T Dog’s Media Notepad: “Supergirl” could fly to CW
With the upfronts a little over a week away, reports are surfacing on not if Supergirl is coming back next season but where: The Wrap is reporting Warner Bros. Television is discussing a plan to move the freshman drama from CBS to The CW next year, where CBS and Warner Bros. have a 50/50 interest. There are concerns if the deal goes through, there would be severe budget cuts – CBS paid $3 million per episode for Supergirl this season, and The CW isn’t known for big-budget dramas, though the show would be a perfect fit with Arrow and The Flash, the former crossed over with Supergirl earlier this season. No
Another factor is room: CW renewed all of its shows for next season, and finding room for Supergirl could be tough. And no matter what network (or platform) the show lands, Supergirl may relocate production from Los Angeles to Vancouver in a budget-cutting move.
And you also have to consider CW and Tribune have yet to agree on an affiliation deal – the current pact expires in three months.
Stay tuned.
Meanwhile, CBS announced it has renewed Criminal Minds for a twelfth season and Fox has picked up Family Guy for another year as part of an overall deal with its creator Seth MacFarlane, who is planning to create, write, and star in a untitled sci-fi dramedy scheduled to launch in the 2017-18 season. Not part of that deal however, is animated sitcom Bordertown, which is likely to end after one season.
At least the Blackhawks won something…. Game 7 of the first-round playoff between Chicago and the St. Louis Blues broke a viewership record for CSN Chicago on April 26, drawing a whopping 19 household live-plus- same day rating, peaking at a 23.9 at 10:00 p.m., when Chicago’s local stations are airing their local newscasts. In the adults 25-54 demo, the game drew a 15.8 rating.
The numbers gave CSN a first-place finish for the entire evening, topping prime-time programming on the big five broadcast networks and even topped dominant game shows Wheel Of Fortune and Jeopardy.
The game also scored nationally, drawing 1.35 million for NBCSN, the most viewers for a first-round playoff game in the network’s history, peaking at 2 million viewers at 11 p.m.ET (NBCSN’s coverage was blacked out in Chicago and St. Louis, where the game aired on Fox Sports Midwest. The game in St. Louis drew a 19.6 rating.)
Regardless of whether the Blackhawks won or lost, all playoff games from the second-round forward are exclusive to NBC and/or NBCSN. Unfortunately for them, one of the NHL’s strongest draws is now out of the playoffs with the Game 7 loss.
The ongoing saga at Tribune Publishing and its pretend mogul Michael Ferro continues: Tribune Publishing has rejected an offer by Gannett to buy the company as the Trib’s shareholders voted down the plan. Instead, Ferro is envisioning a plan to became a megabrand on the west coast, where in addition to the Chicago Tribune, Ferro also controls the Los Angeles Times and San Diego Union-Tribune. Ferro also wants to open seven international news bureaus, which sounds expensive at a time when newspaper companies are losing money.
Through his ownership of Merrick Media, the former owner of the Sun-Times bought a controlling stake in Tribune Publishing, owners of the Chicago Tribune. Since his arrival, Ferro transferred his Splash Magazine from the Sun-Times to the Tribune.
Second largest-shareholder OakTree Capital is urging Ferro to at least meet with Gannett over the offer, and he be wise to do so. But one thinks it’ll be a matter of time before Ferro
Remember the T Dog Media TV Hall Of Shame? It’s been awhile since it’s been updated – December 2014 to be exact. But we have some new shows to induct! And they are:
The Millers (CBS, 2013-15) Hapless sitcom with Will Arnett as a newscaster who deals with his now-divorced parents who drive him crazy. Cue the laugh track.
FABLife (Syndicated, 2015-16) Tyra Banks in a panel daytime talk show who, among others included Chrissy Teigen and a “YouTube star”. Seeing this was a bad idea from the start, Banks left the show two months into its run.
First Take (ESPN 2, 2007-). Since 2012, this pathetic daytime talk show featured sports “columnists” Skip Bayless and Stephen A. Smith yelling at one another and making idiotic comments.
SexBox (We, 2015). Um, WTF is this? A couple bang each other in a “box” on stage and tell about their “experience” to a psychologist in front of a studio audience in hopes to improve their “relationship”? Are you kidding me? Perhaps the most odious concept ever developed for TV, SexBox lasted just five episodes, five more than necessary.
Truth Be Told (NBC, 2015). Truth be told: this sitcom sucked.
Wicked City (ABC, 2015). A serial killer prays upon women in Los Angeles in 1982. The concept was dated and stamped in 1969, telling you how stale this crap is.
To see the complete list of horrid, stenchable television, click here.