A rebuttal to Harry Jessell’s piece: Media consolidation has resulted in bad managerial decisions and lots of layoffs. But bad decision making knows no size. For the last eleven years, yours truly has been writing about media consolidation and how bad it is. On Friday, TVNewscheck’s Harry Jessell wrote a piece saying “bigger is better”, regarding the growing profiles of Sinclair Broadcasting […]
Everyone knows by now how much President Trump goes on and on about Chicago violence, tweeting about it every chance he gets. Well, one of the tools that could be used to help residents of poverty-stricken neighborhoods in Chicago and elsewhere is about to get “weed-whacked” by the FCC. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai recently announced he was putting the brakes […]
(Editor’s note: This item – thoughts on the political climate we’re in these days and how it relates to subjects I write about in this blog – was originally in Tuesday’s T Dog’s Media Notepad. But this essay is so important, I decided to give its own post. – T.H.) As everyone knows, the last few weeks have not exactly […]
For those who don’t like media consolidation and love net neutrality – you are not going to like what you are about to read In a Presidential contest people will be talking about for ages, Republican Donald J. Trump stunned everyone by winning the presidency in an upset over Democrat Hillary Clinton last week – sending shockwaves throughout the world. […]
Despite White Sox World Series Championship in 2005 and native son President Obama making history as first African-American in the White House, the city’s South Side continues to disrespected by the national media Ever since Chicagoan Barack Obama announced he was running for President of the United States in 2006, the Windy City has been under the national spotlight. Mostly, […]
Ratings for the NFL are off this year. Why? Over the last few weeks, you have read about why the NFL’s ratings are declining, with answers ranging from noncompetitive matchups to national anthem protests. Well, now it’s my turn to weigh in. So what’s wrong with the NFL? Well, let’s start locally as the Chicago Bears continue to drive away viewers […]
Once again, Cumulus is clueless on customer service Usually on this blog, yours truly often laments the state of Chicago radio, with some of the stations run by clueless idiots who make managers at your local Arby’s more competent by comparison. But when it involves Cumulus… no market – large or small – is safe. Take what happened last week at […]
Battle between McNeil, Hubbard management latest sign of Chicago radio’s dysfunction You’re probably asking, how’s the new McMornings show on The Drive working out? As you probably guessed, it’s about as flat as a Diet Coke. According to an article by Robert Feder Monday, the gamble made by Hubbard-owned WDRV-FM pairing up former sports talker Dan McNeil and former WGN-AM […]
Special interest group hijacks and derails plan – a situation we’re all too familiar with in the media business The Lakefront project Star Wars creator George Lucas wanted to build has been zapped by something more sinister than Darth Vader: An organization who claims they serve the “public interest”. On Tuesday, Lucas was dealt a blow to build his new […]
Disney’s “Live” blunder the latest in management woes To understand the brouhaha over Kelly Ripa, Michael Strahan, and ABC executives’ handling of this Live crisis, you have to go back 20 years. In 1995, the financial interest and syndication rules – or fin-syn as it was called – expired after 25 years, once again letting the major broadcast networks […]
A few weeks ago, President Obama announced he was backing a FCC proposal to unlock cable set-top boxes. Whee. The problem is, those set-top boxes you lease to cable operators are about as obsolete as an 8-track tape player. It’s not the direction the industry is moving in, and this idea would be great – if it was 1992. Generally, you need […]
Chicago is still recovering from the effects of Hurricane Donald Trump as he blew through town on March 11 and created a storm of protests – including inside the UIC Pavilion where he was supposed to speak. Instead, the rally was canceled before he even spoke as the Pavilion was declared a disaster area with fighting and chaos not seen […]
Constant whining about radio, TV threatens to undermine business Before social media, message boards and comment sections were basically a way to post your thoughts about a particular issue and to connect with others. But these days, message boards and comment section sections are often breeding grounds for stupidity and for people to start arguments for the sake of starting arguments. […]
(Editor’s Note: Strong language in this piece. Reader discretion is advised. – T.H.) As you know by now, Cumulus Media made a major executive shakeup this week by tossing longtime CEOs John and Lew Dickey out the door, and replacing them with former Reader Digest exec Mary Berner. The exits took place before the start of the National Association of […]
A T Dog Media TV review This embarrassment even makes Johnny B. On The Loose watchable Maybe there should be a class action suit against NBC and Neil Patrick Harris for their new Tuesday night “variety” show, Best Time Ever, because it is blatantly false advertising. This program features stuff we haven’t seen on Ellen or Jimmy Fallon’s shows before – […]
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