Strong start for veteran sitcom – and oh yeah…Chicago’s NFL Lakefront Team was also in action The return of Will & Grace to NBC Thursday night went better than expected. The “season nine” comedy – starring Eric McCormick and Debra Messing premiered with a 3.0 adults 18-49 rating – better than any season eight episode eleven seasons ago (in 2005-06) […]
Empire tops in national ratings (Editor’s Note: Excluding the Cubs number, these are final adults 18-49 ratings.) While yours truly should talk about Wednesday night’s prime-time ratings race, you can’t ignore the fact the Chicago Cubs’ return to the postseason is going to have an impact on the broadcast networks. TBS is happy given they have rights to the NLDS […]
Hot drama shows its dominance, helps NBC wins Tuesday night Note: All ratings are adults 18-49, unless otherwise noted. These are final numbers. If you think This Is Us was a fluke last season, things you might want to take a look at these numbers. The hit NBC drama entered its second season Tuesday night with a remarkable 3.9 rating, […]
Sheldon roars right out of the gate and so does Good Doctor (Updated at 4:40 p.m.) Despite hot temperatures throughout much of the country (including Chicago), viewers tuned in for the start of the new fall season on Monday, starting a week later than in recent years. The show industry watchers are keeping an eye on is CBS’ new Big […]
Also: syndicated tabloid TV wars begin; Family Matters house to be demolished; America’s Got Talent outdraws Emmys in ratings It looks like WYCC may not leaving the air after all – the small public-television station scheduled to cease broadcasting October 25, is talking to fellow PBS member WTTW about sharing channel space in a last-ditch effort according to the […]
CNN, Fox News lag in Chicago market – as local news expansion is starting to go bust in some markets You’d think with all the local newscasts saturating Chicago television, there would be a lot of people watching, right? A recent study released has confirmed this fact – but cable news may be another […]
Diversity shines during Emmy telecast, but presentation showcases the worst of Hollywood The 69th Annual Emmy Awards took place Sunday night described as Hollywood’s annual self-congratulatory fest. Oh wait, this takes also place during the Oscars, too. Whatever. The event was televised live to all time zones with Stephen Colbert as host of the festivities. Among notable winners, Sterling K. […]
Also: – Weigel buys stations in three markets – NFL ratings for first week are mixed – Fall syndication update – T Dog Media celebrates annual anniversary for the 11th time as we enter season 12 Ratings for The Orville are finally in and to no one’s surprise, the series generated ample sampling. According to Nielsen, the debut of Seth […]
Why? Bill Maher and former Rep. Joe Walsh have said much worse about African-Americans – and they get to keep THEIR jobs (Editor’s Note: This post has been updated with new information since this was posted. – T.H.) As you know by now, ESPN personality Jemele Hill was reprimanded by the network for tweets she sent on Monday, referring to […]
Also: Dennis Welsh wades into soda tax controversy while his station profits off pro-soda tax ads; Tom Joyner returns to Dallas as Classic Hip-Hop format’s future is questionable; Fox’s late night plans may not include off-network sitcoms The star has fallen: organizers of New Year’s Eve celebration Chi-Town Rising threw in the towel Thursday and announced they would not bring […]
Poor writing, poor acting dooms Orville’s mission As one who used to watch Family Guy way back when, yours truly was a Seth MacFarlane fan. I even attended a live reading for the show ten years ago. But oh my, how times have changed. Outside of the brilliant Cosmos remake from a few years ago, he hasn’t done anything of […]
Rachael Ray returns to WGN; “Mom” gets the shaft in top markets (Editor’s Note: Hurricane Irma coverage may impact the debut of shows in some areas.) The 2017-18 television season doesn’t begin until September 25, but outside of primetime, new programming and schedule changes are occurring as soon as Monday. The biggest news is the debut of Steve Harvey’s new […]
Firing of radio superstar ends long run In a move that was somewhat expected, Hubbard Broadcasting’s WTMX-FM fired Kathy Hart Thursday after she went AWOL from the Eric & Kathy Morning Show. As first reported by Robert Feder, the 53-year old half of the successful morning show on the Hot Adult Contemporary station was handed her walking papers after taking […]
In fact, it’s already here. Deal with Univision puts Justice Network on digital subchannels; has been on WGBO since August Univision announced Wednesday it has struck a deal to put digital subchannel network The Justice Network on several of its stations in large markets, including WGBO in Chicago. Justice has been on WGBO’s digital 66.4 channel since August 7; Univision’s […]
Plus: ABC 7 dominates in ratings AND social media; Minneapolis station latest to drop “My” branding That’s a wrap…for now: Mike North went on television Tuesday night and announced he was “retiring” from sports media, including radio, television, writing, podcasts… you name it. On WTTW’s Chicago Tonight, North told host Phil Ponce talking sports today was just too complicated. He […]