T Dog’s Think Tank: Fox News: Chicago is our kind of town…for crime

Chicago crime grabs more airtime than Covid-19 pandemic as the city continues to grab global headlines for gun violence  You’d think in a middle of a national health pandemic, cable news channels would focus on the issues at hand when more than 150,000 people have died from Covid-19, right? Of course not – especially when it comes to Fox News.  […]

“30 Rock” reunion special faces affiliate resistance (updated)

Chicago viewers will get to see Liz Lemon & Co. reunite. Outside of Chicago? It depends on where your live – and who owns your NBC station. [Updated Thursday at 4:25 p.m.]  Are you excited about the 30 Rock reunion Thursday night? If you live outside of the Chicago area, you might have to delay your enthusiasm until Friday morning […]

Media Notepad: Sony pulls “Police Patrol” from syndication (updated)

Also: Amy Jacobson gets her press cred back; WGN Radio may bring back Garry Meier; NewsNation hires Joe Donlon and two WGN-TV vets  [Editor’s Note: This post was updated on June 27 at 8:50 p.m.] In a move not unexpected, local stations have dropped episodes of Cops and Live PD: Police Patrol from their schedules as protests have flared across […]

Sinclair slapped with $48 million FCC fine

          Closes book on botched Tribune deal In one of the biggest fines ever levied against a broadcast company, the FCC fined Maryland-based Sinclair Broadcasting $48 million Wednesday for misrepresenting themselves in their pursuit of Chicago-based Tribune Broadcasting, which was later sold to Nexstar.  The fine and consent decree also closes three investigations into the company, […]

WGN America to launch “NewsNation” Sept. 1

Ambitious effort comes in the middle of pandemic; CBSN Chicago finally launches During a conference earnings call Wednesday, Nexstar – owner of WGN-TV in Chicago and  former superstation WGN America, detailed more information on their new venture for their cable network, NewsNation.  “This will be hard news, 100% absent of bias,” Nexstar CEO Perry Sook said. “We’re so serious about […]

WGN-TV to add nightly sports show

Continues programming expansion at Bradley Place Nexstar once again continues its push for more programming out of WGN’s Bradley Place by launching a nightly sports show at 10:30 p.m. Billed as “GN Sports”, the program is hosted by WGN sports anchors Dan Roan and Jarrett Payton. The show displaces one of two airings of off-network sitcom The Goldbergs, which relocates […]

Nexstar to launch new Chicago-based national newscast on WGN America

Broadcast group jumps into the cable news game with a different approach to news – the traditional way With the announcement of a new national newscast originating from Chicago, Nexstar is making a huge financial investment in the Windy City. The Irving, Tex.-based broadcaster announced Wednesday the launch of a three-hour prime-time national newscast originating from Chicago’s WGN-TV Bradley Place […]

WGN-TV expands weekend newscasts

More news on tap for Nexstar’s independent station  (Editor’s Note: This post has been updated.) As alluded to when Nexstar announced the closure of CLTV, WGN is rolling out expanded weekend newscasts and local programming – including adding a 10 p.m. newscast on Saturday and Sunday, all effective January 11. For starters, the station’s Saturday morning newscasts are now three […]

Rewinding 2019 in media

  Disney Plus made the biggest splash of the year 2019 saw the end of several institutions, big media battles, and disappointing sports teams. Let’s start with the huge changes in big media, as Disney closed on its purchase of the 20th Century Fox film studio and Viacom reuniting with CBS again with a new name (ViacomCBS) as the race […]

WGN Radio shocker: Cochran out, Sirott in

Sirott returns to morning shift; Cochran canned for second time from WGN In a week filled with numerous Chicago media changes, here’s another one and this turns out to be the biggest one of them all. As first reported by Robert Feder Friday morning, WGN-AM morning personality Steve Cochran was dropped from the station and replaced by a returning Bob […]

CLTV to close up shop

Nexstar pulls plug on local cable news channel after a little over 25 years In a move you can blame on cord-cutting and general cost-cutting, Nexstar announced Monday the closure of local news channel Chicagoland Television, or CLTV after nearly 27 years of operation. The channel goes dark at the end of this month. In a memo from WGN-TV and […]

WGN Radio shakes up schedule; Bill and Wendy exit

Nexstar makes footprint known As first reported by Robert Feder Wednesday night, WGN-AM made significant changes to its schedule, seeing several realignments and the exit of one of Chicago’s longest-running radio duos. The Nexstar-owned radio station parted ways with Bill Leff and Wendy Snyder even though Leff was on vacation, depraving their fans of at least one final goodbye. Their […]