"Match Game" may return
It may happen. Hopefully, the revival is more in the spirit of the Gene Rayburn-hosted version, and not the awful Ross Shafer (1990) and Michael Berger (1998-99)-hosted versions of the series.
Time to get "Lost"
Anticipation is building as ABC begins a new, shortened season of Lost tonight on a new night and in a new time slot (8:00 CT), and with a 3.3 ratings in the money demo (adults 18-49) for a repeat of last night’s season finale from May, expect a big number for the season premiere tonight. Click here to read a […]
Channel 5 to go all out on election night
NBC-owned WMAQ-TV plans to go all out on Super Tuesday primary night with comprehensive coverage on the station and on its’ website. The multi-platform plan go into action at 7 p.m. with coverage on WMAQ and real-time election updates on the station’s website, NBC5.com., with election coverage streamed on the web and on the station’s digital weather channel (WMAQ-DT 5.2.), […]
NATPE News
The latest from the convention: WCIU picks up Judge Penny: Independent WCIU-TV in Chicago picks up its first-ever syndicated program from Program Partners by acquiring the company’s new first-run courtroom strip Family Court with Judge Penny. The program has cleared 70 percent of the country, including Fox-owned stations in New York and Los Angeles. Additional clearances include CBS/CW stations in […]
Wilbon, Payne off air
Wishing a speedy recovery to two on-air personalities: WGN’s Allison Payne, who has been kept off the air due to a series of “mini-strokes”, and to Pardon the Interruption host and Washington Post sportswriter Michael Wilbon, who suffered a mild heart attack over the weekend. To each, get well soon. Updated at 2:30 p.m. (added link to Wilbon story)
Clean sweep?
In all my years of following the syndication business (since 1985, when yours truly at the young age of thirteen read his first NATPE edition of TV/Radio Age), I cannot recall at any time the entire slate of rookie first-run strips that debuted in the fall were renewed for a second season. In fact, go back to the 1990-91 season, […]
Chicago Defender to be weekly only
It looks like the struggling newspaper industry has claimed another victim: The Chicago Defender, the historic African-American newspaper which has struggled for years, is converting from a daily newspaper to a weekly, a move that has been speculated since last summer.The Defender, which drastically scaled back its online presence last year, isn’t laying off employees (which is good) – but […]
NATPE News
– Syndicated repeats of Fox’s hit Bones has been cleared 45 percent of the country, including all of the Fox O&Os, not to mention station groups belonging to CBS, Tribune, and Bahakel. Weekday airings of the program were sold to TNT. -CBS’ Judge Judy has been re-upped until 2012. – As mentioned earlier, Program Partners has renewed Merv Griffin’s Crosswords […]
ACLU lashes out against FCC over decision to fine ABC affils
WARNING: Strong opinions ahead. Reader discretion is advised. Thank you, ACLU for stating what a lot of Americans already know. And of course, the PTC praises the decision over NYPD Blue, the commie bastards that they are.
NATPE is here
The NATPE convention begins today in Las Vegas, and Broadcasting & Cable has a story on what the nation’s 25 largest TV station groups are shopping for next season. One thing is clear: A lot of veteran syndicated programs (Oprah, Wheel, Rachael Ray, People’s Court, etc.) are sold well into the future – for the next four or five years, […]
WLS-TV hit with fine from FCC
As well as every other ABC affiliate in the Central and Mountain time zone for airing a episode of NYPD Blue on Feb. 25, 2003 that contained partial nudity. The fine being proposed is $1.4 million. Only two ABC O&Os (WLS and KTRK-TV in Houston) are named in the action, since the rest of the O&Os fall in the Pacific […]
Randy Salerno dies (Updated)
Sad news to report: Randy Salerno, who co-anchored WBBM-TV’s morning newscast, was killed in a snowmobile accident Thursday night in Eagle River, Wisconsin. Salerno was a Crystal Lake native who worked at TV stations in Albany, N.Y., Peoria, and Rockford before arriving at WGN-TV in 1994, where he was a weekend anchor and general assignment reporter. He also anchored the […]