Rewinding media in 2021: You just can’t explain it

  Popularity isn’t exactly overrated as 2021 ends a wild year in media Like mystery of the sphinx or crop circles, you just can’t explain the continued popularity of certain things despite questionable changes. After the firing of Mark Giangreco and seemingly public disdain for one of her former co-anchors, ABC 7 remains on top of local Chicago news ratings, […]

Bears-Lions a surprisingly strong draw on Turkey Day…why?

Two bad teams equals good ratings for the NFL…somehow  You’d think given the horrid records of two of the worst teams in football playing against each other, people would eschew this matchup to find something else better to do right?  Well, that theory was tested on Thanksgiving Day when the 3-7 Chicago Bears took on the 0-9-1 Detroit Lions – […]

New Bears season, same Bears prime-time result

Same old Sunday Night Football story for Bears I’m not going to bore you whining about why the Chicago Bears keep getting national prime-time TV appearances; I’ve covered the topic aplenty over the years, most recently here and here. But the decision to keep Matt Nagy and Ryan Pace around for another year is one of those “Chicago Way” type […]

Bears bomb on field again, draws mixed ratings results for “Sunday Night Football”

Local fans tuned out, but telecast still drew 17 million viewers nationwide (Editor’s Note: This post has been updated with new ratings information.) The Bears’ home finale drew some interest, if not overwhelming. The Sunday Night Football matchup between Chicago’s NFL Lakefront Team and the Kansas City Chiefs drew a 22.3 household local overnight rating over NBC-owned WMAQ-TV according to […]

Media notepad: The Mix surges back to the top

Plus: WGN replaces This with Court; Bears slide in the ratings; PlaystationVue to close Hubbard-owned WTMX-FM (101.9 The Mix) bounce back from sixth place back into first place is certain to raise more question than answers. After falling out of the top five last month, the hot AC station “miraculously” surged back to the top spot in the last survey, […]

T Dog’s Think Tank: Stump The Trump: The sequel

Predictable as a plot to a bad TV show, President Trump comes to town, bashes our city, picks up campaign cash, and leaves. We saw a weekend where Chicagoans were fed up with a prolonged teacher’s strike and the inept play of the once-hot Chicago Bears, particularly when it came to Mitch Trubisky and head coach Matt Nagy. And President […]

Bears bomb on field, but NFL Kickoff is a ratings success

Ratings up 14 percent despite downer of a game The NFL’s 100th season kicked off Thursday with the oldest, most storied rivalry in the league: The Green Bay Packers playing the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field. But the results on the field were anything but grand as the Bears lost to the Packers 10-3 in a lackluster game panned on […]

Bears-Packers season opener a big hit – locally

Chicago, Milwaukee viewers tune in but national ratings hit a ten-year low The excitement surrounding the changes the Chicago Bears have made this off-season – hiring Matt Nagy as the new  head coach and the blockbuster trade acquiring linebacker Khalil Mack in a trade with the Oakland Raiders paid off in the local ratings in the first game of the […]