Also: California and 11 other states sue to stop Paramount-WBD merger; syndicated version of GMFB comes to an end; After tying Audacy’s WXRT for the top spot in the Nielsen PPMs in May, Hubbard’s Hot AC 101.9 The Mix (WTMX) have broken away and claimed it for themselves in June. It was a banner survey for 101.9 The Mix, as […]
Highest numbers seen in years – with an assist from Nielsen changes This year’s Stanley Cup and NBA Finals were big winners this year – with a little help from Nielsen adjusting its methodology. This year, Nielsen made some adjustments in how it measures TV audiences – since 2020, the company started adding out-of-home viewing to its totals and […]
All ABC stations lose access to platform Disney removed its entire channel portfolio from Google’s YouTubeTV early Friday morning after failing to reach a new agreement. This means subscribers no longer have access to ESPN, FX, National Geographic, Disney Channel, and fifteen others. The dispute also means ABC and its 200+ affiliates are off the virtual provider as ABC (and […]
Threatens to pull ABC and ESPN channels a week from now As hinted at for the last few weeks, Google’s YouTubeTV and The Walt Disney Company are involved in a standoff over a new deal, with Disney warning customers they may lose their channels on October 30 at 11 p.m. CT if an agreement isn’t reached. Disney owns ESPN, Disney […]
ESPN will likely take over in 2026 [Editor’s Note: This post was updated on August 6.] After months of talks and speculation, The Walt Disney Co.’s ESPN has agreed to acquire NFL Network in exchange for a ten percent stake in the cable network. The agreement is non-binding, as each partner could walk away from the deal at any time. ESPN […]
Florida repeats while OKC wins their first title, but the world was either at the beach or festivals [Editor’s Note: This article was updated on June 25 to update ratings numbers.] Summer’s here and the time is right – we’re dancing in the streets and not at home watching championship basketball or hockey. The NBA and NHL playoffs have […]
Network stands pat with a few changes ABC released its 2025-26 schedule on Tuesday, and like the other broadcast networks (except NBC), familiarity and stability are the key. There is only one new show debuting on the schedule this fall, an indication of the lessening power linear TV has in today’s media space, and was indicated at the Disney upfront […]
Programming plans unknown; may hand time back to affiliates After thirty years, CBS is exiting the late-late night business with the cancellation of the comedy game show After Midnight. An adaptation of an earlier version titled @Midnight on Comedy Central, the show was brought back to CBS in January 2024 with Taylor Tomlinson as host, airing after The Late Show […]
Viewership high in U.S. but fails to outdraw Super Bowl in Canada The United States may have lost in overtime to Canada in the 4 Nations Face-Off in overtime Thursday night but did beat them in another metric: the ratings. The hotly contested series between the two countries drew an eye-popping 9.25 million viewers on ESPN, marking the most-watched hockey […]
Sock ’em robots match a hit with viewers [Editor’s Note: This piece does contain profanity. Reader discretion is advised.] Remember when some guy named Terence initially dismissed the 4 Four Nations Face-Off as a quick money grab and would flop hard on the ice? I have never made such a miscalculation in the 19-year run of T Dog Media […]
Comes after Venu collapse Just days after the planned Disney-Fox-Warner Bros. Discovery joint venture Venu fell through, one of the principals that helped bring down the effort is releasing its own “skinny bundle”. DirecTV announced Tuesday it was launching MySports, a new sports streaming service available at launch in seventeen of the top twenty markets including Chicago, and includes local […]
Dish and DirecTV objections and Fubo offering a similar package led to the demise The Venu is closed before it even opens. Despite a settlement reached in a lawsuit settled by Disney and Fubo due to the latter agreeing to sell itself to them, the joint venture between Disney, Fox, and Warner Bros. Discovery to launch a new affordable skinny […]
Surprise deal lands popular pre-, halftime, and post-game show at ESPN This article was updated on November 18 with more information. The Wall Street Journal reported Saturday that Warner Bros. Discovery has settled a lawsuit with the NBA after not being included in the recent $76 billion worth of new media deals, which saw NBCUniversal, Disney, and Amazon grab rights. […]
Signals return in time for Emmys and MNF After thirteen days, The Walt Disney Co. and DirecTV settled their beef with a new tentative carriage agreement, restoring Disney’s sixteen channels to the service, including ABC and ESPN. The settlement also returns those channels – including all ABC affiliates nationwide, to DirecTV Stream and U-Verse. The signals returned Saturday morning just […]
Networks disappeared a few minutes after 6 p.m. Central Time The impasse between Disney and DirecTV has resulted in a blackout of their channels, with Disney pulling the plug a little after 6 p.m. Central Time Sunday. If you are a DirecTV, DirecTV Stream, or U-Verse subscriber, you no longer receive ESPN and its family of networks, Freeform, FX, National […]
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