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* Your thoughts on Chicago Tonight moving to a half-hour slot at 10 pm? Explain…
Y’all ready? 📺💻 pic.twitter.com/uwlol9zQbs
— Brandis Friedman (@BrandisFriedman) January 23, 2023
…Adding… This story from Crain’s might help you answer the question…
Analysis by the Pew Research Center shows that viewership for local news stations has outpaced cable and network TV, especially in the time slots of evening and late-night news.
Though local news is beating out its counterparts, the move also comes at a time when TV viewership is shrinking overall. Pew Research also shared that “more than eight-in-ten U.S. adults (86%) say they get news from a smartphone, computer or tablet ‘often’ or ’sometimes.’” […]
[Jay Smith, WTTW news director and “Chicago Tonight” executive producer] believes there is enough room for everyone to succeed in the time slot. “I think there are some people that will be happy to have an alternative and happy to have a different type of newscast. Certainly, there are the newscasts that everyone is doing at 10 o’clock (that) serves an audience as well. But I do think there’s an appetite for some kind of deeper reporting, analysis and sort of thoughtful looks into stories that we will be providing at 10 o’clock.” […]
Recently retired media columnist Robert Feder said that the move matters less today than it would have 20 years ago, stating that it’s less about getting a bigger audience and more about their online platform.
posted by Rich Miller
Monday, Jan 23, 23 @ 2:02 pm
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Terrible idea. Going head to head with 4 of the other 5 local stations that already have news at 10. I know they are a different format of news but they had the 7:00 time all to themselves when it came to news. Makes no sense to me.
Comment by Been There Monday, Jan 23, 23 @ 2:07 pm
It puts them in direct competition with the local 10:00 news. They will just become another 10:00 pm newscast. Reducing every show to 1/2 hour will likely mean they won’t have as much time to go in depth on any particular issue.
I like the 7:00 pm time slot because when I am working in the city, it comes on about the time I’ve had a chance to get home and cook dinner and can sit down.
Comment by Facts Matter Monday, Jan 23, 23 @ 2:08 pm
Hate it. Now I have to record and watch the next day. And why did they do that? And why a half hour?
Comment by Wonderful World Monday, Jan 23, 23 @ 2:11 pm
They are going to lose audience share, as I’d like to think the same folks watching “Chicago Tonight” are the same folks that turn to local news at 10 for consumption
Sure, there’s a DVR… but not great news.
Comment by Oswego Willy Monday, Jan 23, 23 @ 2:14 pm
What riveting programming do they think will do better at 7? Antiques Roadshow? Some stuffy BBC production about country doctors? And reducing it to a half hour seems like the first step to cancellation.
Comment by Big Dipper Monday, Jan 23, 23 @ 2:17 pm
Competing with the 10 o’clock news does not seem like such a good idea. Wish the show stayed at its regular time slot. Excellent newsfolk on Chicago Tonight, top-notch.
Comment by Grandson of Man Monday, Jan 23, 23 @ 2:20 pm
It just seems to me like they are looking for an excuse to cancel it. Which will come after it does drop in ratings.
Comment by ddp76 Monday, Jan 23, 23 @ 2:21 pm
Hate it, hate it. WTTW nor Chicago Tonight are really able to compete on the same level as the major networks for local 10pm news, and this will greatly compromise the quality reporting and journalism that we all watch Chicago Tonight for. I religiously watch CT at 7pm, as well as religiously watch other networks at 10pm. Not sure how this is going to change my viewing habits, but I guess I’ll start DVRing CT to see how the program holds up. I’d be surprised if this time and format change lasts too long though, as their ratings will decline substantially.
Comment by Matty Monday, Jan 23, 23 @ 2:24 pm
I started watching Chicago Tonight religiously in 2009 and did you until recently. They were always the best in my view. Middle of the road, would actually have representatives from both sides of an issue or political spectrum.
Now it’s literally so left wing it’s insane. once Phil Ponce left the producers needed to have “black voices” and divisive things they never had before. The coverage obviously became so much more biased and stop having opposing viewpoints on the show. It’s a shell of its former self and I stopped watching and based on this switch I’m sure I’m not the only one. Truth hurts sometimes
Comment by 28th ward Monday, Jan 23, 23 @ 2:25 pm
Agree with Been There.
This is a terrible idea.
The show is not as good as it was in the past, but it is still a good place to get news.
Not sure I will keep tuning in.
Comment by Back to the Future Monday, Jan 23, 23 @ 2:26 pm
“It just seems to me like they are looking for an excuse to cancel it. Which will come after it does drop in ratings.”
Don’t worry, after everyone at Chicago Tonight loses their jobs we’ll still have MAA and all the fake polls she keeps tweeting out. What more could you need to be informed on local politics than to have someone spoon feed you the Northwest Side GOP’s talking points like they were news.
Comment by Larry Bowa Jr. Monday, Jan 23, 23 @ 2:27 pm
===Now it’s literally so left wing it’s insane. once Phil Ponce left the producers needed to have “black voices”===
This says more about you than Chicago Tonight.
What has changed, almost in a simultaneous and unconnected way is the changes in Chicago Tonight and the changes in, say, the 13th, 14th Wards, the Mayor, the County Board… and this need by those not wanting change that is already here.
Comment by Oswego Willy Monday, Jan 23, 23 @ 2:30 pm
7 pm worked well, could watch it after dinner or while cleaning up the kitchen. Plus the double header of PBS NewsHour/Chicago tonight was really good - that will be lost.
Comment by Donnie Elgin Monday, Jan 23, 23 @ 2:30 pm
==What riveting programming do they think will do better at 7? Antiques Roadshow? Some stuffy BBC production about country doctors?==
I mean, for better or worse, those probably will do better numbers…
But the numbers aren’t my problem, so I still hate this move.
Comment by Arsenal Monday, Jan 23, 23 @ 2:34 pm
Not a fan. They deserve a full hour and the original time slot.
Comment by Boone's is Back Monday, Jan 23, 23 @ 2:35 pm
Not at all happy about this time change. I was a loyal viewer but not sure they will catch me at 10.
Seems like this is overwhelmingly agreed bad decision.
Comment by Because I said so... Monday, Jan 23, 23 @ 2:38 pm
Bad idea. Past my bedtime I am probably done with show. Will record it but who knows if I will end up watching it
Comment by DuPage Saint Monday, Jan 23, 23 @ 2:43 pm
I used to enjoy the 11 pm rebroadcast that they removed years ago. If I had something in the evening I could catch after the 10 pm news and Colbert monologue. Now I will either watch Daily Show or 10 pm news. Half hour is certainly not going to allow the full-spectrum of subjects they cover now like culture, neighborhoods, etc.
Comment by Ward Heeler Monday, Jan 23, 23 @ 2:50 pm
WGN is virtually unwatchable with their fear mongering corporate overlords, every other story is about some horrible crime thousands of miles away. The other stations are vapid and weather-centric. Maybe there is a “window” for WTTW.
Comment by Sonny Monday, Jan 23, 23 @ 3:00 pm
$60/year gets you WTTW Passport and you can just stream it whenever.
Comment by Suburban Mom Monday, Jan 23, 23 @ 3:15 pm
For them I think it’s a terrible move. And I’m not a fan of cutting it down to a half hour either. But it won’t affect my viewing habits other than giving me a half hour of my time back. I always recorded it and watched it later. I may actually watch it live once in a while now.
Comment by Joe Bidenopolous Monday, Jan 23, 23 @ 3:19 pm
Oh, and I don’t watch any other local news so the time slot isn’t an issue from that perspective either
Comment by Joe Bidenopolous Monday, Jan 23, 23 @ 3:20 pm
=== I may actually watch it live once in a while now===
Same. I find myself these days not in any mood for news (or, outside of certain sports, any TV) at 7 pm.
Comment by Rich Miller Monday, Jan 23, 23 @ 3:20 pm
Hated it. Carol Marin tried this already. New staff? changes. outs and ins.
Comment by Amalia Monday, Jan 23, 23 @ 3:25 pm
I think the move is bad, but it also means WTTW’s primetime schedule will now be in line with other PBS affiliates across the country. Shows like Frontline always air an hour later here than they do in other markets, so that may be one of the reasons for the move.
As for the local news competition, I really do think Chicago Tonight offers a different product for a different audience. I was just thinking last week about how we’ve never had more hours of local television news, and never had it doing less to actually inform the public.
Comment by Roadrager Monday, Jan 23, 23 @ 3:26 pm
==$60/year gets you WTTW Passport and you can just stream it whenever.==
You can watch it for free on the website the next day. Either the full show or the particular segments of interest. I tend to watch Week in Review on Saturday morning then scroll back for individual stories of interest from that week.
Comment by Big Dipper Monday, Jan 23, 23 @ 3:27 pm
I’ve been watching since it was a half hour interview program with John Callaway. Callaway was first to introduce me to a new, young State Senator- Barack Obama. I later came to understand Obama had a particularly tough question for his staff: Who thought this was a good idea?- and that’s my question for Jay Smith- this is a seriously bad idea.
Comment by West Sider Monday, Jan 23, 23 @ 3:33 pm
WTTW….don’t those call letter stand for Winnetka Talks To Wilmette.
Comment by Jerry Monday, Jan 23, 23 @ 3:49 pm
Above was meant in humor.
Comment by Jerry Monday, Jan 23, 23 @ 3:50 pm
I’ll still watch it at 7 pm, while doing the dishes, it’ll just be the prior day’s show. In bed most nights by 10 pm, and if still awake - don’t want to be thinking about the issues of the day!
Comment by Ashland Adam Monday, Jan 23, 23 @ 4:24 pm
I think it’s a bad move, and feel the show’s future looks dismal.
Comment by Wensicia Monday, Jan 23, 23 @ 4:27 pm
Those of you who record Chicago Tonight and watch later put your thumb on the reason the move could be done–they have the Nielsen numbers to show when you are actually watching the show.
As to the cut to 30 min, maybe it’s something similar: they know which segments are watched on TV and which do better on the web.
Comment by Abu Iskandr Monday, Jan 23, 23 @ 6:11 pm
They also watered down the main show by having segregated Black and Latinx versions. Why not incorporate those stories into the mother ship?
Comment by Big Dipper Monday, Jan 23, 23 @ 6:44 pm
Seems lately that the evening schedule on WTTW and Prime is set by a dart board or roulette wheel. Shows appear and disappear, almost never the same date or time. Think they’re easing Chicago Tonight into cancellation. At 10 pm you want to check out who won and who lost and what tomorrow’s temp and snow/rain chances are.
Comment by West Side the Best Side Monday, Jan 23, 23 @ 6:59 pm
I think they will loose viewership.
Comment by Flexible One Tuesday, Jan 24, 23 @ 12:22 am
I gave it a chance. It was… not good. Downright cringey at times. And if you cut the show down to 26 minutes, why waste so much time with an overly long pseudo-comedy bit about the library and an equally long “grid” feature?
Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Jan 24, 23 @ 8:19 am