Oh, Darling

Led by rookie goalie, Blackhawks score huge ratings Sunday and Tuesday  Other Chicago teams see ratings increases It’s playoff season and Chicago viewers are showing up in droves. Last Sunday’s third game in the first-round Stanley Cup Playoff series between the Chicago Blackhawks and the Nashville Predators scored a whopping 12.0 household live-plus-same day rating locally for NBC’s WMAQ, easily trouncing […]

Cubs open up 2015 baseball season

Full plate ahead for Chicago sports fans  The San Francisco Giants (remember them?) may have won the World Series in 2014, but you wouldn’t know it judging by the hype a certain Northside team is getting. The Chicago Cubs are opening the 2015 season Sunday Night with a nationally televisied game against the archrival St. Louis Cardinals on ESPN2 (Sunday […]

Cubs, White Sox invade Indianapolis TV

Deal with WGN sends selected Cubs and White Sox games to former CBS affiliate; nine other Midwestern markets also cleared  In order to fill a programming void left by CBS, a local Indianapolis TV station is turning to two Chicago institutions. Media General-owned WISH-TV announced Friday it was planning to air a package of Chicago Cubs and Chicago White Sox games produced […]

Tough season for Chicago sports fans get tougher

                Rose, Kane injuries could have local and national ratings impact Like in golf, Chicago sports fans would like a mulligan and start 2015 all over again. After a fall season of horrendous Bears football, Chicagoans spent the early part of 2015 turning their focus toward the Chicago Bulls and Chicago Blackhawks, who were […]

White Sox, Cubs nail down 2015 broadcast schedules

As expected, WGN-TV announced it was moving 20 or so Chicago White Sox games from Weigel’s WCIU to Fox-owned WPWR-TV. The move to the My Network TV affiliate, means WPWR gets to air baseball for the first time. WPWR is also picking up five Chicago Cubs games WGN-TV is producing. Earlier this season, WGN moved six Chicago Bulls games from WCIU […]

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 […]

T Dog’s Grab Bag: Back to the future for ABC 7’s daytime lineup

– Inside Edition/Jeopardy return to old time slot – WMAQ adds 11 a.m. newscast – Chicago Little Leaguers success on and off the field – Dan McNeil, Cheryl Scott exit while Dish Nation adds a Real Housewife  – Back to the future in early fringe: as expected, ABC-owned WLS-TV is returning syndicated first-run series Inside Edition and Jeopardy to its […]

Cubs, White Sox viewers continue to flee for exits

White Sox now dead last in TV ratings, with Cubs right behind them It’s been a tough summer for local Chicago television. First, Chicago viewers are turning off local news in greater numbers (and as a reward, we’re getting more news!) And now, they’re turning off local baseball – again – as both the Cubs and the White Sox continue […]

Chicago Cubs to leave WGN Radio; head to WBBM-AM

Welcome the newest member of the CBS family – the Chicago Cubs. After 56 years, the Chicago Cubs are moving to a new radio home – Newsradio 780, or WBBM-AM, which is long been speculated. A press conference has been scheduled for Thursday morning at Wrigley Field to announced the new, seven-year deal between the team and the CBS-owned radio […]

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: 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 […]