Bears back into playoffs and back right out as ratings drop

Game draws fewer viewers than last playoff run two years ago Nickelodeon simulcast draws praise If it weren’t for Nickelodeon’s family-oriented simulcast of the Chicago Bears-New Orleans Saints game Sunday, this matchup wouldn’t be worth watching. But for once, the “slime” mentioned – and seen – didn’t refer to Mitch Trubisky, Ryan Pace, or Matt Nagy. The Chicago NFL Lakefront […]

Dear NFL…Stop putting the Bears in prime-time

The league deserves its ratings losses from dumb scheduling decisions I’m trying to figure out who the hell runs the NFL. Is it Rob Manfred or Roger Goodell? It’s hard to tell these days given both are as popular as a bag of brussels sprouts.  But I imagine the league – who decided to plow through the regular season during […]

Bears slide in standings and ratings

But national spotlight games keep on coming Over the years here at T Dog Media, it seems I’ve written more negative news about the Chicago Bears than positive  – 2006 and 2018 the exceptions, of course. But in most other years, writing about the team has been an absolute drag – especially the infamous 2014 and 2017 seasons. And despite […]

Media Notepad: WLIT now in Christmas music mode

Also: Fox News wins election night; NBA season to start Dec. 22 IHeartMedia’s WLIT launched its Holly Jolly format (or Christmas music as everyone else calls it) starting at 4 p.m. Friday, and is likely to last through the end of the year. This is the 20th year WLIT has turned its playlist to a Christmas Jukebox, playing Mariah Carey’s […]

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.  […]

ESPN scores ratings win with “The Last Dance”

Debut of highly-anticipated documentary series doesn’t disappoint in the ratings or quality department. The premiere of the documentary chronicling the Chicago Bulls’ final championship season proved to be the draw it was supposed to be. The ten-hour series The Last Dance was originally supposed to premiere on ESPN in June, but was moved up to April as the coronavirus pandemic […]

Bears bomb on field again, draws mixed ratings results for “Sunday Night Football”

Local fans tuned out, but telecast still drew 17 million viewers nationwide (Editor’s Note: This post has been updated with new ratings information.) The Bears’ home finale drew some interest, if not overwhelming. The Sunday Night Football matchup between Chicago’s NFL Lakefront Team and the Kansas City Chiefs drew a 22.3 household local overnight rating over NBC-owned WMAQ-TV according to […]

Bears-Cowboys a hit for Thursday Night Football

But local ratings down from last prime-time outing  The last time the Chicago Bears faced the Dallas Cowboys at Soldier Field on Thursday Night Football, the game aired only on NFL Network, was on opposite a live production of Peter Pan, and protesters denouncing the police shootings of Eric Gardner and Michael Brown were marching on Lake Shore Drive (Chicago’s […]

Viewers bail on Bears-Rams snoozefest

Boring game between two large-market teams doesn’t resonate (Editor’s Note: This post was updated at 8:58 p.m. with more ratings information. – T.H.) You have to question why both NBC and the NFL refused to flex out Sunday night’s game between the Chicago Bears and Los Angeles Rams, two teams who made the playoffs last year but are struggling this […]

Bears commit epic fail on the field but score in ratings

Bears bomb on field but not in the Nielsens While Chicago’s public school teachers went on strike last week, it looked like the Chicago Bears joined them on the picket line as they simply decided not to show up for work at Soldier Field Sunday. Despite a horrible performance from the Bears’ offense and from quarterback Mitch Trubisky in particular, […]

Bears blow out competition – on the field and off

Bears, Truibsky cream Redskins, Dancing, and that Bob show  The 2019-20 television season is officially underway, but Chicagoans weren’t ready for the new shows….they were ready for Mitch Trubisky. The Chicago Bears thrashed the Washington Redskins on Monday night Football 31-15, with the Bears offense – struggling as of late – put up 28 points in the first half and […]

Bears bomb on field, but NFL Kickoff is a ratings success

Ratings up 14 percent despite downer of a game The NFL’s 100th season kicked off Thursday with the oldest, most storied rivalry in the league: The Green Bay Packers playing the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field. But the results on the field were anything but grand as the Bears lost to the Packers 10-3 in a lackluster game panned on […]

“Press Your Luck” , “Card Sharks” make grand return to TV

ABC expands summer game show slate as game shows regain traction in popular culture Over the last few weeks, Jeopardy was dominating the headlines with James Holzhauer’s amazing winning streak earning over $2 million over his run, helping earn the show’s highest ratings in years. And though Jeopardy never really went away, the game show genre has had its ups […]

NBA Finals see decline in the U.S., but sets records in Canada

Toronto Raptors clinch title, but ratings down as expected south of the 49th parallel T Dog Media nearly hits viewership projection on target The Toronto Raptors clinched their first NBA title last week, but for ABC and ESPN, they weren’t exactly celebrating. But in Canada, Bell and Rogers were popping champagne corks and partying with the Raptors. Nielsen ratings show […]

No Blues for NHL as Game 7 sets Stanley Cup ratings benchmark

St. Louis boring? Not when their team just won the Stanley Cup.  Who needs the Chicago Blackhawks? That’s the sentiment NBC Sports and the NHL are having Thursday in the light of record-setting ratings between teams in the 10th and 21st-largest television markets. The St. Louis Blues clinched its first-ever Stanley Cup championship (much to the chagrin of some Blackhawks […]