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 […]
Closes book on botched Tribune deal In one of the biggest fines ever levied against a broadcast company, the FCC fined Maryland-based Sinclair Broadcasting $48 million Wednesday for misrepresenting themselves in their pursuit of Chicago-based Tribune Broadcasting, which was later sold to Nexstar. The fine and consent decree also closes three investigations into the company, […]
Brings total number to four If you plan to stay home on New Year’s Eve this year, you’re going to have numerous local choices. As announced a few weeks ago, WGN-TV plans to produce their first-ever New Year’s Eve show called Chicago’s Very Own New Year’s Eve Blast, live from downtown Chicago where a large fireworks display over Lake Michigan […]
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 […]
WPWR-CW breakup illustrates how some affiliate partnerships don’t work The major networks have enjoyed long, prosperous relationships with their affiliates. For example, Milwaukee’s WTMJ, St. Louis’ KSDK, and Cincinnati’s WLWT each has enjoyed a long relationship with NBC dating back to the late 1940s. CBS and New Orleans’ WWL have been partners since 1957. And ABC and Dallas’ WFAA go […]
Hot-button issues drives viewers to the polls – and election coverage Election night on Tuesday is going to be like Christmas morning for news organizations as viewers are expected to tune in enmasse for the results. In the past, viewers barely tuned into election night as races weren’t exciting or the outcome was expected (re: the 1984 and 1996 Presidential […]
Also: Telemundo expands local and national news; Funny You Should Ask renewed through 2021; Fox interested in Sinclair stations You’d think an appearance on a national TV show would be a great thing for your local radio station, right? Well, in this case, it turned out to be a huge nightmare. Alpha Media’s WRXQ-FM in southwest suburban Coal City fired […]
New DMA rankings show large markets losing population Chicago, San Diego, Indianapolis big losers; Nashville, Portland big gainers An analysis of the 2017-18 Nielsen designated market area (DMA) television household rankings shows a shift in population away from the top markets of New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago to other DMAs while other big markets such as Washington D.C., Houston, […]
Tamron Hall seeking talk show; Hulu strikes deal for Bob’s Burgers, Futurama, and more; DuckTales returns on Aug. 12 Now you can add social media to ABC 7’s dominance: according to Share Rocket data over the last thirty days, the ABC-owned station ranks first in social media usage with an overall share of 33.8, followed by Fox 32’s 31.2, and […]
And… other news of note To the surprise of absolutely nobody, Fox has pulled the plug on 24: Legacy after one season. The series was left off the fall schedule when it was announced last month, increasing speculation its days would be numbered. In addition, Fox said it was putting the brakes on more episodes of its Prison Break revival after […]
If you are an over-the-air customer in Chicago – or anywhere for that matter, get ready for some big changes as six local stations relocate. The FCC released a list Thursday of how many stations across the country sold their spectrum to wireless companies – and several big-market stations are on the list – including Chicago. Six local TV stations […]
WGN-TV to drop CW affiliation in September; moves to Fox-owned WPWR Tribune Broadcasting renews agreement to carry CW programming in twelve markets Tribune Broadcasting finally renewed its CW affiliations this weekend. But in a surprise move, it didn’t renew its affiliation with WGN-TV in Chicago. Where The CW affiliation wound up is a even bigger surprise. As first reported by Robert […]
In market’s fourth affiliation change, NBCUniversal to move affiliation to WNEU-TV WHDH owner Ed Ansin promises fight Politicians question move In a bold move, Comcast Corp. announced Thursday it is launching a new NBC-owned and-operated station in Boston, the nation’s eighth-largest market approximately a year from now. NBC plans to move its affiliation to Telemundo affiliate WNEU-TV (Channel 60), a […]
Ploy to keep anti-police demonstrators out? When it was announced in September, Chi-Town Rising hoped it draw more than 100,000 people and help the city ring in the New Year outdoors for the first time since the early 1980’s. But the event – originally free admission – is now ticketed and yes, you would have to pay to get in. […]
Beat WLS-TV in key news demo for the first time in nearly 20 years Dispute in 10 p.m. news race in Milwaukee The last time WMAQ won the 10 p.m. news race in adults 25-54 demo, Ron Magers and Carol Marin were still anchoring, ER was the hottest show on television, and Jay Leno was hosting the Tonight Show. Nineteen […]