Rachael Ray returns to WGN; “Mom” gets the shaft in top markets (Editor’s Note: Hurricane Irma coverage may impact the debut of shows in some areas.) The 2017-18 television season doesn’t begin until September 25, but outside of primetime, new programming and schedule changes are occurring as soon as Monday. The biggest news is the debut of Steve Harvey’s new […]
Plus: Seth MacFarlane chats up The Orville; Fox execs try to explain their screw-ups; and more With TCA finally winding down, the last two networks presented this week was Fox and its cable siblings, FX and FXX. In the Fox executive session, Fox entertainment co-president Dana Walden defended the decision to drop American Idol, only to see it cross the […]
Also: Chicago White Sox gets a ratings boost; Discovery merges with Scripps; Chicago R&B star to appear in new daily show. If you blinked, you might have missed the premiere of The Jam, WCIU’s new morning show premiering Monday with little fanfare. Announced back in June, The Jam unveiled its format and its hosts: Jordan Cornette, Felicia Lawrence, and Danielle […]
Replacement for You & Me finally announced At first glance, when you look in your TV listings and see something called The Jam, your first thought would be some kind of dance-music show. But in all actuality, it is the name of WCIU’s new 6-to-8 a.m. morning show, debuting in a few weeks. As described on WCIU’s website, The […]
With Weigel Broadcasting’s WCIU set to become Chicago’s only locally-owned broadcaster once Sinclair’s purchase of Tribune Media is done, the company’s two local stations are putting a fresh coat of paint on the place. On Monday, WCIU and sister station The U Too (WMEU-CD, channels 26.2 and 48.1) unveiled new on-air logos and a revamped website. The independent’s rebranding effort […]
Also: WGN-TV unveils new set and logo; Jon Kelley gets a new gig as host of a syndicated game show; Kathy Hart still MIA; “Wheel” celebrates Chicago In another huge blow to his nationally syndicated radio show, Crawford Broadcasting-owned Soul 106.3 (WSRB-FM) announced Tuesday it was grounding the “flyjock” the syndicated Tom Joyner Morning Show after eight years due to […]
With Monday’s acquisition of Tribune Media by Sinclair, it is time to divvy up the winners and losers in this historic deal. Winner: Sinclair Broadcasting (of course.) No one thought Sinclair would ever crack the top five markets, including New York and Los Angeles. Let’s just say Christmas morning came for the once-obscure broadcaster May 8. And look for Sinclair […]
Also: WCIU has another prime-time stand up comedy special; Dateline NBC to enter syndication this fall (Editor’s Note: This story has been updated with new information.) The Chicago Blackhawks begin their quest for their seventh Stanley Cup Thursday night when they drop the puck against the Nashville Predators in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. With the popular […]
WGN-TV adds yet more news; WCIU cancels “You & Me”; Chicago is NBC’s kind of town; Chiller gets cold Here we grow again… Tribune’s WGN-TV announced Thursday they are launching a new prime access news hour, airing from 6 to 7 p.m. local time beginning April 4. As first reported by Robert Feder, the new newscast will be anchored by […]
Also: The End for Sacramento’s KDND; ‘The Insider’ canceled; WIND-AM’s Joe Walsh goes national The latest crime procedural based (and filmed) in Chicago debuted Monday night with Fox’s APB, starring Justin Kirk. The premise: after losing a friend to an armed robbery at a liquor store, millionaire Gideon Reeves (Kirk) decides to take over the high-crime 13th police district using high-tech […]
XETV flips to Spanish programming on May 31 after losing CW affiliation (Editor’s Note: It is rare these days for yours truly to write about musings from another TV/radio market since this blog is basically about Chicago radio and TV, and the national TV scene. But this is an unusual story worth mentioning.) After 64 years, it is lights out […]
Also: The Wall off to a decent start; WCIU to showcase local comedians; Drew Barrymore talker on hold; Fox duopoly picks up another show. WGN-TV held its fourteenth annual Drive-Thru Toy Drive on Thursday to benefit needy families in Chicago and the Tribune-owned independent collected nearly 14,000 unwrapped toys at the event held at the station. Award-winning actress and singer […]
Chicago news veteran Sylvia Perez is returning to the airwaves this coming week as new weekend anchor for WFLD’s 7-9 a.m. Saturday and Sunday morning newscasts and starting Monday, filing special reports for the station at 9 p.m. Perez was with ABC-owned WLS-TV for 24 years, spending several of them co-anchoring the station’s 11 a.m. newscast with Linda Yu, who […]
If you thought the Chicago White Sox had a bad season…you ain’t seen nothing yet Maybe we should send Chris Sale to cut up some Bears jerseys in the locker room. Monday night certainly wasn’t football night for Bears fans as the team put up the worst performance in at least two seasons as the team was blown out […]
WCIU to air Bears game Monday night MeTV launches Internet stream Chi-Town Rising gets another run Tribune renews Fox affiliations in six markets As first reported by Robert Feder Monday, Weigel’s MeTV is launching a separate Internet stream of its terrestrial radio station at WRME-LP (87.7 FM). “MeTV Music brings back so many of the artists and songs that terrestrial radio has […]
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