The Media Notepad: Fox (finally) releases fall schedule

Also: iCrime debuts this fall; another syndicated show calls it quits; TV/radio stations shifting to the burbs?  Catching up on some news:  After deciding to delay for a few weeks, Fox released their 2022-23 schedule on June 6 without much fanfare. As expected, much of the lineup remained intact, including The Masked Singer on Wednesdays, Smackdown on Fridays, and the […]

Sinclair, Dish reach impasse on carriage deal over Bally RSNs

May have complications for Marquee In what could be a troubling sign for broadcasters and regional sports networks alike, Sinclair Broadcasting apparently threw in the towel with a week to go in negotiations with Dish as 108 local stations faces deletion from the satellite service on August 16. The company acknowledged such in a press release Monday, noting the chances […]

25 years ago: The deal heard around the world

25 years ago this week, Fox’s Rupert Murdoch changed the TV world by inking a deal to trigger the biggest affiliation switch in history.  It goes back to what happened on December 17, 1993. The networks were complaining about paying too much for sports – the NFL in particular – as the packages were losing money and looking to pay […]

T Dog’s Think Tank: “It’s not you, it’s me”

WPWR-CW breakup illustrates how some affiliate partnerships don’t work The major networks have enjoyed long, prosperous relationships with their affiliates. For example, Milwaukee’s WTMJ, St. Louis’ KSDK, and Cincinnati’s WLWT each has enjoyed a long relationship with NBC dating back to the late 1940s. CBS and New Orleans’ WWL have been partners since 1957. And ABC and Dallas’ WFAA go […]

The Media Notepad: “Man Of The People” set for season two

Also: WCIU to air Black History special; Record ratings for radio stations airing Christmas music; St. Louis anchor suspended for racial slur. In a battle for local TV and comedy justice, The Man Of The People defeated the evil Captain Chesapeake from Baltimore. WGN-TV announced last week the renewal of locally-produced comedy Man Of The People hosted by WGN morning […]

Sinclair amends Tribune deal…again

Would keep WPIX New York but spin-off WGN to an LLC Maybe the fourth time’s the charm: Hunt Valley, Md. based Sinclair Broadcasting has filed another amended proposal to purchase Tribune Media. In their new filing with the FCC, Sinclair is proposing to sell 23 stations in 18 markets in order to satisfy the broadcast ownership rules. In the new […]

The Media Notepad: Big 95.5 downsizes

Also: Jamie Allman out at St. Louis’ KDNL; Chicago Tribune unionizes; quick thought on Apu gate and “Roseanne” jokes According to All Access Big changes are coming to Big 95.5 FM, known as WEBG-FM. In a complete housecleaning, the iHeartMedia station fired morning personalities Mason Schreader and Zach Hoesly (“Remy”) and midday personality Steve Stewart, who was also the program […]

T Dog’s Think Tank: Sinclair thinks their viewers are tools

Sinclair’s plans for world domination accelerates while the rest of broadcasting industry stays silent By now, everyone knows Sinclair Broadcasting has a right-wing bent in its newscasts, and panders to the Trump administration. But what they’re doing may put the nail in the coffin of local television- and linear television in general. Sinclair recently ordered its news stations to read […]

T Dog’s Media Notepad: Landecker heads to the Radio Hall Of Fame

St. Louis, Milwaukee stations may be spun off by Sinclair sale while John Oliver takes on the company Philadelphia radio station takes a shot a Taylor Swift; changes formats Chicago radio legend John “Records” Landecker is getting a tremendous honor: an induction into the National Radio Hall Of Fame – on the first ballot. Landecker is being inducted into the […]

T Dog’s Think Tank: The media fails us on Ferguson

  What can you say about the coverage of the Ferguson, Mo. disturbances from the broadcast networks and cable news networks? They dropped the ball, of course, with the lack of live coverage of the events unfolding in the St. Louis suburb over the last few nights. And if you were a journalist, you sure as hell didn’t have an […]

T Dog’s Grab Bag: NBA Finals score a slam dunk

– A lot has made of the Stanley Cup Final ratings between the Boston Bruins and Chicago Blackhawks, but what about the NBA Finals you ask? Well, the seven-game series between the San Antonio spurs and defending champion Miami Heat drew the highest rating overall for ABC since 2010 and the third highest-rated Finals series during its tenure, dating back […]

The race to replace Oprah: "Anderson", "Ellen" benefit

Modern Family syndication sales reaches up to 50 percent of the U.S. Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution seems to benefitting the most thus far when it comes to replacing The Oprah Winfrey Show when it leaves this September, with Anderson Cooper and Ellen DeGeneres’ talk shows snapping up time slots soon-to-be formerly held by the queen of talk. Anderson has […]

Bending for news

For the second time in two days, an ABC affiliate announced plans to get into the local news business. Chicago-based Weigel Broadcasting announced on Tuesday the hiring of Aaron Ramey to launch a news operation at WBND-LP (low power) in South Bend, Ind., and plans to develop other programming for the station and sister outlets WCWW-LP (CW) and My Network […]