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 […]

Local TV stations in the middle of campaign ad controversy

Ad featured a darkened Mayor Lightfoot and violent images, but is it enough to be rejected by local TV stations? For those hoping local TV stations would reject an obviously racist and violent campaign ad running for the past week, it may – or may not happen. In the last week, a Political Action Committee – or PAC, bought time […]

Chicago Police searching for suspect who pointed a gun at TV news crew

Comes after Chicago is obliterated on the national stage again for gun violence after Texas tragedy Chicago TV news crews have mostly avoided getting attacked during live shots, which has been the case in several cities – that is until now. During a live shot Wednesday morning around 7 a.m. at the intersection of Clark and Hubbard in the River […]

2021: So how did we do?

A year ago, T Dog Media laid out the predictions on what to look for in the media business for 2021. So how did we do? Well, we got the answers right here: 1. MeTV’s Toon In With Me. So far, the new Bill Leff-hosted retro cartoon show on MeTV – reminiscent of such fare in the 1960s and 1970s, has gotten […]

“Dr. Oz” future in question after host announces Senate run

FCC’s equal-time rules takes show out of New York City, Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh markets [Editor’s Note: This post was updated at 8 p.m.]  The future of Sony Pictures Television’s Dr. Oz is in serious question after the host of said show announced Tuesday he was running for a U.S. Senate seat in Pennsylvania.  Mehmet Oz – who is a cardiac […]

Chicago Blackhawks: The rise and fall

  Once one of the premier teams in sports, a sex scandal sends the team’s popularity into the toilet  Scandal gives Chicago’s image yet another black eye – one of a lot as the team’s decline also reflects the city’s If you’ve read the blog over the years, this space has devoted quite a bit to Chicago sports and how […]

Abysmal ratings, bias accusations sink NewsNation

NewsNation in the fight of its short life after Lyons, key staffers depart   Back when NewsNation was announced in January 2020, Nexstar – who just acquired Tribune Media and cable network WGN America, hoped to provide an alternative to what the cable “news” networks were offering – hard news without opinion. NewsNation launched here in Chicago on September 1, hiring […]

What to look for and who to watch in 2021

New year, new administration brings changes When 2021 started, we had hope in a new year. But it looks like we’re going to spending a lot of time cleaning up the messes of 2020.  For one, we had an insurrection in Washington D.C.  just six days in the new year, as white supremacists and neo-Nazi groups descended on the Capitol […]

Media outlets underachieve on a terrible, no-good day

(AP Photo/Julio Cortez)   Most drop the ball on coverage on a day democracy nearly died  Wednesday’s attempted coup by President Trump and his allies brought out the worst and when everything was said and done, four people were dead and there were calls for him to resign, be impeached, or invoke the 25th Amendment to remove him. Perhaps the […]

The Media Notepad: Dish, Nexstar settle differences

Also: Trump Country concedes; Rock 95.5 drops to a ratings low; DMA update On Christmas morning, Dish subscribers received an unexpected present: the return of WGN-TV and WGN America to their systems. A deal was reached late Thursday night between the satellite provider and Nexstar, owners of both the local Chicago television station, the cable network, and other local stations […]

“You’ve got the wrong house!” – CBS 2 investigation proves journalists’ worth

Nothing fake about this investigative report as investigative journalism proves its worth  The next time someone yammers about “fake news”, there was another reminder this week on how journalists play an important role in our society. On Monday during its 10 p.m. newscast, CBS 2 – CBS-owned WBBM-TV here in Chicago – aired an eight-minute report and showed an exclusive […]

What to expect from a Biden administration regarding media issues

Right now, it’s too early to tell given Senate runoff races and the President’s refusal to concede – and even after he is seated, we still wouldn’t know  If you think there’s going to be sweeping changes regarding media issues with an incoming Biden administration – you might want to think again. In fact, there might not be any – […]

T Dog’s Think Tank: Voters lose as networks schedule dueling town halls

  ABC and NBC schedule Presidential town halls opposite each other as ratings dictate decisions instead of common sense   NBC’s decision to schedule a President Trump town hall opposite Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden is so ridiculous, it’s hard to explain. A second Presidential debate was supposed to take place tonight between Trump and Biden. But Trump tested positive for […]

Florida radio station becomes “Trump Country 93.7”

Sitting President gets his own country station in southwest Florida Over two weeks ago, Chicago lost a country radio station with the end of Big 95.5 (the former WEBG-FM, now rock outlet WCHI-FM) but a market in Florida gained one with a controversial concept whose future may depend on the election November 3. Last Wednesday, Sanibel, Fla.’s WXNX-FM – which […]

T Dog’s Think Tank: Fox News: Chicago is our kind of town…for crime

Chicago crime grabs more airtime than Covid-19 pandemic as the city continues to grab global headlines for gun violence  You’d think in a middle of a national health pandemic, cable news channels would focus on the issues at hand when more than 150,000 people have died from Covid-19, right? Of course not – especially when it comes to Fox News.  […]