WNBC blinks first

The first station to make a move in the new fall season is NBC-owned WNBC-TV in New York, which is dropping its soft news-oriented News4You, and replacing it with a traditional newscast at 5:30 p.m. Ratings for the show were behind ABC-owned WABC-TV, which ranks number one at 5 and 5:30 p.m. WNBC has also removed the second half-hour of […]

It’s a "Deal" for WMAQ-TV

Note: The link to the story may require registration. NBC Universal’s Deal or No Deal weekday syndicated strip has been sold to a few NBC O&Os, including WMAQ-TV in Chicago, as well as to stations owned by CBS, Allbritton, Scripps, and Sinclair. The program will be hosted by Howie Mandel and feature the same elements as the prime-time show – […]

Bill Rancic to host new talk show set in Chicago

Apprentice winner and Orland Park native Bill Rancic will co-host In the Loop with iVillage, a reincarnated version of iVillageLive, a show that aired on the NBC O&O’s from Universal Studios in Orlando and flopped with viewers. The new version of the program will air live weekdays at 11 a.m. (CT) on WMAQ-TV here in Chicago from the NBC Tower. […]

Local news stations flunk geography quiz

From WMAQ-TV’s (Channel 5) website this afternoon: CHICAGO — The National Weather Service in Chicago has issued a tornado warning for portions of Cook and DuPage counties. The warning is in effect until 4 p.m. CDT. At 3:09 p.m., NWS radar indicated strong rotation in a severe thunderstorm near Winfield, moving east at 50 mph. A second warning was issued […]

The Viewer Alienation Plan

That’s what former Chicago Tribune television critic Steve Johnson said about WBBM-TV in the 1990s, for its tabloid-like newscasts. Today, the plan seems to be still pretty much intact. The CBS-owned turned in another pitiful performance in the recently concluded July sweeps according to Nielsen, with WFLD’s new 10 p.m. newscast tying it for third among adults 25-54 and finishing […]

L.A. Telemndo anchor supsended two months

One anchor sleeps with the mayor, she keeps her job; one anchor shows up at the Stebic house, she loses her job. Both employed by the same company. Something’s not connecting here. Then again, it is the world of television news, right?

Amy Jacobson settles with WMAQ-TV

Amy Jacobson, who was caught in the Stebic household two weeks ago tomorrow (thanks to a videotape shot by WBBM-TV) has settled with her former employers, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. She had four months to go on her contract. She also may be pursing legal action against WBBM, who videotaped her without consent. In that interview with the Sun-Times, […]

Wallace named head of NBC-owned stations

NBC Universal announced this morning that John Wallace will succeed Jay Ireland as president of the NBC-owned stations (Ireland took a position with GE Capital management. GE owns NBC Universal.) Wallace will report directly to NBC Universal President and CEO Jeff Zucker. NBC owns and operates ten English-language stations in New York (WNBC), Los Angeles (KNBC), Chicago (WMAQ), Philadelphia (WCAU), […]

The ultimate insult

It’s worst enough the Chicago media has been angering everyone with the shenanigans over the Amy Jacobson- Craig Stebic controversy, and now ESPN has decided to join in, at least angering White Sox fans. In a SportsNation poll, ESPN asked viewers “Which sports team do you most associate with Chicago?” and listed were the Bulls, Cubs, Bears, and even the […]

WBBM, WMAQ drop the gloves

The gloves are off in a battle over the videotape that cost a local television reporter her job. According to the Sun-Times’ Rob Feder, the general managers of the stations involved- Joe Ahern of CBS-owned WBBM-TV and Larry Wert of NBC-owned WMAQ-TV were involved in a shouting match over the phone Tuesday, regarding WBBM’s decision to air a “misleading and […]

Amy Jacobson tells her side of the story

Amy Jacobson made the media rounds today telling her side of the story, first to Robert Feder of the Chicago Sun-Times, who broke the story yesterday, and then went to WGN-AM, and talked with Spike O’Dell. Jacobson defended her actions, and criticized WBBM-TV for the way they edited the video that someone sent in to the station, to make it […]

Amy Jacobson out at WMAQ-TV

It looks like the other shoe has dropped: WMAQ-TV has fired reporter Amy Jacobson, for her lapse of judgment and a breach of ethics after she appeared at a pool party at the home of Craig Stebic – the husband of Lisa Stebic, who has been missing for the last two months. Video of her was captured by someone who […]

The Ten’s ratings problem exposing problems at another station

WFLD-TV’s new 10 p.m. newscast called The Ten is clearly struggling in the ratings – but the program is skewing younger, and is exposing problems at crosstown rival WBBM-TV with their 10 p.m. newscast. According to an article in the Sun-Times today, The Fox-owned station’s newscast has surprisingly beat the CBS-owned station’s late newscast in the household ratings on some […]

WMAQ-TV, WTTW form partnership

NBC-owned WMAQ-TV and PBS station WTTW have teamed up to present a documentary on Italian-Americans that will premiere during the Memorial Day weekend. And They Came To Chicago: The Italian-American Legacy, a special tracing Italian-American history in Chicago, is being narrated by native son Joe Mantegna and will air on WMAQ Sunday Night at 11:05 p.m. and again on Memorial […]

T Dog Media Blog Think Tank: Ten years later….

Gather around my children, and let me tell you a story about when journalism jumped the shark…. A month ago, radio personality Don Imus was fired for racially insensitive comments about the mostly black Rutgers’ womens’ basketball team, and it opened a debate on race as well as an examination of the radio industry. But it was ten years ago […]