While Barack Obama was being sworn in as our 44th President, something else was going on. And it wasn’t good. Clear Channel made what is perhaps the biggest one-day layoff of any media company in history by axing around 1,850 jobs nationwide from Chicago to Atlanta, from Detroit to San Francisco, and everywhere in between. Clear Channel CEO Mark Mays […]
Jeff Kiernan has been named the new news director at CBS-owned WBBM-TV (CBS 2), being charged of cleaning up the mess former news director Carol Fowler left. Kiernam is a native of nearby Munster, Ind., and has been in charge of news operations for CBS O&Os stations in Minneapolis (WCCO-TV) and Boston (WBZ-TV.) While at WCCO, Kiernan kept WCCO competitve […]
(Editor’s note: I apologize for the lateness of this post, as I had Internet connection problems that knocked me offline for awhile this evening. – T.H.) The ax swung again at CBS Radio at a highly-paid radio personality – and this time – and to no one’s surprise – it was Steve Dahl. The venerable and legendary personality left WJMK-FM […]
Note: This is a longer version of a story posted yesterday at 7:01 p.m. Not exactly a shocker (as some would claim), given how the radio business has changed since these two signed a multi-year deal in 2002, but with high-salaries becoming a thing of the past in radio – as well as TV – and so is Eddie & […]
Yeah, we knew this was coming: News director Carol Fowler of CBS-owned WBBM-TV was fired today after six years. She was brought in as a stooge of former general manager Joe Ahern, who was fired last month. During her tenure news ratings failed to move upward and still placed behind most of their rivals, including ABC-owned WLS-TV and CW affiliate […]
Arthur Greenwald of TVNewsday reviews CBS-owned WBBM-TV’s new digs in the Loop, which brings the station into the 21st century and a long way from its decrepit McClurg Court headquarters. The new building at 22 W. Washington Blvd. lets the station broadcast its news and local programming in HD and new high-tech equipment – such as Apple’s Final Cut Pro […]
ABC and its O&O in Chicago (WLS-TV) took home the ratings crown on Election Night, a night where Barack Obama was elected the nation’s first African-American president. ABC led all networks on a national basis with 13.6 million viewers. Locally, ABC’s coverage led with WLS-TV leading the 10 p.m. hour (when Obama gave his victory speech) with a 17.6 household […]
More on Joe Ahern’s sudden departure from CBS-owned WBBM-TV in Chicago: – The Sun-Times Robert Feder looks back at the The Life and Times of Joe Ahern – his rise at WLS-TV and his fall at WBBM. It’s a rather critical look at what he accomplished – or actually didn’t accomplish – at the station. – Phil Rosenthal has a […]
One of the deacons at The Church of Tisch has been shown the door. WBBM-TV General Manger Joe Ahern was fired today after six years at the CBS-owned station, this after they moved into new digs on Washington Blvd. in the Loop and started broadcasting their news in HD. Replacing Ahern is Bruno Cohen, who is currently GM at CBS’ […]
Yes, the four feature is back! But with a new name. The feature that was Who’s in your four is now the much-catchier T Dog’s Four on the Floor. Why the name change? Because the previous one no longer made sense (and T-Mobile has scaled back national advertising, meaning no more “who’s in your five” spots.) And it’s not original. […]
As what Amy Jacobson did a few weeks ago, the Stebic family has now followed “suit” with a suit of their own. Craig Stebic and his family filed suit against CBS and its owned TV station here (WBBM-TV) and a couple of principals involved, including GM Joe Ahern and news director Carol Fowler. Also named in the suit was anchor […]
The Chicago Chapter of The Church of Tisch opens its new location on Monday. CBS-owned WBBM-TV opens its new “block 37” location in the loop on Monday, a new broadcast facility with its newscasts broadcast in HD. The new 22 West Washington St. location is dubbed “Heart of Chicago”. Sun-Times columnist Rob Feder noted today he didn’t get an invitation […]
CBS-owned WBBM-TV has decided to shuffle the anchor chairs again at its low-rated morning newscast – with the return of Roseanne Tellez from maternity leave, she will return anchoring the news at 5 and 11 a.m., paired up with weatherman Don Schwennker. They replace Jim Willams (who goes back to weekends) and Kristyn Hartman. Tellez, who co-anchored the station’s 5 […]
Memo to all CW employees from Time Warner and The Church of Tisch: We have you backs. By the power and the salvation of the almighty dollar, The CW will be saved from a fate worst than anything: cancellation, thanks to Pastor Les Moonves and Deacon Dawn Ostroff. WBBM General Manager Joe Ahern will now make the rounds with the […]
It’s been dreary around here lately, so let’s lighten the mood a little bit with a new feature: Introducing T Dog’s “Who’s in your four?” T Dog’s Fab Four – The Olympics ratings. Friday’s opening ceremonies rocked, scoring higher ratings than any other non-U.S. opening ceremony. The games are dominating prime-time, with high numbers for Saturday, Sunday, and Monday – […]
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