Also: Bears renew local deal with Fox; My Network TV also renews; “MeToo’s” odd connection to Chicago TV Despite defending their World Series title from last year, ratings for prime-time Cubs games declined last year, according to a report in Forbes. The Cubs earned a 4.4 Nielsen household rating, down 9 percent from last year. Forbes did not specify […]
Game against Eagles last Sunday was shoved onto little-watched outlet in Los Angeles. The Chargers’ move to Los Angeles from San Diego couldn’t have been more disastrous. Game three into this experiment, and the Chargers are only drawing around 25,000 fans per game in the 30,000-seat StubHub Center, a soccer stadium in south suburban Carson, Calif., thirteen miles south of […]
Also: Dennis Welsh wades into soda tax controversy while his station profits off pro-soda tax ads; Tom Joyner returns to Dallas as Classic Hip-Hop format’s future is questionable; Fox’s late night plans may not include off-network sitcoms The star has fallen: organizers of New Year’s Eve celebration Chi-Town Rising threw in the towel Thursday and announced they would not bring […]
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: ABC 7 dominates in ratings AND social media; Minneapolis station latest to drop “My” branding That’s a wrap…for now: Mike North went on television Tuesday night and announced he was “retiring” from sports media, including radio, television, writing, podcasts… you name it. On WTTW’s Chicago Tonight, North told host Phil Ponce talking sports today was just too complicated. He […]
The move meant to send a message to Sinclair According to a report in Bloomberg, 21st Century Fox is reportedly in talks with Ion networks about a partnership which would let them operate a large number of Fox affiliates in several markets. Moreover, the move could strip Fox affiliates in many Sinclair markets, including those […]
Or… close to it. Matheson part of four-week test in select markets, including Chicago Chicago native and Minneapolis radio personality Jason Matheson is getting a second shot at national stardom – with another four-week test – this time, including his hometown. The Jason Show, produced by Fox-owned KMSP in Minneapolis is getting tested in several markets for the next four […]
Also: ‘Showtime At The Apollo’ returns; The end of the road for “MyTV” branding? Blackhawks’ ratings for 2016-17 drop An update on the WGA labor situation: With the May 1 deadline approaching, the chances of a walkout by the Writer’s Guild seems to be increasing. According to the New York Times, progress has been made on issues such as pay […]
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 […]
Also: Page Six clears 90 percent of country First look at new Defenders; ABC 7 drops “First Alert” branding; Frank Mathie retires. In an unusual move late in the regular season, ESPN announced earlier this week the promotion of Michelle Beadle as NBA Countdown host, ESPN/ABC’s pre-game show. She’ll also host halftime segments in-between games. Beadle returned to ESPN a few years ago […]
Dr. Phil and his son Jay bring the UK’s Daily Mail to TV stateside Also: Harry officially returns for season two Leave it to Dr. Phil and son Jay to bring a show based on a crap tabloid newspaper to TV. But that’s what we have in Daily Mail, a project being peddled by CBS Television Distribution and found suckers […]
An all-local edition, with news on local TV changes; Kap & Co. moving to another timeslot; Chicago loses population again; and another person featured in CNN’s Chicagoland is another victim of the city’s streets. With Tribune’s WGN-TV set to launch a new hour-long newscast at 6 p.m. April 4th, it has triggered other scheduling moves in the nation’s third-largest TV […]
Deal with CBS takes sitcom to 2019; becomes longest-running sitcom in network’s history…and two cast members get a significant raise More Bazinga ahead: CBS has renewed The Big Bang Theory for two more seasons at 24 episodes each, through the end of the 2018-19 season. This brings the episode count to 279 over twelve seasons. Big Bang now joins an […]
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 […]
“Jessica Jones” tops odd year in media – and life When you look back at 2016, there isn’t much to rave about – way too many celebrity and industry deaths (Prince, Garry Shandling, Carrie Fisher, Grant Tinker, Doug Banks, Herb Kent, etc.), the election of Donald Trump, the rise (again) of Rahm Emanuel, continuing media consolidation, and other awful things. But […]
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