Cites antitrust issues; appeal planned A federal judge Friday afternoon temporarily blocked plans for Venu to launch later this month due to anti-trust concerns. Judge Margaret N. Garnett granted the injunction requested by vMVPD Fubo against Disney, Fox. and Warner Bros. Discovery, who formed a joint venture to launch a new sports-centered virtual streaming service. Garnett found reason to believe […]
Plus: MeTV expands Svengoolie; MLS and Apple makes linear broadcasting deals; PBS stations to stream on LocalNow. One of the top-rated overnight voices in Chicago radio is coming back for an encore. The husband-and-wife team of Steve King and Johnnie Putnam will be returning to WGN Radio on Saturday nights starting January 7, where they’ll have a weekly show airing […]
Also: DirecTV and Fox avert blackout; NHL, Roku launch FAST channel; Debmar-Mercury to offer local stations People Puzzler Another news anchor has called it a career: NBC 5 (WMAQ) anchor Rob Stafford announced last week he is retiring after over 30 years in the business. HIs final day is on December 23. “I turn 65 next year and my wife […]
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 Worldwide Leader frozen out of the Big Ten after carrying games from the conference for 40 years After 40 years, ESPN is apparently out of the Big Ten business. The network on Tuesday withdrew from negotiations on trying to keep a Big Ten package in some form after the conference is expected to strike mega-deals with Fox, CBS, and […]
Viewers receive Fox 32 and My 50 via Dish again in time for Sunday’s Bears game After a little over a week of being knocked off the air, Dish and Fox Corporation announced Sunday morning the two companies came to a long-term carriage agreement, restoring Fox, FS1, FS2, Big Ten Network, and Fox Deportes to the satellite service. The impasse […]
Here comes another retrans dispute as impasse knocks Fox 32, My 50, FS1 off Dish In a move that surprised and stunned a lot of observers – not to mention Dish subscribers, Fox Corp. announced Thursday it has pulled their signals off Dish. This means Fox-owned local channels WFLD-TV and My Network TV affiliate WPWR-TV are off Dish and their […]
End of an era arrives as studio is taken over by Disney. On Wednesday, a new day is dawning in Hollywood – for better or worse. Parts of 21st Century Fox – including its film, television studio, thirty percent of Hulu, and other operations are to become the property of The Walt Disney Co. in a $71.3 billion deal first […]
Blockbuster deal includes 20th Century Fox film studio and programming library, cable and sports networks, and more In a history-making deal, The Walt Disney Company agreed to acquire much of 21st Century Fox for $52.4 billion. The deal was speculated about for the last few weeks on this blog and elsewhere, as 21st Century Fox owner Rupert Murdoch was looking […]
Fox’s regional sports networks now could be part of sale A deal to sell the entertainment assets of 21st Century Fox to The Walt Disney Company is coming close to fruition, according to CNBC.com. But now there is a new twist: Fox’s regional sports networks may become part of the Disney family. Initially, Fox reportedly proposed to keep Fox News, […]
Also: Bears renew local deal with Fox; My Network TV also renews; “MeToo’s” odd connection to Chicago TV Despite defending their World Series title from last year, ratings for prime-time Cubs games declined last year, according to a report in Forbes. The Cubs earned a 4.4 Nielsen household rating, down 9 percent from last year. Forbes did not specify […]