Reach out and touch someone…. No, not there. Or there. The Grab Bag: – CBS AT&T . CBS Corp. and AT & T have signed a brand new retransmission consent deal, covering all CBS-owned stations (which includes CBS, CW, and independent stations), Showtime, The Smithsonian Channel, and CBS Sports Network. Locally, the deal covers CBS-owned WBBM-TV over all AT&T U-Verse […]
On the old PI Feedback forums at the former Mediaweek.com, a poster named “Twins12” often referred to the hit reality TV series Dancing With The Stars as Dancing With The Has-Beens, noting the program’s inability to land A-list celebrities, but those whose best days were behind them. In Chicago media, being a has-been can be beneficial – even if no […]
Here’s what in The Grab Bag on this Friday: – One day after Merlin Media re-launched WKQX as an Alternative Rock outlet, the company launched a new news/talk station in Philadelphia Monday with former WBBM-TV and Access: Hollywood anchor Larry Mendete as the centerpiece. Billed as “IQ 106.9” (WWIQ-FM), the station is being touted as an alternative to all-news KYW-AM […]
Does the headline of this post look familiar to you? Well, aside from the “again” part. It should. I wrote this headline five years ago when the Chicago Sun-Times decided to put then-Chicago Bear Greg Olsen on the front page of the newspaper amid the controversy over a rap song he participated in while at the University of Miami, […]
Limbaugh gets called out for nasty behavior. But what about everyone else? As you know by now, syndicated radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh made a rather nasty comment on his nationally syndicated radio show last week calling Georgetown student Sandra Fluke a “slut” and a “prostitute” after she testified in Congress on difficulty obtaining contraception and felt she needed […]
It’s time to grab your favorite beverage (a six pack of it would be best…) because it’s time for T Dog’s Six Pack! In this edition, Jerry Bryant expands his business, Betty White’s is actually on her rockers celebrating her 90th birthday while the Rev. Michael Pflager is far off his. Rounds of Hot Cocoa for everyone. […]
Here we go again! For the six time in thirty years – and the second time in two years – the Chicago Sun-Times has a different owner. Wrapports LLC, a newly formed venture headed by Merrick Ventures LLC CEO Michael Ferro Jr. and Madison Dearborn Partners LLC Chairman John Canning Jr. have agreed to purchase the Sun-Times and its numerous […]
A quick wrap-up of the week that was in media: Winners. WGN Radio. Jonathan Brandmeier’s arrival to the storied 720 is sure to bring back the entertainment value back to the station in the morning, a la Wally Phillips and Bob Collins. Now, just don’t screw it up. NBA Fans, TNT, and ESPN. The lockout’s over and pro basketball is […]
How desperate can they get? On Tuesday, the Sun-Times Media Group announced it was erecting a paywall for its papers’ website beginning on Thursday. The paywall goes up for all of the company’s newspapers, including the south suburbs’ SouthtownStar, Northwest Indiana’s Post-Tribune, and the Chicago Sun-Times itself. Beginning on Thursday, visitors are allowed 20 free page views a month. But […]
Allen Gregory: Worst. Sitcom. Ever. Welcome to the 6th annual T Dog Media Turkey Awards! Every year around Thanksgiving, yours truly hashes out the worst in the media business – in television, radio, and sports. So bring out the stale stuffing and expired cranberry sauce! It’s time to go gobbling! And the “winners” are… […]
It’s like saying Power 92 is #1 in the Streets! Yep, it’s been a week of mistakes for some – ask the Miami Herald and the Toronto Star who declared some teams champions last week when they weren’t, and for anyone who went into Downtown Vancouver Wednesday evening. It’s not just some bizarre universe where Dewey defeated Truman for President […]
In a move which leaves neither big-time Chicago newspaper without a television critic, The Chicago Sun-Times fired Paige Wiser after a little over two years on the job after submitting several inaccuracies in a Glee Live! concert review, an offshoot of the popular Fox series. Wiser had been with the paper for the last seventeen years, mostly as an entertainment […]
Photo courtesy of Chicago Sun-Times (Editor’s note: This story was updated on March 19, 2011 due to new information.) Chicago Sun-Times Chairman James C. Tyree, (known as Jim Tyree) passed away Wednesday night at the age of 53. On Friday, the Cook County medical examiner’s office ruled his death an accident from an air embolism after a dialysis catheter removal. […]
The Chicago Sun-Times has a new lease on life, and you can thank Jim Tyree for it. The paper was sold for just the fourth time in its 60-year history to Tyree and his group of investors, in a deal worth $5 million, while assuming $21 million in liabilities. In order to make the deal work for Tyree (and the […]
The longtime media columinst of the Chicago Sun-Times is back with a new gig. Robert Feder, who took a buyout from the Chicago Sun-Times last year after 28 years with the newspaper, is returning to the Chicago media beat as a blogger/columnist for Vocalo, a news and information website run by Chicago Public Radio. Feder made the announcement on the […]
ABC ABC-Owned Stations ABC 7 Chicago American Idol CBS CBS Chicago CBS Media Ventures CBS News And Stations Chicago Bears Chicago Blackhawks Chicago Bulls Chicago Cubs Chicago White Sox ESPN Family Guy FCC Fox Fox 32 Fox Television Stations Los Angeles Milwaukee NBC NBC 5 NBC Owned Television Stations NBCUniversal Syndication Studios New York City Nexstar Media Group Radio Ratings Sinclair Inc. Syndication The Big Bang Theory The CW The Simpsons Tribune Media Warner Bros. WBBM-TV Chicago WCIU Chicago WFLD Chicago WGN-TV Chicago WGN Radio WLS-AM Chicago WLS-TV Chicago WMAQ Chicago WPWR Chicago