The latest

The XM/Sirius merger is on the clock

No, we’re not back to our lame “on the clock” anthology before the NFL draft…. but the XM/Sirius merger really is on the clock. The FCC has accepted the application for the merger, and now it has started the unofficial 180-day period of reviewing the deal. Comments and petitions for and against the deal are due July 9 and responses […]

The Summer of Woe

In the Rash Report from Ad Age, Josh Rash of Minneapolis ad agency Campbell Mithun, discusses the stumbling summer season so far – from barely non-existent Stanley Cup ratings to disappointing ratings for Game 1 of the NBA Finals, from lackluster premieres of summer shows to viewers tuning out repeats on the broadcast networks – in favor of fresh fare […]

Showdown looming in Congress over Internet radio

It looks like the fate of Internet radio is going to hinge on Congress. Four major companies who stream on the web – RealNetworks, Yahoo, Pandora, and Live 365 sent letters to all 535 members of Congress regarding the increase of royalties that will have to be paid effective on July 15, with rates that were retroactive to January 2006 […]

CRTC approves CTV-CHUM marriage

Canada’s version of the FCC, the Canadian Radio and Telecommunications Commission, approved the merger between CTV Globemedia and CHUM, Ltd. However, the comission did not approve thhe transdfer of five television stations – in Toronto, Winnipeg, Edmonton, Calgary, and Vancouver, given the fact that CTV already owns a television station in each market. Hadn’t it done so, it would have […]

Zakk Tyler out at the Loop

WLUP-FM, or The Loop, has dumped afternoon personality Zakk Tyler after two years of underperforming ratings in the afternoon time slot. A rotating wheel of guest jocks will fill in until a new afternoon show is ready. A lot of people have criticized Tyler for his obvious lack of talent. Who knew?

"Pirate Master" walks the plank

Let’s play the analogy game: Survivor is to Pirate Master as is Scooby-Doo is to Goober and the Ghost Chasers. Okay, Anyone wants to take bets on how long Pirate Master will last? Judging by the ratings, this show should be banished to Saturday Mornings like Goober (which also wasn’t a ratings winner.)

"House of Payne" rocks in debut

In what could be a very good sign for broadcast stations (such as WCIU) who bought the show (and for Lionsgate-owned syndicator Debmar-Mercury), Tyler Perry’s House Of Payne premiered to big numbers last night on TBS – with a 3.2 household Nielsen rating and 5 share, up 94 percent from its Everybody Loves Raymond lead-in (1.6/3). Not only that, the […]

"Jericho" to return!

“But stop sending us nuts”, says CBS Entertainment President Nina Tassler, fearing that someone at the network may have peanut allergies (yeah, right.) The fans got a seven episode renewal for midseason.

Tyra takes talk show to New York

Her daytime talk show, going into its third season, is moving to New York this fall. Will “Top Model” follow? It would be nice for Tyra Banks’ reality show to go back where it belongs.

Barely done

One thing Barely Today didn’t want to do is barely get viewers. As a result, NBC-owned WMAQ-TV has dropped the show and will expand its morning newscast to 4:30 a.m. starting Monday, where Barely Today previously aired. The program was hosted by Bruce Wolf, who will now be reassigned to sports anchoring and reporting duties during the morning newscast.

Playoffs? Playoffs? Mora demoted, Johnson promoted

No, we’re not talking about former NFL coach Jim Mora talking about not going to the playoffs. But if WBBM’s newscasts were a sports team, it wouldn’t make the playoffs. And as a result, changes must be made. And so, Antonio Mora is out and Rob Johnson is in after a shakeup at CBS-owned WBBM-TV’s perennially low-rated 10 p.m. newscast. […]

NBC scores lowest ratings in history last Saturday

With what else? The Stanley Cup Finals, of course. And the Canadian posters are blaming the United States’ love of mindless dramas and even more mindless reality TV for the very low Stanley Cup ratings, never mind that eight of the top ten highest-ranked programs on Canadian TV two weeks ago were U.S. programs like American Idol and CSI. Of […]

"Jericho" to return?

All right, so CBS didn’t have to deal with bags and bags of peanuts back in the day when there were fan campaigns to save Cagney & Lacey and Designing Women. But it’s not the ’80’s anymore, isn’t it? Taking a page from the Roswell playbook (except it was bottles of Tabasco sauce that was sent to UPN), fans sent […]