T Dog’s Media Notepad: Bulls dragging down NBA ratings

Also: ABC 7 and WGN-TV are February sweeps winners; Tribune Broadcasting update; T.D. Jakes show is canceled; Legion, Good Wife renewed; Iron Fist debuts  With the 33-37 Bulls once again struggling in the ratings locally, it comes as no surprise Chicago’s NBA team is dragging down the league’s ratings nationally. According to Nielsen via Sports Media Watch, March 12’s game on ABC […]

T Dog’s Media Notepad: “All In” special on Chicago violence draws decent numbers

Discussion on Chicago violence draws over a million viewers; also, news on CBS, The Bulls, and Big Bang As gun violence continues to plague Chicago, the national spotlight on the city isn’t dimming anytime soon with MSNBC’s All In With Chris Hayes the latest television program to come here to discuss the issue. Despite a last-minute scheduling change (originally scheduled […]

Cleveland! Cavs’ title win also one for ESPN, ABC

Highest-rated NBA contest since 1998 In terms of Cleveland media, the last time the city won a championship, WJW-TV was still a CBS affiliate, and the KYW call letters – now used for CBS’ TV and radio stations in Philadelphia – were owned by Westinghouse and used for its TV and radio properties here. And so the Cleveland Cavaliers – […]

T Dog’s Media Notepad: Back in the saddle again

Hello, and welcome back to T Dog Media! Here are some notable news and notes from the last two weeks: Tom Doerr has resigned as news director of Fox-owned WFLD-TV here in Chicago after just three years and six years overall at the station. Doerr is heading back to Florida to deal with personal family issues. During his tenure, ratings […]

It’s official: White Sox, Bulls head to WLS-AM

Also: NBA adds Saturday Night games to ABC Two of Chicago’s sports franchises will have new radio homes in 2016. As first reported by Robert Feder on Thursday, The Chicago White Sox and the Chicago Bulls both struck deals with Cumulus Media’s WLS-AM starting with the 2016 season. Financial terms were not released, but the deals runs through 2021. Currently, […]

Tough season for Chicago sports fans get tougher

                Rose, Kane injuries could have local and national ratings impact Like in golf, Chicago sports fans would like a mulligan and start 2015 all over again. After a fall season of horrendous Bears football, Chicagoans spent the early part of 2015 turning their focus toward the Chicago Bulls and Chicago Blackhawks, who were […]

WGN America takes the “super” out of its station

  Editor’s note: This post has been updated with additional information since being published on Saturday. – T.H. It’s the end of an era as the last “superstation” rides off into the sunset. By the end of this month, WGN America – which once carried WGN-TV programming across the country, is converting into a basic cable network in most areas […]

NBA re-ups with ESPN, Turner

Fox shut out of rights The NBA maintained the status quo when it came to the league’s television rights as both Turner Sports and ESPN renewed their respective deals for a whopping nine years, bringing in a total of $24 billion, with yearly payments increasing from $930 million to just over $2.6 billion a year, according to the New York Times. […]

Report: WGN America to dump Chicago sports

Also: WBBM-AM nears deal to land Cubs telecasts Back in 1978, WGN-TV in Chicago joined WTBS in Atlanta and WOR-TV in New York (now WWOR) and uplinked their signal to a satellite to deliver their signal throughout the country as a “superstation”. In 2014, the “superstation” era is nearing the end. In a report surfacing on Crain’s Chicago Business website Friday, […]

Derrick Rose’s new injury likely a blow to Bulls’ ratings

CSN Chicago and WGN-TV face challenges to keep viewers  Monday was a gray and gloomy day in Chicagoland and the city’s mood certainly matches the weather. (And your mood is probably worst if you’re a Family Guy fan…) Of course, we’re talking about the Derrick Rose’s second knee injury in nineteen months, suffered in a game against the Portland TrailBlazers […]

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 […]

NBC, Tribune appoint new executives

Also: Colin Cowherd comes to Chicago A pair of exec hires were announced on Tuesday: – David Doebler was named president and general manager of WMAQ-TV here, replacing Larry Wert, who is now head of Tribune’s station group. Doebler comes over from sister NBC-owned station WVIT in Hartford-New Haven Conn. During his eight-year tenure, WVIT (on Channel 30) was competitive […]

Viewers bail on Bulls

With no Derrick Rose, casual fans tune out With the Chicago Bulls currently a half-game behind the Indiana Pacers for first place in the Central Division in the Eastern Conference, you’d think ratings would go through the roof, right? In Chicago – where even a contending White Sox team couldn’t draw viewers or fans to U.S. Cellular Field last year […]

T Dog’s Grab Bag: Robin Robinson likely out at WFLD

A bunch of items in this week’s Grab Bag: – Is Robin Robinson on her way out at Fox-owned WFLD? Sure looks like it: According to a report surfacing a little over a week ago at Chicagoland Radio and Media, Robinson is expected to depart when her contract expires later this year. Robinson is the longest-tenured anchor at WFLD, being […]

T Dog’s Grab Bag: WGN Radio loses steam in latest PPMs

A lot of stuff in this grab bag this week: – What’s this? A historic low for WGN Radio? The Tribune-owned talker . Even with Cubs baseball (and the you know the team sucks this year), WGN finished behind WVAZ (V103) and WTMX (The Mix) and also behind WBBM-AM and WDRV (The Drive). Other May PPM highlights include WGCI’s return […]