On September 14, 1987, NBC’s owned-and-operated stations decided to launch a bold experiment, airing a different sitcom every weeknight leading in to prime-time. It was a disaster. Before streaming, where you can watch what you want when you want – or what day you want, there was a time where local stations did something called “checkerboarding”. As you know, prime-time […]
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 […]
Also: Black Chicagoans (still) not happy with media outlets; Syndicated ‘Dateline’ shifts to new local outlet; Rock 95.5 surges in ratings After just four weeks, CNN Plus is getting… subtracted. The Warner Bros. Discovery-owned service announced Thursday it was closing April 30 after launching on March 28, debuting to poor reviews and a cumbersome price of $5.99 monthly or […]
Streaming news wars escalates as CBSN rebrands Following in the footsteps of CBSN Chicago, NBC 5 (WMAQ-TV) launched a new 24/7 all-news streaming service on the Peacock streaming platform last Thursday. Both NBC 5 and Peacock share Comcast’s NBCUniversal as a corporate parent. Branded NBC Chicago News, the new 24/7 channel features live simulcasts and encores of NBC 5 […]
WGN-TV picks up show in Nexstar deal. Also: Access: Hollywood renewed through 2025 Are you ready to put up with Young Sheldon five nights a week? You’d better be. Already airing on Nick at Nite, the Big Bang Theory prequel has been sold in 90 percent of the country by Warner Bros. to broadcast stations this fall, including Nexstar stations […]
Comes from sister O&O WNBC New York A former Chicago news anchor is coming home. Beginning October 12, Stefan Holt is returning to NBC-owned WMAQ-TV in Chicago after a four-year stint at WNBC in New York. Holt will take over the 4 p.m. and 10 p.m. news anchor position. In the early time slot, he’ll pair up with Marion Brooks […]
Also: Access Hollywood adds another show; Sinclair closes on Fox RSN purchase; McHenry radio station with historic calls ceases broadcasting At long last, NBC 5 (WMAQ) is joining the local lifestyle programming game. Beginning September 6, the NBC-owned station launches Chicago Today, a weekly half-hour show featuring entertainment news, newsmakers, places around town, the latest technologies, and restaurants among other […]
Plus… big day for Bears as they beat rival; Channing Dungey heads to Netflix; Extra adds Fox stations in large markets With Steve Dahl set to depart Cumulus-owned WLS-AM this Friday, the station announced last week it was shifting Big John Howell to afternoons from mornings starting January 3, from 5 to 7 p.m. weekdays. In a statement, the thirty-year […]
New daytime show to air on NBC 5 locally; replaces Steve on NBC O&Os In a deal before the fall season begins, NBCUniversal Television Distribution has struck a deal with the NBC-owned stations to carry Kelly Clarkson’s new daytime talk show scheduled to debut exactly a year from now. The Grammy Award and first American Idol winner shot a talk […]
Trump makes threat, urging to have their broadcast licenses challenged In the “probably saw this coming department”, President Donald Trump sent out a tweet Wednesday morning stating NBC should have “its license challenged” because of what he perceives as the unfair way the network covers his administration. He repeated the threat while holding a press conference with the Canadian Prime […]
If you are an over-the-air customer in Chicago – or anywhere for that matter, get ready for some big changes as six local stations relocate. The FCC released a list Thursday of how many stations across the country sold their spectrum to wireless companies – and several big-market stations are on the list – including Chicago. Six local TV stations […]
Iconic actress passes away at 80, was a trailblazer for women in Hollywood The television community is mourning the loss of Mary Tyler Moore who died Wednesday at the age of 80. She was known for playing two iconic characters: Lauria Petrie on The Dick Van Dyke Show and Mary Richards on The Mary Tyler Moore Show. Born in Brooklyn’s […]
Former Fox News host heads to peacock network in a very lucrative deal, getting a Sunday night news magazine and a daily daytime hour Megyn Kelly, who became a household name in recent years thanks to Donald Trump, is leaving Fox News to become an anchor and host for NBC News, beginning in a few months. The lucrative deal calls […]
Early fringe newscasts at WMAQ, WFLD on tap Like it or not Chicagoans, get ready for more newscasts in the afternoon. As first reported by Robert Feder Monday, NBC-owned WMAQ is expected to launch a 4 p.m. newscast later this summer. WMAQ would compete with WLS-TV and WGN-TV in the time slot, with each station having a newscast […]
Ellen signs new deal; enables NBC-owned stations to add news at 4 p.m. ‘Meredith’ axed after two seasons Ellen DeGeneres will be dancing up a storm in daytime for years to come. That’s because Warner Bros. and NBC announced on Monday a huge mega-renewal deal for her daytime/early fringe talker Ellen through the year 2020, taking the show through her […]