Syndication: What’s new this fall

…or not, as reruns, court shows dominate local schedules As linear TV viewership continues to tumble, fall schedules for local television stations across the country certainly reflect the trend. Unlike last year when Sherri Shepard and Jennifer Hudson debuted with new syndicated talk shows, there is no such new programming being offered – especially with an ongoing work stoppage in […]

Fox 32 re-ups with the Bears to be the “official station” of the team

  NFL team took team’s non-regular season game rights to market, opts to stay with Fox While the Chicago Bears are now expanding their search for a new home to suburbs other than Arlington Heights, at least the team isn’t going anywhere when it comes to official team programming on local TV (and answers one of our ten questions in […]

ESPN 1000 announces on-air talent for Bears games

Good Karma-owned station takes over radio broadcasts this fall With the all-important NFL Draft approaching, ESPN 1000 (WMVP) announced its game day lineup for Bears games this upcoming season.  Gameday starts with the Network Pre-Game Show (assuming the word “network” is a placeholder for a yet-to-be named corporate sponsor) with Marc Silverman (known on-air as Silvy), Dionne Miller (of ABC […]

The Media Notepad: WBBM Newsradio names Craig Schwalb news director

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 […]

ESPN 1000 to Bear Down

Good Karma is new flagship home of the Chicago Bears – and they may looking for a new TV partner as well While the Chicago Bears are remaking their team for the future by trading away players for future draft picks, the team also made a major move on the radio front and may look to do so on the […]

The Media Notepad: Bears don’t deliver for Amazon Prime

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 […]

The Media Notepad: Fox 32 gets Amazon Thursday night Bears game – report (updated)

Also: local Atlanta station removes popular syndicated show to air more news; controversial political ad removed from local airwaves; the GOP looking to deregulate the media business even more; Ramsey Lewis dies [Editor’s Note: There is an update to the second story in this piece. See below.] Thursday Night Football may have left Fox, but its owned stations certainly haven’t […]

Report: Bears games leaving WBBM-AM after this season

  Chicago Bears fans will have to tune in to a new radio station in 2023 to hear games The Chicago Sun-Times is reporting the radio rights for the Chicago Bears are up for grabs after this season after the team and WBBM-AM did not come to terms on a renewal. Courting the Bears are Good Karma Brands-owned ESPN 1000 […]

Credibility problems hammer Marquee, NBC Sports Chicago

Raises questions about teams having stakes in regional sports networks Outside of the Sky’s WNBA Championship, the last nine months have been utter hell for Chicago sports fans, from a sexual abuse scandal to sports team owners chewing out reporters, not to mention a certain Green Bay QB “owning” local fans. Now credibility problems has become the latest headache, with […]

2022: A look ahead

CW sale, political races, on tap  Even though it’s January 14, it’s never too late to look ahead to see what could happen in media for the remaining 351 days left in the year. So let’s look in the crystal ball and see what to expect. As always, we’ll check back at the end of the year to see how […]

Remembering John Madden

Hall of Famer and video game innovator leaves marks on sports and media John Madden didn’t invent the game of football, but he sure helped contribute to it. The pigskin icon, who was a coach and broadcaster died Tuesday in his Bay Area home at the age of 85. Madden was an innovator in sports broadcasting, injecting enthusiasm and his […]

Rewinding media in 2021: You just can’t explain it

  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, […]