Iconic television personality dies at 88 Television fans are mourning the loss of Regis Philbin, who was one of the most beloved hosts in the medium. Not only he successfully re-invented morning television with his Live franchise with Kathie Lee Gifford and later Kelly Ripa, but also “saved ABC” as host of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire. He holds […]
Oprah Winfrey to speak to local grads The coronavirus pandemic has wiped out graduation ceremonies all over the Chicago area, but they get to celebrate virtually – with an assist from Chicago’s local stations. In a very rare show of collaboration, Chicago TV stations are simulcasting a virtual celebration titled Grad 2020: For Chicago by Chicago, honoring the Chicago area’s […]
In the aftermath of George Floyd’s untimely death, the world is calling for reform – and the media business must follow the lead [Editor’s Note: This post was updated on July 1 and on December 1.] As one of the few African-Americans who writes a media blog, for years I’ve been pushing for more diversity in the media business, whether […]
Riots hit downtown; spread to city neighborhoods and suburbs Sunday National Guard called up [Updated at 8:06 p.m.] The last 24 hours have been truly hellish for Chicagoans, and Americans nationwide. Rioting and disturbances have hit cities across the country in the wake of the murder of George Floyd at the hands of police officers in Minneapolis, and Chicago was […]
More than a dozen staffers let go, including longtime investigative reporter Pam Zekman [Editor’s Note: This story has been updated.] Pulitzer-prize winning investigative reporter Pam Zekman was one of a dozen staffers let go at CBS-owned WBBM-TV Wednesday as parent company ViacomCBS made 300 to 400 layoffs at CBS Entertainment Group. It appears CBS 2 bore the brunt of the […]
CBS 2, CW 26, others lose signals for the day; WLS-FM, WFMT also forced off air (Editor’s Note: This post was updated at 12:37 a.m. on May 20.) A massive rainstorm Sunday evening wrecked havoc in the Chicago area, flooding numerous streets, including Lower Wacker Drive and the already-closed riverwalk. Nearly four inches fell at O’Hare while over eight inches […]
Judy Sheindlin exits on top; reruns to air in a long-term deal A major change is about to take place involving television’s top-rated syndicated show. Long-running courtroom strip Judge Judy is ending production next season (2020-21) after 25 consecutive seasons on the air. However, the series is continuing in repeats in a long-term deal with numerous unidentified local stations, with […]
Referred to as “the first lady of Chicago television”, she was a trailblazer for many who followed The Chicago media community is mourning the loss of one of the tremendous pioneers of local television. Lee Phillip Bell passed away Wednesday at the age of 91 in her California home. Bell, along with her husband William, created the soaps The Young And […]
With Tamron Hall and Kelly Clarkson hits, syndication’s doing well thank you very much If you’ve read this blog over the years, I usually write a “state of syndication” article around this time every year as NATPE approaches, and it often wasn’t rosy – especially this piece I wrote in 2016, Charlie Brown dozing off and all. But as we […]
There are flops, and then there are….flops. For every success in the most recent decade, there were products coming off so badly, you don’t know how the hell they were even conceived in the first place – you basically had to see it to believe it! If you thought the 2000s version of “The Dirty Dozen” were bad, they have […]
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 […]
1st District Congressman not happy with nation’s largest cable company In a huge broadside against one of the country’s biggest cable operators, Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Ill.) slammed Comcast for their role in a lawsuit involving one of the nation’s most successful African-American media entrepreneurs and may lead the company to be broken up. In a letter to Comcast CEO Brian […]
Group renews quartet of shows and forces format change (Editor’s Note: This story has been edited as an accompanying YouTube video was deleted.) In a massive deal, the Fox-owned station group renewed four Warner Bros.’ first-run shows currently on its stations. But the deal come with some changes that you, the viewer will notice. Four shows from the AT&T-owned syndicator: […]
Predictable as a plot to a bad TV show, President Trump comes to town, bashes our city, picks up campaign cash, and leaves. We saw a weekend where Chicagoans were fed up with a prolonged teacher’s strike and the inept play of the once-hot Chicago Bears, particularly when it came to Mitch Trubisky and head coach Matt Nagy. And President […]
Local TV stations already shunning ads; Juul halts all advertising (Editor’s Note: This story was originally published on September 22 and has been updated.) With complaints from viewers increasing on social media and users being hospitalized (including a few in the Chicago area), three major media companies announced they were no longer accepting advertising for vaping products and e-cigarettes. WarnerMedia, […]
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