Arrival puts Peacock, Paramount Plus, and YouTubeTV on notice In huge sports media news, three major media companies – The Walt Disney Co., Warner Bros. Discovery, and Fox Corporation are teaming up to launch a brand-new sports streaming service likely to launch this fall – perhaps just in time for the NFL season. The news broke on CNBC this afternoon. […]
First-ever street race a boon for the city, NBCUniversal looks to capitalize on unique event For the first time in a very long time, Chicago is hosting a NASCAR race within the city limits and it’s not at some race track – it’s the streets of downtown Chicago in the inaugural NASCAR Street Race. Former Mayor Lori Lightfoot signed a […]
Also: Fox re-ups Animation Domination as White Sox voices Jason Benetti and Steve Stone get reneweals, too; DirecTV adds a NewsMax replacement; Blackhawks’ ratings sag as does the rest of the NHL Even though it’s a ratings period most radio stations not playing Christmas music ignore, the “Holiday” book for iHeartMedia’s 93.9 FM The Lite dominated to no one’s surprise […]
Peacock to get big boost as number of games increases. Also: HBCU games go to CBS’ twelve non-primary affiliates The reports were circulating but now it’s official: The Big Ten has re-upped with Fox Sports, while striking new deals with Paramount Global and Comcast’s NBCUniversal for CBS and NBC/Peacock, respectively as first reported by Sports Business Journal. The Fox […]
The Worldwide Leader frozen out of the Big Ten after carrying games from the conference for 40 years After 40 years, ESPN is apparently out of the Big Ten business. The network on Tuesday withdrew from negotiations on trying to keep a Big Ten package in some form after the conference is expected to strike mega-deals with Fox, CBS, and […]
NBC’s longest-running entertainment program moves to streaming after 57 years. In a stunning move, NBC announced Wednesday long-running soap Days Of Our Lives would now air exclusively on its Peacock streaming service, effective September 12. The show currently airs on both. The shift means NBC becomes the first broadcast network to exit the daytime susder business; the network was the […]
Corporate synergy could save show but complex rights issue stand in the way Magnum P.I., the recently-canceled reboot with Jay Hernandez in the starring role, could return with new episodes. As first reported by Deadline, series producer Universal Television is looking for a way to bring back the action drama for a fifth season – possibly airing on NBC or […]
Apple lands their first major sports package A few months ago during a game, soon-to-retire Chicago Blackhawks broadcaster Pat Foley bemoaned the shift of sports from linear TV to streaming, pointing out the only way to watch the team’s next game was if you were an ESPN+ subscriber, as the NHL struck a deal last year with Disney for […]
Streaming news wars escalates as CBSN rebrands Following in the footsteps of CBSN Chicago, NBC 5 (WMAQ-TV) launched a new 24/7 all-news streaming service on the Peacock streaming platform last Thursday. Both NBC 5 and Peacock share Comcast’s NBCUniversal as a corporate parent. Branded NBC Chicago News, the new 24/7 channel features live simulcasts and encores of NBC 5 […]
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 […]
Gives media companies more tools to build scale The broadcast industry is getting a boost now the federal register has published the FCC rules, upheld by the Supreme Court in an unanimous decision in April. Effective as of Monday, the rule changes eliminates the newspaper/cross-ownership rule in place since 1975; the mandate eight television stations must remain after two […]
Blockbuster pacts include new deals for streaming Just a week after the NHL announced a return to ESPN/ABC, the NFL announced Thursday it completed its television deals. While nothing really earth-shattering (Fox stunning the world in 1994 by grabbing the NFL from CBS or Monday Night Football moving to cable), the new deals does send a message – streamers have […]
New year, new administration brings changes When 2021 started, we had hope in a new year. But it looks like we’re going to spending a lot of time cleaning up the messes of 2020. For one, we had an insurrection in Washington D.C. just six days in the new year, as white supremacists and neo-Nazi groups descended on the Capitol […]
NBC 5, Telemundo also announce layoffs At a time when the Covid pandemic has hammered advertising revenues, it isn’t surprising media companies are making cuts. And it hit home today with Comcast’s NBCUniversal division announcing layoffs with NBC Sports’ regional sports networks taking the hardest hits. NBC Sports Chicago laid off several personnel Tuesday on-air and off as Leah Rahimi […]
Pandemic wipes out annual San Diego fanfest but the show must go on Every in-person event this year (ranging from Lollapalooza to the Chosen Few DJs Picnic) has been wiped out due to an villain far more vicious than The Joker, The Riddler, and The Penguin combined: the Covid-19 pandemic. And this includes the annual San Diego Comic-Con, which would’ve […]