Another television group exits Illinois Atlanta-based Gray Television announced Monday the acquisition of Quincy Media’s television and radio properties for $925 million, a move expected as the Quincy, Ill.-based company announced late last year it was putting their media properties up for sale. Once the deal is completed, Gray would own stations in 102 markets, mostly mid-sized and small metros. […]
Quincy and Sinclair do some wheeling and dealing, moving networks onto digital subchannels In what may become commonplace in small markets across the country, major broadcast networks are winding up on digital subchannels of other stations. In a huge television realignment just 80 miles east of Chicago, Sinclair Broadcasting’s WSBT snagged the Fox affiliation from Quincy Media-owned WSJV, which dropped […]
News briefs from Chicago and beyond: – Cumulus-owned WLS-AM has been fined $44,000 from the Federal Communications Commission for failing to disclose eleven news items it broadcast were advertisements. The “news items” aired on WLS between March and May 2009 (during the ownership reign of Citadel, Inc.), for Workers Independent News, who pretended to interview a local politician. Workers failed […]
This past week saw the passing of yet another iconic TV legend – this time, it was Jack Klugman, who passed away Christmas Eve at the age of 90. While Klugman is best known for the portrayals of Oscar Madison on ABC’s The Odd Couple and Dr. Quincy on NBC’s Quincy, Klugman has been present on the small screen since […]
Charlotte’s WCCB added MeTV last month. Now nearly half of the country will hear the word “Berwyn”. Chicago-based Weigel Broadcasting Co. and MGM announced today its MeTV digital subchannel network has now cleared 45 percent of U.S. households after three and a half months on the air. Station groups who have cleared MeTV on their digital subchannels include Bahakel Communications, […]
For the second time in two days, an ABC affiliate announced plans to get into the local news business. Chicago-based Weigel Broadcasting announced on Tuesday the hiring of Aaron Ramey to launch a news operation at WBND-LP (low power) in South Bend, Ind., and plans to develop other programming for the station and sister outlets WCWW-LP (CW) and My Network […]
Big Media only gets bigger With Comcast’s $13.75 billion dollar deal for NBC Universal practically complete, it looks like big media is only going to get bigger – whether we like it or not. The deal climaxes weeks of speculation, as NBC owner General Electric recently bought out Vivendi’s 20 percent share in NBC Universal, paving the way for Comcast […]
One of Chicago’s most recognizable faces is coming home after… wait for it… 24 years! That’s right. Harry Porterfield – who was an anchor at WBBM-TV for 21 years before moving over to WLS-TV in 1985, is returning to the CBS-owned station on August 10, anchoring the 11 a.m. newscast. The 81 year-old Porterfield is also bringing the Someone You […]
This TV, the new digital movie channel launched by MGM and Chicago-based Weigel Broadcasting on November 1, 2008, has now cleared 60 percent of the country on digital subchannels, including several major markets. This features movies mostly from MGM’s library (though not from the pre-1986 library, which Turner/Time Warner owns), as well as classic TV series such as […]
Jack Klugman, who starred in the NBC crime drama Quincy, is suing the network over the show’s profits. Klugman has filed a lawsuit against NBC Universal over the program’s revenue, and claims the studio is being dishonest over the issue. In the contract, Klugman and his production company was entitled to a quarter of the profits. Klugman claimed his agent […]
WFBT to become WMEU-TV, a.k.a Me-Too; Me-TV expands to Milwaukee; Retro TV Network arrives in Rockford, South Bend Can’t get enough of classic television? You’re not alone. In a major expansion of its digital strategy, Weigel Broadcasting announced it is scrapping ethnic-format programming at low-powered WFBT-Channel 48 and replacing it with a spin-off of its’ already successful WWME-Channel 23 (Me-TV), […]
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