Also: Bulls, Blackhawks ratings continue to drop; don’t expect an announcement on a new Cubs network anytime soon. NBC Sports Chicago announced Thursday it has hired Kevin Cross as senior vice president and general manager of the regional sports network (RSN). He take a position once filled by Phil Bedella, who left in May 2017. He’ll report to NBC Sports […]
New entity not interested in reacquiring regional sports networks In a setback for Disney, “New Fox”, the entity formed after the bulk of the original 21st Century Fox was sold to the company, said in a filing Friday it has no plans to re-purchase the 22 regional sports networks, or RSNs put up for sale as part of the deal. […]
Charlie Cox drama is the latest casualty as the Marvel Netflix Universe goes bust With Marvel looking to move on from Netflix, the streaming service canceled Daredevil last week, marking the latest development in a relationship that is obviously collapsing. Starring Charlie Cox and veteran actor Vincent D’Onofrio, the series has received critical acclaim as the blind superhero faces off […]
Five shows now vying for time slots as new game show joins pack In a marked reversal from the last few selling seasons, syndicators are amping up their pitches to stations as a wealth of new product is about to flood the marketplace two months before NATPE begins. The latest entry came from Twentieth Television, who announced a deal with […]
Also: Bears scores ratings success; Jeopardy and Wheel renewed for three more years; Alec Baldwin Show pulled I guess the hockey tribe has spoken. In a Survivor-style blindslide, the Chicago Blackhawks Tuesday voted longtime coach Joel Quenneville off the ice after ten years. The decision to part ways with the three-time Stanley Cup Champion coach seemed to be explicitly timed: […]
Late Friday news caught some off guard In a move catching a lot of people by surprise, Netflix canceled Luke Cage after two seasons Friday night. From a terse joint statement released by the streaming service and Marvel: “Unfortunately, Marvel’s “Luke Cage” will not return for a third season. Everyone at Marvel Television and Netflix is grateful to the dedicated […]
Also… Iron Fist canceled; Sun-Times outsources its website; an old post about Ramonski Luv receiving a lot of traffic It’s kind of like WFAN host Mike Francesca’s sudden return, only more warmly received: after only a few weeks away, WGN-TV news director Jennifer Lyons has returned to the Tribune Media station as reported by Robert Feder. She originally left WGN […]
ABC 7 to carry local show in unspecified time period In an expected move, Disney/ABC’s new Tamron Hall daytime talk show strip has found a home on the eight ABC-owned-and-operated stations, covering 23 percent of the country. In addition to ABC 7 here (WLS-TV), other clearances include WABC in New York, KABC in Los Angeles, WPVI in Philadelphia, and KTRK […]
Also: WLUP to return? While Arrested Development might not. Plus, WGN-TV’s newscasts does well in July sweeps It’s official: Robert Feder is reporting Chicago Tribune sports columnist David Haugh has joined Entercom’s The Score (WSCR) as Mike Mulligan’s new morning drive co-host. As speculated during the last few weeks, Haugh joined Mulligan on Monday morning’s show, replacing longtime Score veteran […]
Also: Start TV debuts; WGN Block Party in Homewood; and Comic-Con begins today. Consider it deal done…for Disney: Comcast announced Thursday it was dropping its $65 million bid for 21st Century Fox, essentially giving rival Disney a victory in the battle for the assets. Disney agreed to buy most of 21st Century Fox in December originally for $52 billion but […]
Required sale of RSNs paves way for merger In a marked turn from its dealings with AT&T and TimeWarner, the Justice Department announced Wednesday it has approved a $71.3 billion deal between The Walt Disney Corporation and 21st Century Fox for most of the latter’s business. The deal was originally announced in December 2017, with Disney offering $52 billion for […]
Changing marketing conditions could be factor; AT&T may be only hope If the Cubs are looking to launch their own TV network in 2020, their options are becoming quite limited. According to a report Monday in Sports Business Journal and Awful Announcing, AT&T is considering looking to add the baseball team to their portfolio of sports rights. AT&T operates a […]
Springer officially canceled Also: Eddie Olczyk joins Kap and Co.; Disney boosts bid for Fox to $71 billion Welcome back to the family: to replace the canceled ABC sitcom Roseanne, ABC has ordered a ten episode straight-to-series spinoff with the working title The Conner Family, though more likely, The Conners. The series is to star everyone involved in Roseanne with […]
The original is still the best: WBBM-AM (Newsradio 78) celebrated fifty years in the all-news format this week, with the anniversary of the switch taking place May 6. Believe it or not at one time, WBBM was known for something other than news: the station launched in 1924 , with the calls standing for World’s Best Battery Maker as the […]
Three-year pact means no linear TV – for now If you want to watch Chicago Fire, you can still watch it on NBC. But if you want to watch the soccer team of the same name…well, you are out of luck – for now. The Major League Soccer team announced Friday it has struck a deal with the new over-the-top […]
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