A year dominated by labor strife, awful Chicago sports teams, and – oh yeah, Elon If you watched the WWE, you remember Vince McMahon playing himself as an arrogant CEO and billionaire, ruling over anything and everything – the ultimate heel. It’s a real-life trend we’re seeing as we close 2023. Led by billionaire Elon Musk, CEOs – whether […]
Global Climate: Local Impact to take a look how climate change is affecting the Chicago area While most area TV stations and Amazon will be airing football on Black Friday, NBC 5 is taking a different approach to counterprogramming – airing a news special on how local authorities are responding to the global climate change crisis. Titled Global Climate: Local […]
Also: SAG-AFTRA strike ends; Jennifer Hudson’s ratings grow; Disney names two cable networks as possible sale candidates It’s official – Ryan Chiaverini was named lead sports anchor by ABC-owned WLS-TV Thursday, succeeding Jim Rose, who retired in September after 41 years at the station. “Ryan knows Chicago sports inside out and cuts right to the heart of what this city’s […]
Also: ABC’s stations team up with Nat Geo on another water special; Spectrum says they will drop more under performing channels; Houston’s Space City Home Network launches You heard of The Mod Squad, right? Now meet The Sven Squad. Just in time for Halloween, MeTV’s Svengoolie is adding cast members for the first time. Joining the horror movie host […]
One of the first African-American news anchors in Chicago, Porterfield had a 51-year career in journalism Harry Porterfield, one of Chicago’s first Black anchors and reporters, died peacefully from natural causes in his Munster, Ind. home Monday at the age of 95. Porterfield was a trailblazer in Chicago media circles, joining local TV news at a time when there were […]
Adds to numerous incidents at or in the station over the years You can add this to the “weird things that’s hapened at 190 North State Street” file. On Monday night around 10 p.m. – minutes before ABC 7 (WLS-TV) was set to go on the air with its nightly newscast (delayed due to Monday Night Football), a car was […]
Comes at a time of uncertain future for local institution While all the hoopla was over WGN-TV celebrating its 75th year of broadcasting, let’s not forget there’s another station celebrating its 75th, too. ABC-owned WLS-TV, branded as ABC 7 since the 1990s, celebrated its 75th on September 17. Although there was no two-hour special to comminate the occasion like WGN’s, […]
The decline of linear TV claims another victim as WTTW pairs back public affairs show With the news Nexstar is looking to buy ABC and its owned stations – which could eliminate a local newsroom in Chicago in a possible merger of WLS-TV and WGN-TV, comes this bit of unwelcome news: WTTW is reducing the number of episodes of its […]
Comes a day after a former Nexstar exec says it could happen [Editor’s Note: This story has been updated.] News of a potential ABC sale picked up Thursday after Bloomberg reported The Walt Disney Co. was in talks for either Nexstar or Allen Media Group (led by Byron Allen) to purchase ABC and its owned eight stations, after a Deadline […]
NatGeo, Disney Channel, Freeform and more off Spectrum nationwide; ABC 7 off in Wisconsin Well, you can add another carriage dispute to the Barbie (and we’re not referring to the blockbuster movie of the summer.) Without any advanced warning – no commercials, no red flag banners on station websites – nothing, The Walt Disney Company pulled all of its 20+ […]
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 […]
Second incident in a month If you think you’ve seen it all when it comes to crime in Chicago…now we have TV news crews getting robbed while covering…robberies. According to local crime blog CWBChicago, a local news crew was ready to do a live shot around 5 a.m. on the Near North Side near the intersection of Division and Milwaukee […]
Iger’s possible move could have implications for local and network TV In an interview with CNBC Thursday morning, Walt Disney Co. CEO Bob Iger from a financial conference from the side of the road in red-state Idaho stunned observers saying he is open to selling ABC and its non-sports cable networks such as FX and Freeform as they “may […]
Also: Person, Place, or Thing gets greenlight to fall series; Pat Robertson dies; Chris Licht out at CNN After forty-plus years as host of Wheel Of Fortune, Chicago native Pat Sajak announced on Monday he was stepping down effective at the end of next season. The 76-year old made his announcement Monday evening on Twitter: Well, the time has come. […]
Tightest margin of victory ever as election night coverage was OK, but WGN-TV bricks hard In one of the closest mayoral races in the modern media era, Cook County Board member Brandon Johnson pulled off a shocking upset by beating former Chicago Public Schools CEO Paul Vallas to become Chicago’s 57th mayor with a margin of around 12,000 votes (not […]
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