Comcast, TNT score big ratings Game 6 of the first-round playoff matchup between the Boston Celtics and the Chicago Bulls was one for the ages. The triple-overtime thriller – in which the Bulls beat the Celtics 129-127 – was the highest-rated first-round game ever, drawing a 3.5 household rating and 5.4 million viewers overall according to Nielsen. TNT also led […]
Ed Sherman (remember him?) has a business of sports blog at Crain’s ChicagoBusiness.com and the former Chicago Tribune sports media reporter has dirt on a possible move by NBC-owned WMAQ-TV to outsource their sports department to Comcast SportsNet.This comes as stations are looking for ways to save money in an already declining economy. Many have eliminated their sports departments altogether. […]
Former Bulls broadcaster John G. “Red” Kerr passed away at his home Thursday due to a long time battle with prostate cancer at the age of 76. Kerr died just hours after former Bulls player and analyst Norm Van Lier was found dead in his Chicago home. Kerr was the first Chicago Bulls coach (1966-68) and later had a 33-year […]
Shocking news: Former Chicago Bull and broadcast personality Norm Van Lier died in his Chicago home today at the age of 61. He was found unresponsive at 1 p.m. in his South Loop home. The cause of death is not known at this time. Van Lier has been a long time in-studio analyst for Chicago Bulls broadcasts on Comcast SportsNet […]
Second of two parts. A new morning show which debuted on Comcast SportsNet last month pairing up former WSCR-AM (Score) partners Mike North and Dan Jiggetts titled Monsters in the Morning. While the three-hour program offers up sports news and weather every morning from 6 to 9 a.m., the deal on how the show got on the air – is […]
From the bag today: – Comcast SportsNet announced it is splitting its signature sports news show SportsNite into two half-hours at 10 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. (Yours truly thought they were already separate.) – It looks like an Obama-led FCC could steer the focus away from indecency, which has been the focus of the agency over the last few years. […]
The Chicago Blackhawks may have a so-so record in the standings, but their ratings were soaring through the roof. During the month of October on Comcast SportsNet, the hockey team saw its ratings grow 150 percent – from a 0.4 Nielsen Media Research household rating in October 2007 to an 1.0 rating in 2008. More importantly, the Hawks ratings among […]
The Monsters are back – this time on TV. Former WSCR-AM sports stars Mike North and Dan Jiggetts are teaming up to launch a new morning talk show on Comcast SportsNet titled Monsters in the Morning, debuting on the regional sports network in January. The program is scheduled to run from 6 to 9 a.m. North and Jiggetts were paired […]
Anyone watching the new summer fare here in Chicago? You know, shows like I Survived a Japanese Game Show, Celebrity Family Feud, Swingtown, Duel, and Wanna Bet? Didn’t think so (in fact, no one is watching them anywhere else, either.) What people are watching in the Windy City are the Cubs – and on Monday night, the Cubs-Brewers game dominated […]
Darrin Jackson, the color commentator on White Sox TV broadcasts for WGN-TV and Comcast SportsNet, may not be back next season in the role. The team has yet to renew his contract (which expires this year), and there are rumors he may replaced by Steve Stone, who held the same capacity during Cubs telecasts on WGN-TV for more than 20 […]
The longtime voice of the Blackhawks is back. Pat Foley, who was unceremoniously dumped by the team in 2006 in a very unpopular move, has been re-hired as the play-by-play man on the Chicago Blackhawks’ television broadcasts beginning this fall. The move is the latest in fan-friendly overtures the Hawks are making to win back fans after years of alienating […]
The Chicago Blackhawks announced on Tuesday that the team’s entire 82-game schedule will be shown on television. And this is not – I repeat, not – an April Fool’s joke. The Blackhawks signed a deal with WGN-TV on Tuesday, making 20 or so games available to the Tribune-owned station, marking the first time since 1980 games have been made available […]
Here’s something you won’t find on ESPN Classic (and that’s not a bad thing): A classic Blackhawks game featuring the Golden Jet, Bobby Hull. The game from Dec. 11, 1971 features Hull and two other Blackhawk legends – Stan Mikita and goalie Tony Esposito, will air Tuesday at 10:30 p.m. on Comcast SportsNet. Their opponent was the Toronto Maple Leafs […]
Maybe its the writers’ strike. Maybe its the Cubs’ post-season run. Maybe its the Blackhawks’ resurgence. Maybe its the Celtics and Lakers making noise in the NBA playoff race. Maybe its the hugely successful NFL post-season. Whatever it is, sports is gaining viewers from a year ago, and all sports are benefiting. Even a Cubs exibition game from nine days […]
The Chicago Blackhawks finally got on the board with the November 30 home game telecast against the Phoenix Coyotes. The game notched a 1.2 Nielsen rating (fourth item), for Comcast SportsNet, up from the 0.8 rating the last home game it aired on November 11, against the Detroit Red Wings. In other sports ratings news, the game much of the […]
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