bet Your […]
New home for Judy Sheindlin, and the same format We now have a drop date for Judy Sheindlin’s new courtroom show on Amazon’s IMDB TV and you can mark your calendars for November 1 – That’s when the woman helming the most successful court show of all time debuts with her new show Judy Justice. Joining Sheindlin in the new […]