Threatens to pull ABC and ESPN channels a week from now As hinted at for the last few weeks, Google’s YouTubeTV and The Walt Disney Company are involved in a standoff over a new deal, with Disney warning customers they may lose their channels on October 30 at 11 p.m. CT if an agreement isn’t reached. Disney owns ESPN, Disney […]
Sets stage for heated U.S.-Canada battle tonight – and has a unique connection to an event in the same building 28 years ago [This post was updated February 15 at 11:55 p.m.] Even though this writer had no interest whatsoever (until they started fighting nine seconds into the U.S./Canada game Saturday) in a contrived quick cash-grab tournament (which is working […]
Major acquisition is a game changer for streaming In a major move signaling a tremendous shift for streaming – and continued dominance over its studio peers for some time to come, Netflix and the WWE announced the company’s flagship Raw program will be moving to the streamer in January 2025 in a ten-year, $5 billion deal. This means Raw is […]
Smackdown returns to broadcast TV AND Friday nights Further signaling a shift away from scripted fare, Fox is expected to land rights to WWE Smackdown, taking over the rights in October 2019. In addition, the series would return to Friday nights. Fox reportedly is paying one billion dollars in a five-year deal lasting through 2024. Fox pounced after NBCUniversal passed […]
WLS-TV (ABC 7) sent Ron Magers off in style Wednesday night as viewers tuned in en masse to see him anchor his final newscast, earning a time-period winning 10.0 rating in live-plus-same day households according to Robert Feder. ABC 7 Also won the May sweeps at 10 p.m., but finished behind NBC-owned WMAQ (NBC 5) at 10 in the 25-54 demo. Another […]
SportsCenter’s package on Wrestlemania XXXI shows us even the WWE is now gaining legitimate sports’ respect SportsCenter, the news of record when it comes to sports highlights, showed some of WrestleMania XXXI, the biggest WWE event of the year. The move took a lot of people by surprise – even die-hard wrestling fans who later praised ESPN for showing […]
The 2015 Oscars telecast declines from last season Mirroring the film industry, The 87th Academy Awards saw some major ratings declines from a year ago. According to Nielsen, the Neil Patrick Harris-hosted extravaganza drew 36.6 million viewers and a 10.8 rating among adults 18-49. While any network or TV station would kill for those numbers, the Oscars were down considerably from […]
The recent confrontation between WLS-AM host Bruce Wolf and African-American traffic reporter Kelli Walker just goes to show you what a complete embarrassment Chicago radio is, and the media industry is in general. In case you haven’t heard (and that’s most of you), Walker “threw some shade” at Wolf on the morning of November 18 over the issue of racism on the air […]
After weeks of wavering, the broadcast networks finally canceled some freshman primetime shows. Last week, NBC canceled Thursday night comedies Bad Judge and A to Z, two shows who never had a chance to succeed, given they were just time-filler material for the network until The Blacklist takes over their slot in February. On Sunday, Fox finally got rid of […]
HBO, CBS bypass middlemen to provide content to you, the customer If there was a turning point in the cord-cutting movement, remember this week. HBO announced it was launching a streaming service on Wednesday, attempting to attract those “cord-nevers”, the term thrown around for those who refuse or can’t afford to subscribe to cable or satellite. It was followed by […]
Cedric also leaves Millionaire, but new host already lined up Fox cancels Almost Human – On Wednesday, Gallup released a poll showing half of Illinois’ residents would move out of the state if they could. Well, one lucky resident just hit the jackpot. Jim Richards, who was the operations manager for classic rock WLUP-FM and alternative WKQX, is being transferred […]
It’s official: the alternative rock format, which vanished from the 101.1 frequency in 2011 after Merlin Media took over, returned Friday morning at 9 a.m. prompt, simulcasting sister station WKQX/87.7 FM for a period of 30-45 days. The move came a week after Cumulus announced it was taking over operations of three Merlin Media stations in Chicago. According to Radio […]
– Seth MacFarlane teaches fans a lesson – but it’s not the one you think – A test of fan loyalty – Jumping With The Sharks Yours truly was in the process of writing a Think Tank about Brian Griffin, the dog who died on Family Guy recently, and how it would affect the program going forward, both creatively […]
A bunch of items in this week’s Grab Bag: – Is Robin Robinson on her way out at Fox-owned WFLD? Sure looks like it: According to a report surfacing a little over a week ago at Chicagoland Radio and Media, Robinson is expected to depart when her contract expires later this year. Robinson is the longest-tenured anchor at WFLD, being […]
Some sad news to start off this edition of notations: Emmy-award winning actress Kathryn Joosten died on Sunday after a long battle with lung cancer at the age of 72. She was best known for her portrayal of presidential secretary Mrs. Landingham on The West Wing, and most recently, the nosy neighbor on Desperate Housewives. Born in Eustus, Fl. in […]
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