The Media Notepad: Thanks to Santa, WLIT soars with record ratings

Also: Fox re-ups Animation Domination as White Sox voices Jason Benetti and Steve Stone get reneweals, too; DirecTV adds a NewsMax replacement; Blackhawks’ ratings sag as does the rest of the NHL  Even though it’s a ratings period most radio stations not playing Christmas music ignore, the “Holiday” book for iHeartMedia’s 93.9 FM The Lite dominated to no one’s surprise […]

DirecTV drops NewsMax due to contract impasse

  Struggling satellite provider drops conservative news channel as contract expires In a dispute that only came to light Tuesday afternoon, DirecTV dropped conservative-leaning news channel NewsMax at 10:59 p.m. Central Time the same day, as as the two parties couldn’t come to an agreement. The dispute centered on NewsMax demanding a large carriage fee from DirecTV as it was […]

Google lands NFL Sunday Ticket

Package was last NFL property still out on open market; heads to YouTube TV After 29 seasons on DirecTV, NFL Sunday Ticket is on the move. Google and the NFL announced an agreement Thursday with the tech giant acquiring the out-of-market package of games for an estimated $2 billion as an add-on option to existing YouTube TV subscriptions and a-la-carte […]

DirecTV, Fox headed toward retrans showdown

Packers-Bears, FIFA World Cup, and more could be affected For Chicago-area DirecTV subscribers, the possibility of losing the Green Bay Packers-Chicago Bears game from Soldier Field Sunday probably would be a bigger deal if Justin Fields wasn’t questionable to play and both teams had better records.  But since the FIFA World Cup and the Big Ten Championship Game are on […]

The 2022 T Dog Media Turkey Awards

Welcome to the 17th annual T Dog Media Turkey Awards! This year, 22 unlucky recipients (with one shared) are honored for being awful people, terrible companies, and those who are jerks in every walk of life.  If there’s a theme, it’s the year of being a CEO or billionaire – or both as they’re throwing their power and influence around, […]

The Media Notepad: CBS 2 to launch 9 a.m. newscast

Also: NewsNation add late morning news block; Scripps adds digital subchannels to DirecTV; Samsung bulks up Plus TV  As expected, CBS 2 (WBBM-TV) is launching a new 9 a.m. half-hour newscast, starting September 12: We're launching a new show! Hope to see you weekdays at 9am on @CBSChicago and streaming from 9:30-10am – starting next week! @LBannonWX @RyanBakerMedia pic.twitter.com/9w4HEcjZxU — […]

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 […]

RCN to undergo name change to Astound Broadband

  Big changes in store for Chicago area non-Xfinity and AT&T customers If you are a WOW customer in the Chicago area, you already know big changes were coming with a sale to RCN. And now, if you’re an RCN customer, changes are coming your way as well.  The parent company of RCN announced Wednesday they were uniting the various […]

Beam it or stream it: DirecTV completes spinoff from AT&T

DirecTV is an independent company once again. But can they recapture their own glory?  AT&T completed the spinoff of the satellite provider to private equity firm TPG Monday in a deal valued at $15 billion. The transaction includes streaming provider AT&T Now and U-verse systems, which are being rebranded as DirecTV Stream. In a three-way split, AT&T gets $7. 8 […]

The U’s “Jam” comes to an end

Low ratings, pandemic forces The U to pull plug As first reported by Robert Feder Thursday, The U’s local show The Jam is shutting down production, effective Friday. Sadly, it is true that the Jam is coming to a close. What a ride the past few years have been, and I'm so grateful for the opportunity! We've still got a […]

Dish, Nexstar enter retrans dispute; WGN-TV and WGN America pulled off

  Second broadcaster/MSO dispute this week Here we go again. Irving, Tex.-based Nexstar Broadcasting removed its stations from satellite provider Dish Wednesday evening at approximately 7 p.m. Central Time due to a retransmission consent dispute, another in a long line of blackouts over the last several years. Nexstar owns 197 stations in over 100 markets including WGN-TV in Chicago and […]

Comcast, Marquee reach deal to carry new sports network

Part of larger deal involving Sinclair Broadcast Group. If you are a Cubs fan, and a Comcast subscriber, you might want to send the peeps at Sinclair Broadcasting Group a thank you card. Yeah, yeah I know. In a deal announced literally hours before the first pitch Friday night at Wrigley Field against the Milwaukee Brewers, the Cubs’ new Marquee […]

Marquee network flubs debut

Very few people in the Chicago area weren’t able to see the premiere of the new RSN – even if a deal was struck with their provider It’s time to play Monday night quarterback and assess the launch of Marquee Sports Network, the new joint venture between the Cubs and Sinclair Broadcasting. And of course, it didn’t go very well. […]

Rewinding 2019 in media

  Disney Plus made the biggest splash of the year 2019 saw the end of several institutions, big media battles, and disappointing sports teams. Let’s start with the huge changes in big media, as Disney closed on its purchase of the 20th Century Fox film studio and Viacom reuniting with CBS again with a new name (ViacomCBS) as the race […]