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, […]

Bears-Lions a surprisingly strong draw on Turkey Day…why?

Two bad teams equals good ratings for the NFL…somehow  You’d think given the horrid records of two of the worst teams in football playing against each other, people would eschew this matchup to find something else better to do right?  Well, that theory was tested on Thanksgiving Day when the 3-7 Chicago Bears took on the 0-9-1 Detroit Lions – […]

The Media Notepad: ABC 7 holds on to late-night news ratings lead

Plus…DeDe McGuire returns to Chicago airwaves via syndication; Konkol returns; Judge Steve Harvey? Despite the well-publicized departure of Mark Giangreco earlier this year, viewers are still tuning in to ABC 7’s (WLS-TV) newscasts and is handily beating their competition.  Even though 25-54 numbers haven’t been released yet and the following only measures total viewers, ABC 7 easily won the 10 […]

Chicago Blackhawks: The rise and fall

  Once one of the premier teams in sports, a sex scandal sends the team’s popularity into the toilet  Scandal gives Chicago’s image yet another black eye – one of a lot as the team’s decline also reflects the city’s If you’ve read the blog over the years, this space has devoted quite a bit to Chicago sports and how […]

The Media Notepad: Bears, NFL score ratings wins

Also: Don’t Bet Your Life; Bids made for Tegna; Johnny B to host RHOF ceremony The NFL continues to rack up impressive numbers at a time when viewers are abandoning linear TV in droves. Case in point: The Bears game on Sunday against the Bengals drew a household 22.9 rating and 60 share for Fox-owned WFLD-TV Chicago Sunday, easily making […]