Amazon, Tegna score NHL rights deals

Tegna’s Pacific Northwest stations acquire almost all Seattle Kraken games; Amazon is the new home of SportsNet’s “Monday Night Hockey” in Canada A pair of NHL deals on both sides of the border sent a huge body check to cable TV. On Thursday, the NHL’s Seattle Kraken announced a new television rights deal with MacLean, Va.-based broadcaster Tegna, with at […]

The Media Notepad: Judge Marliyn Milan returns to TV in a new show

Also: B96 hires Canavah’s replacement; Diamond Sports Group skips payments to Guardians and Twins; Extra renewed for season thirty  The other shoe has dropped in Warner Bros.’ decision to exit the court genre as Marilyn Milian has signed with Allen Media Group for a new hour-long court show, Justice For The People With Judge Milan, debuting this fall.  “We at […]

Report: Warner Bros. Discovery to shutter RSNs

Latest twist in on-going saga involving regional sports networks Adding to the latest saga surrounding regional sports networks – and with weeks to go before the start of MLB season, Warner Bros. Discovery have told sports teams they’re shuttering AT&T SportsNet and asking them to reclaim their rights.  March 31st is set for the closure, and if WBD can’t reach […]

Cubs’ proposed network in jeopardy?

Changing marketing conditions could be factor; AT&T may be only hope If the Cubs are looking to launch their own TV network in 2020, their options are becoming quite limited. According to a report Monday in Sports Business Journal and Awful Announcing, AT&T is considering looking to add the baseball team to their portfolio of sports rights. AT&T operates a […]

T Dog’s Media Notepad: White Sox sink into the ratings abyss

The White Sox may not have the worst record in MLB for 2015, but earned an even-worse honor. According to Sports Business Journal, the South Siders again finished dead last among all 29 U.S. teams, with a 0.8 live-plus-same day household rating on CSN Chicago, down 29 percent from 2014, where they finished 27th out of 27 teams excluding Houston […]

Cubs, White Sox viewers continue to flee for exits

White Sox now dead last in TV ratings, with Cubs right behind them It’s been a tough summer for local Chicago television. First, Chicago viewers are turning off local news in greater numbers (and as a reward, we’re getting more news!) And now, they’re turning off local baseball – again – as both the Cubs and the White Sox continue […]

DirecTV and Fox turn up heat on each other

Judging by the animosity between the two, you’d would never know News Corp. and DirecTV were once sister companies. On November 1, the satellite-service provider is planning to pull nineteen News Corp. cable networks from its system if they can not come to an agreement on a new deal. And now, Fox is saying all 26 of its owned stations […]