Networks drop E-Cig advertising as anti-vaping fever heats up

Local TV stations already shunning ads; Juul halts all advertising  (Editor’s Note: This story was originally published on September 22 and has been updated.) With complaints from viewers increasing on social media and users being hospitalized (including a few in the Chicago area), three major media companies announced they were no longer accepting advertising for vaping products and e-cigarettes. WarnerMedia, […]

T Dog’s Think Tank: “It’s not you, it’s me”

WPWR-CW breakup illustrates how some affiliate partnerships don’t work The major networks have enjoyed long, prosperous relationships with their affiliates. For example, Milwaukee’s WTMJ, St. Louis’ KSDK, and Cincinnati’s WLWT each has enjoyed a long relationship with NBC dating back to the late 1940s. CBS and New Orleans’ WWL have been partners since 1957. And ABC and Dallas’ WFAA go […]

Chet Coppock dies in car crash

Legendary sports anchor, radio host, and author was 70. (Editor’s Note: Correction made to date when crash happened. – T.H.) In news shocking everyone in Chicago sports and media circles, legendary sports anchor Chet Coppock died Wednesday from injuries sustained in a car crash near Hilton Head, S.C. on April 6. Coppock was a major influence on numerous media personalities […]

The bidding war is on for 21st Century Fox

Comcast, Verizon throw their hats into the ring The possible sale of 21st Century Fox’s assets has now become an all-out battle royale. CNBC reported Thursday its parent company Comcast is now exploring joining in the race to buy the studio and the Wall Street Journal reported that Verizon has also joined in. They join Disney in seeking the rights […]

Trump’s tweets about NBC, broadcast networks draw fire

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 […]

T Dog Media’s Notepad: ABC 7 leads in social media rankings

Tamron Hall seeking talk show; Hulu strikes deal for Bob’s Burgers, Futurama, and more; DuckTales returns on Aug. 12   Now you can add social media to ABC 7’s dominance: according to Share Rocket data over the last thirty days, the ABC-owned station ranks first in social media usage with an overall share of 33.8, followed by Fox 32’s 31.2, and […]

Chicago’s NBC, Fox stations sell spectrum

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 […]

T Dog’s Media Notebook: WGN-AM extends deals for Cochran, Manley

WFLD finally launches 5 p.m. newscast ABC’s game show block off to good start Sorry, Cochran haters: As first reported by Robert Feder Monday, WGN-AM morning personality Steve Cochran has re-upped with the Tribune Media station through 2020. Cochran had been with the station off-and-on since 2000 but was off it in 2010 after being fired by former WGN program […]

The CW exchanges WGN-TV for WPWR

WGN-TV to drop CW affiliation in September; moves to Fox-owned WPWR Tribune Broadcasting renews agreement to carry CW programming in twelve markets Tribune Broadcasting finally renewed its CW affiliations this weekend. But in a surprise move, it didn’t renew its affiliation with WGN-TV in Chicago. Where The CW affiliation wound up is a even bigger surprise. As first reported by Robert […]

WMAQ pulls off 10 p.m. news upset

Beat WLS-TV in key news demo for the first time in nearly 20 years Dispute in 10 p.m. news race in Milwaukee The last time WMAQ won the 10 p.m. news race in adults 25-54 demo, Ron Magers and Carol Marin were still anchoring, ER was the hottest show on television, and Jay Leno was hosting the Tonight Show. Nineteen […]

Chicago’s late newscasts continues to lose steam

              Maybe Chicago viewers are tired of hearing about all the shootings and murders. Maybe viewers are tired of the constant weather hype, even when its nice and only 75 degrees. Maybe viewers are tired of the Breaking News and Developing Story monikers every four goddamn minutes. Or maybe viewers are just tired (and […]

Viewers flee Chicago’s evening, late newscasts

Chicago’s news stations might want to rethink their news presentations. An analysis of May local news sweeps numbers in the adult 25-54 demographic in the nation’s ten largest DMAs from TVNewsCheck showed Chicago’s local newscasts losing ground faster than those in New York and Los Angeles. In fact, Chicago’s 21 percent drop overall was second only to Boston (down 23 percent.) […]

Blackhawks sign with WGN-TV

The Chicago Blackhawks announced on Tuesday that the team’s entire 82-game schedule will be shown on television. And this is not – I repeat, not – an April Fool’s joke. The Blackhawks signed a deal with WGN-TV on Tuesday, making 20 or so games available to the Tribune-owned station, marking the first time since 1980 games have been made available […]