Dish sacks Fox-owned channels

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 […]

The CW is on the move in Chicago as “My50” returns

Move to WCIU takes place Sunday; rebrands as “CW 26” as WPWR returns to “My 50” Goodbye Taye Diggs, hello Vincent D’Onofrio. Beginning Sunday, WPWR reverts back to a primary My Network TV affiliate as CW programming heads to WCIU, who is rebranding as “CW 26” with WPWR returning to “My50”. The affiliation switch was officially announced April 19 as […]

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 […]

20th Century Fox: The End.

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 […]

What’s next for WGN-TV sports?

Sun-Times article talks about a future without sports on WGN as station, teams head into transition In 2016, WGN-TV decided to cut their ties to The CW and become an independent station once again, going all in on sports featuring the Cubs, White Sox, Bulls and Blackhawks. Come October 2019, WGN might not have any sports on its schedule at […]

Cubs network one step closer to reality

The team plans to launch their own RSN in 2020 is full steam ahead After years of planning, it looks like the Chicago Cubs’ plan to launch their own regional sports network is one step closer to reality. As first reported by Bruce Levine at 670 The Score (WSCR-AM) Monday, the Cubs hired Mike McCarthy, a former president of New […]

Sinclair to divest WGN-TV? Not so fast

Sinclair selling off WPIX, WGN to win approval? Meet the Shell Answer Man. During the eight years I worked at the Better Business Bureau, yours truly has seen plenty of scams perpetrated onto by the public the organization had to warn about. But even those can’t compare to what Sinclair and the FCC are pulling. In a filing revealed on […]

The Media Notepad: Mike North calls it a (sports) career; Corey McPherrin promoted

Plus: ABC 7 dominates in ratings AND social media; Minneapolis station latest to drop “My” branding That’s a wrap…for now: Mike North went on television Tuesday night and announced he was “retiring” from sports media, including radio, television, writing, podcasts… you name it. On WTTW’s Chicago Tonight, North told host Phil Ponce talking sports today was just too complicated. He […]

The CW shifts to WPWR from WGN this week

Affiliation move takes low-key approach Chicago’s first affiliation change in over 20 years takes place this week as CW moves from Tribune-owned WGN-TV to Fox-owned WPWR-TV. The change marks WGN’s return to independent status for the first time since 1995, when the station joined the then-new WB network (which merged with UPN in 2006 to form The CW.) Meanwhile, WPWR becomes […]

T Dog’s Media Notepad: ABC 7 shifts “Windy City Live” to 1 p.m.

Local news returns to ABC 7 at 11 a.m.; Dr. Oz returns for three more years; WGN-TV needs a new GM; and more. In a victory for local programming (and yet another defeat for syndicators), ABC-owned WLS-TV (ABC 7) announced Tuesday it was bringing back its 11 a.m. newscast after three years and moving current time slot occupant Windy City […]