Very few people in the Chicago area weren’t able to see the premiere of the new RSN – even if a deal was struck with their provider It’s time to play Monday night quarterback and assess the launch of Marquee Sports Network, the new joint venture between the Cubs and Sinclair Broadcasting. And of course, it didn’t go very well. […]
Welcome to the 14th annual T Dog Media Turkey Awards – celebrating the worst in media, sports, and life in general. We have 17 recipients to announce, so let’s get gobblin’: Survivor. The way CBS handled – or mishandled the latest Survivor controversy leaves a lot of be desired. An extra side turkey is given to Jeff Probst for what […]
Sinclair strikes deal to bring Cubs channel in 2020 We are now at a point where Cubs games are being shown in Des Moines but not in the Chicago area itself on cable. Thankfully, Marquee isn’t launching until February. As first reported by the Chicago Tribune Wednesday, the Chicago Cubs and Sinclair announced a carriage deal with cable provider Mediacom. […]
New deal part of overall pact with Sinclair Broadcasting and AT&T. If you don’t know what the word “leverage” means if you’re a Cubs fan and a DirecTV subscriber, you know now – and you can thank Sinclair Broadcasting. As a part of Sinclair’s new carriage agreement with AT&T, the new Marquee Network featuring the Chicago Cubs will be available […]
Could have an impact nationwide, including CAN TV Chicago In a move that could have devastating consequences for community-based cable TV channels, the dysfunctional and useless FCC voted among party lines Thursday (like they do for everything else) 3-2 to let cable networks and data assign a value to their networks and can reduce fees owed to localities by that […]
Impasses with Fox, others and costs makes it tough for carriage If you are a Cubs fan and you are looking forward to watching Kris Bryant and Co. on their new Marquee Sports Network on Dish, let me give you a heads up: it’s not likely to happen. With nearly 150 games set to air exclusively on the Cubs’ new […]
Launch on track for February 2020 After hiring him as a consultant, the Chicago Cubs and Sinclair Broadcast Group announced Tuesday the hiring of Michael McCarthy as the general manager of the new Marquee Sports Network, scheduled to launch next February. “We’ve had the pleasure of getting to know Mike and his proven ability to drive results over the past […]
The revival of the 1992-99 series with Paul Reiser and Helen Hunt is airing on Spectrum Originals – but Chicago, other markets may be out of luck If you’re a fan of Mad About You, you’re probably excited about the return of Paul and Jamie’s return to the small screen. But if you are a Chicago-area viewer – you are […]
Required sale of RSNs paves way for merger In a marked turn from its dealings with AT&T and TimeWarner, the Justice Department announced Wednesday it has approved a $71.3 billion deal between The Walt Disney Corporation and 21st Century Fox for most of the latter’s business. The deal was originally announced in December 2017, with Disney offering $52 billion for […]
FCC reverses 2015 vote; leaves uncertain future for Net Never in the years I’ll followed the media business I’ve seen so much hatred for the FCC – even during the Nipplegate controversy and when former chairman Kevin Martin was running the agency. But what we saw Thursday may have Trumped everything. In yet another bitterly partisan divided vote in an […]
In what can be described as a historic deal, Philadelphia-based Comcast Corp. – the country’s largest cable operator – is purchasing New York City-based Time Warner Cable – the second-largest cable operator for $45 billion, or $159 a share in an all-stock deal. The combined entity will boasts 30 million subscribers when Comcast plans to divest three million households due […]
The drawing in the Conan O’Brien lottery took place Monday, and it was Turner Broadcasting who turned up the lucky winner. So what does TBS actually win? Young demos. A proven name. An increased profile. And a new car – advertiser or two. But it seems a lot of players in this saga appear to winners – TBS, Conan O’Brien, […]
Let’s reach into the bag today and see what we can scoop out… – New fall syndication updates: WPWR plays the Feud again: Debmar-Mercury’s Family Feud returns to WPWR-TV for the third time beginning on Sept. 8, airing back-to-back episodes at 2 p.m, while Debmar’s new Trivial Pursuit: America’s Plays airs at 3 p.m. Family Feud aired on WPWR from […]
It’s too late for the just-about-to-conclude college basketball season, but Comcast and the Big Ten Network are close to a deal that would put the new college sports net on its extended basic package.Comcast recently dropped a provision in its stance, stating BTN was a “niche” channel, and should be regulated only to a sports tier. Currently, BTN is not […]
A reminder: the new WMEU-CA, branded Me-Too is launching today at 5 a.m.The new channel is a spin-off of Me-TV (WWME-CA), which launched in 2005. WMEU is taking the place of ethnic-programmed WFBT-CA, which is switching to one of WCIU’s sub-channels. WMEU, WFBT, WWME, and WCIU are all owned by Weigel Broadcasting. Me-Too is available on broadcast analogchannel 48 (good […]