Comcast, Paramount Global renews deal

CBS Chicago to stay on Xfinity systems; subscribers to get Paramount Plus Paramount Global and Comcast announced a new carriage deal on Tuesday. The multi-year deal includes Paramount’s portfolio of networks, including CBS and its owned stations, BET, MTV, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, and others. Comcast subscribers will also continue to gain access to streamers Paramount Plus, BET Plus, and Pluto […]

Local news organizations drawn in to Tiffany Henyard drama

NBC 5 joins WGN News, and Fox 32 in documenting Dolton’s chaos as media tries to navigate choppy waters on covering her As you know, there is never a shortage of political scandals to cover in Illinois. From Operation Silver Shovel to Blago, the non-stop corruption has kept journalists busy and fascinated observers.  And in the Year Of Our Lord […]

CBS Chicago unveils new virtual weather presentation

CBS-owned WBBM-TV turns to virtual and augmented reality to present weather A significant development occurred in the post-Tom Skilling era as Chicago TV viewers were introduced to the “Weather Sphere.” CBS-owned WBBM-TV—branded locally as CBS Chicago—debuted a new weather technology on October 1 using 3D virtual and augmented reality technology (VR/AR technology for short) in a separate, brand-new studio. The debut […]

CBS Mornings expands to three hours – in some places

And one of those places is Chicago, as CBS Chicago sacrifices 9 a.m. newscast on linear [Editor’s Note: This post was updated on September 27.] Tony Dokoupil and Adriana Diaz were named anchors of CBS’ new third-hour extension of CBS Mornings called CBS Morning Plus, airing live weekday mornings at 9 a.m. beginning September 30. But instead of airing the […]

“Drew Barrymore Show” renewed through 2026

Upgrades in several key large markets as future of show was questioned last week Affirming their commitment to Drew Barrymore’s talk show, CBS Media Ventures announced Thursday a sixth-year renewal through the end of the 2025-26 season, as the daytime talker was upgraded in several large markets. Since season three, the show split into two separate half-hours, with most stations […]

T Dog’s Think Tank: The White Sox uses the CBS Chicago blueprint for its Fan Alienation Plan

Chicago’s South Side MLB team resembles CBS Chicago’s ratings disasters in every way possible  In the early 2000s, then-Chicago Tribune media critic Steve Johnson noted the management at CBS-owned WBBM-TV implemented what he called a “Viewer Alienation Plan”, a series of bad decisions repelling viewers from the station throughout the 1990s, including tabloid newscasts, awful anchor pairings, and a deer-in-headlight […]

CBS News And Stations forms Crime and Public Safety Unit

The latest beat addition to the network’s news operation and its station group Paramount Global’s CBS News And Stations unit is forming a new Crime And Public Safety Unit and tapped an NBC News veteran to lead it. Heading the new unit is Anna Schecter Zigler, who spent the last thirteen years at NBC News most recently as a senior […]

NBC Chicago streaming channel heads to Pluto TV

Highlights the rarity of two competing networks on the same platform  Starting today, Chicago viewers can now find WMAQ-TV’s streaming local news channel on Pluto TV. “We are excited to grow our existing partnership with Pluto TV and expand the reach of our premium local news content to new audiences,” said Amy Geary, senior VP of NBCUniversal Content Distribution. “News […]

Super Bowl LVIII ratings: One for the record books

Kansas City Chiefs were not the only winners; so were CBS, Univision, and Paramount Global For the first time in nearly two decades, we have a repeat Super Bowl champion as the Kansas City Chiefs won Super Bowl LVIII in a thrilling game against the San Francisco 49ers 25-22 in overtime – the second overtime game in Super Bowl history. […]

NextGen TV arrives in Chicago

CBS 2, others turned on signal Monday The future of television has finally arrived in Chicago. After a long wait, CBS-owned WBBM-TV (CBS 2) turned on the new ATSC 3.0 signal Monday at 1 p.m. local time, as  NextGen TV, made its debut. “America’s third-largest TV market is riding the NextGen TV wave, with the addition of new capabilities for […]

“True Crime News”, Jaleel White game show set to premiere in fall

Fox, CBS stations commit to new projects, respectively While Ken Jeong’s talk show project couldn’t get off the ground, two others did on Monday, scoring much-needed station group anchor deals. Warner Bros. Television Group announced Monday a new hour-long strip called True Crime News, hosted by ABC News’ 20/20 contributor Ana Garcia, who also hosts a podcast called True Crime […]

The Media Notepad: Fox 32, NewsNation rearrange anchor lineups

Also: a WBIG sale; CBS 2 to launch NextGen signal Fox-owned WFLD or Fox 32, announced anchor lineup changes last week for the AM news show Good Day Chicago as they are bringing in a fresh face to the fold with Chicago native Brian Jackson coming in from sister station KCPQ Seattle, co-anchoring the 7-10 a.m. block with Natalie Bomke. […]