Also: WBD inching closer to exiting RSN business; WGN to air ACC Football through The CW [Editor’s Note: The second item in this post has been updated.] We have another local TV personality announcing his retirement – this time it’s Jim Rose, the longtime ABC 7 (WLS-TV) sports anchor, who announced Monday he was stepping down from the station after […]
Signs six-year deal that begins in 2025 A NASCAR racing league is shifting gears to a new home – on The CW. The Nexstar-owned network and NASCAR announced Friday the move of the NASCAR Xfinity Series – 33 races in all – to The CW starting in 2025. This marks the first time the entire package would be airing on […]
The CW will continue to air LIV Golf matches this year. After that, nobody knows. With the surprise merger of the PGA Golf Tour and LIV Golf, the situation regarding TV rights is up the air. Announced Tuesday morning on CNBC, the PGA Tour, Europe’s DP World Tour, and LIV Golf merged – catching golfers on each professional tour off […]
Largest network defection since 1994 when it happened to…CBS With Nexstar acquiring three-fourths of The CW, the network who was once partner in the venture is now dropping the low-rated network from its eight big-market stations by September 1 and is being re-christened as independents. The eight are located in Philadelphia, Atlanta, San Francisco, Seattle, Tampa, Detroit, Sacramento, and Pittsburgh. […]
Departure of “Mathis” leaves Chicago without a nationally daily syndicated show for the first time since 1986 Warner Bros. Discovery announced late Friday it was ending long-running courtroom shows Judge Mathis and The People’s Court after 24 and 26 seasons respectively. While Court was taped in Connecticut, Judge Mathis‘ cancellation leaves Chicago without a national daily program to call home […]
Weigel moves to comedy network, featuring sitcoms from 1950s to 1980s [This post was updated March 27.] Weigel Broadcasting announced Monday it was rebranding diginet Decades after eight years and is launching a new channel devoted to comedies from the 1950s to the 1980s branded as Catchy Comedy. The transition takes place March 27 with most stations currently with Decades […]
Also: NASCAR Chicago race lines up radio, TV outlets; Chicago’s Thanksgiving Parade returns to TV It was not a great election night if you were a former television personality. Republican challenger Dr. Memhet Oz, who quit his daytime talk show to run for the U.S. Senate last year, lost to Pennsylvania Democratic challenger John Fetterman in a race where four […]
Drastically different schedules begins today (Editor’s Note: This post was updated on September 17.) There are a ton of changes in television outside of prime-time with the new season beginning today. For one, there is no more Ellen DeGeneres as she danced off the stage last spring while Maury Povich and his paternity tests retired to Florida, leaving us with […]
High school championships to remain on free TV Even though the future of WCIU’s affiliation with The CW is unclear due to the sale of the network to Nexstar, there is one guarantee set for the future – Weigel’s stations will be home to the high school sports for sometime to come. On Monday, Chicago-based Weigel and the Illinois […]
No cash is exchanged; big changes are planned Television’s worst kept secret was finally made official Monday as Irving, Tex.-based Nexstar has acquired a majority stake in The CW from Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount Global. Speculation has been branded about since January, when word came both Warner and Paramount were looking to unload the fifth network and Nexstar […]
New Multi-year deal keeps some games on local over-the-air TV and also includes streaming There was no doubt the Chicago Sky’s first-ever WNBA Championship would send the value of their media rights soaring, by achieving something no other pro Chicago team (with the possible exception of the White Sox) is in the position to do for the foreseeable future. […]
‘Karamo’ gets picked up for fall production commitment While it was rumored NBCUniversal was going to launch a new talk show to replace the retiring Maury Povich, they made it official today with the announcement of Karamo. Hosted by Queer Eye cast member Karamo Brown, the new hour-long strip has been cleared in 90 percent of the country for […]
Also: Blackhawks latest Chicago team to drag down national telecasts as the team names Chris Vosters as their new play-by-play guy; CBS Media Ventures cancels two syndicated shows The fun is over for four game shows as ABC late last Friday canceled them, part of its “Summer Fun and Games” initiative. Among the four dumped was Match Game hosted by […]
Show will have new format to accommodate local news expansion The struggling Drew Barrymore Show has been renewed for a third season. Making it official, CBS Media Ventures announced Friday that the show is returning for the 2022-23 season, but with a twist – Drew is being split into two half-hours stations can run separately or together as an […]
On The Block to cover neighborhood news One of the Chicago area’s newest non-profit journalism start-up is expanding into the linear TV realm. Block Club Chicago and Weigel Broadcasting are teaming up to launch a new half-hour weekly newsmagazine show featuring stories from the city and suburbs. Titled On The Block and hosted by Brandon Pope, the show aims […]