WGN America takes the “super” out of its station

  Editor’s note: This post has been updated with additional information since being published on Saturday. – T.H. It’s the end of an era as the last “superstation” rides off into the sunset. By the end of this month, WGN America – which once carried WGN-TV programming across the country, is converting into a basic cable network in most areas […]

The 2014 T Dog Media Turkey Awards

Gobble, gobble everyone! It’s that time of year… to celebrate (and criticize) the worst in media. It’s the 2014 T Dog Media Turkey Awards. If you’ve noticed, the first eleven items are all local, and makes up a third of the list. Just goes to show you the power of The Chicago Way. The sad part is, the Jackie Robinson West […]

Tribune, Fox headed for a Showdown In Seattle

Could have implications for Chicago’s WPWR  A brewing affiliation fight in Seattle could have implications for a local Chicago TV station. According to a story in Tuesday’s edition of the New York Post, Fox is expected to yank the affiliation from Tribune Media’s KCPQ in Seattle-Tacoma. As it was reported in local media circles over the last few weeks, Fox […]

Report: WGN America to dump Chicago sports

Also: WBBM-AM nears deal to land Cubs telecasts Back in 1978, WGN-TV in Chicago joined WTBS in Atlanta and WOR-TV in New York (now WWOR) and uplinked their signal to a satellite to deliver their signal throughout the country as a “superstation”. In 2014, the “superstation” era is nearing the end. In a report surfacing on Crain’s Chicago Business website Friday, […]

CW hopes to continue momentum into 2014-15

But Tribune CEO throws cold water on party The CW unveiled its 2014-15 schedule to advertisers Thursday, but it was Tribune CEO Peter Ligouri who really stole the show. On the same day CW revealed its fall lineup, Ligouri said at the Moffer Nathanson Media and Communications Summit that he is “not pleased where the CW is” despite the fact […]

Grab Bag: Craig Ferguson exits “Late Late Show”

– The other shoe has dropped: Craig Ferguson announced Monday he was stepping down as host of CBS’ Late Late Show, effective at the end of 2014. The news comes as David Letterman (who is the executive producer of the show and controls the 11:35 p.m. weeknight time slot), announced his retirement three weeks ago. With this move, he also […]

Grab Bag: CBS in lead to snare Cubs’ radio rights

  * As first reported by Ed Sherman in Wednesday’s Chicago Tribune, CBS Corp. is the leading candidate to land the radio rights to the Chicago Cubs in 2015 and beyond. The most likely destination would be WBBM-AM, who already hold rights to the Chicago Bears and whose sports station (WSCR) holds rights to the Chicago White Sox. Current rights-holder […]

Local viewers tune out Bears blowout

– But game still tops evening both locally and nationally – Also: Bulls ratings remain strong despite Rose’s injury – The Church Of Tisch does it again The Bears’ performance against the Philadelphia Eagles had to be the most pathetic thing to air on NBC since Do No Harm. Or Animal Practice. Or Welcome To The Family. Or Pink Lady […]

Jim Corno dies

If there was one name associated with sports television in Chicago, it would be Jim Corno. Sadly, Corno passed away Tuesday at the age of 66 due to complications resulting from cancer. Corno’s career spanned more than forty years in the television industry, most notably for successfully running four sports channels in Chicago, known today as “regional sports networks”, or […]

Derrick Rose’s new injury likely a blow to Bulls’ ratings

CSN Chicago and WGN-TV face challenges to keep viewers  Monday was a gray and gloomy day in Chicagoland and the city’s mood certainly matches the weather. (And your mood is probably worst if you’re a Family Guy fan…) Of course, we’re talking about the Derrick Rose’s second knee injury in nineteen months, suffered in a game against the Portland TrailBlazers […]

Quick Hits and Bits: Derrick Rose returns fuels Bulls ratings victory

The latest Quick Hits and Bits contains a lot of good stuff, so here we go! – Even though the Chicago Bulls lost Saturday night to the Philadelphia 76ers, the first WGN-TV regular season game featuring Derrick Rose’s return scored gangbuster ratings for the Tribune-owned station – even on a night notorious for low HUT levels. The game earned a […]

Bulls, Blackhawks score in the ratings Wednesday night

The next time someone tells you a playoff game doesn’t resonate in Chicago – even when the hometown team is down 3-to-1 in a series – don’t believe them. According to Ed Sherman on his Sherman Report blog, Game 5 of the Chicago Bulls-Miami Heat NBA playoff series drew a surprisingly strong 8.9 household rating locally for TNT, despite the […]

T Dog’s Think Tank: Blackhawks slipping back to old ways?

An update to Friday’s story regarding Susannah Collins: As speculated, Collins’ firing was indeed ordered by Blackhawks’ owner Rocky Wirtz who, according to Robert Channick of the Chicago Tribune Saturday, sent a letter to CSN Chicago, showing his concern about those SportsNutz videos she was in during 2009 and 2010. The copy of the letter was cc’ed to Jerry Reinsdorf […]

T Dog’s Think Tank: “You Got Shteirized”

On Sunday, New York Times reviewer Rachel Shteir reviewed three Chicago based books. But the reviews were less about the books in question and more about Chicago itself. In her review, Shteir – who is also a professor at DePaul University and moved to Chicago thirteen years ago – talked about “poor Chicago” and used every stereotypical crack associated with […]