Joins ABC 7 and WGN in doing so with special segments So far, 2023 saw ABC’s WLS-TV and Nexstar’s WGN-TV mark their 75th anniversaries, the latter with a two-hour special. And now NBC-owned WMAQ-TV (branded as NBC 5 and NBC Chicago locally) is also joining the party. Several WMAQ alumnus will be joining the station for special segments during the […]
Drastically different schedules begins today (Editor’s Note: This post was updated on September 17.) There are a ton of changes in television outside of prime-time with the new season beginning today. For one, there is no more Ellen DeGeneres as she danced off the stage last spring while Maury Povich and his paternity tests retired to Florida, leaving us with […]
Ellen DeGeneres’ show also ends today [Editor’s Note: There is an update on Ellen’s show below.] One of Chicago’s longest-tenured sports anchors is ending his run today. Dan Roan quietly announced his retirement several months ago and made his plans to depart May 26. WGN-TV paid homage to him during their newscasts and on GN Sports half-hour show in a […]
Fox 32 to air new show in fall Chicago-born Grammy, Emmy, and Oscar-award winning actress Jennifer Hudson’s new talk show from Warner Bros. is officially a firm go for September with a wide-ranging deal with the Fox-owned stations, including Fox 32 (WFLD) here. The program is also landing on Fox-owned WNYW New York and KTTV Los Angeles in nation’s […]
Oscar-winner in talks with Warner Bros. The first project in development in syndication next fall is a big one: a show featuring Chicago native Jennifer Hudson. While there were rumors circulating in the last few weeks, Variety confirmed Thursday a show from Warner Bros. is in development with Hudson, a local woman who rose to fame on American Idol in […]
Move adds more programs to Fox’s syndication portfolio In a surprising move reported last month, WarnerMedia parent AT&T is in talks to sell its TMZ franchise to Fox Corp. Today, the deal became official according to Deadline. TMZ consists of the gossip website and the two syndicated television shows they spun off of, TMZ (alternatively titled TMZ on TV) and […]
Includes NBC 5 in Chicago Quickly removing any speculation, the NBC-owned stations announced they were slotting sister company NBCUniversal Syndication Services’ Kelly Clarkson Show in the time period now occupied by Ellen starting in September 2022. This means Clarkson is replacing Ellen into the plum 3 p.m. real estate spot on ten NBC-owned stations, including NBC 5 (WMAQ-TV) here in […]
Announcement gives NBC-owned stations time to develop a replacement in ’22 We now know the fate of Ellen DeGeneres’ talk show as she is officially calling it quits after next season, with the NBC-owned stations and others now looking forward to programming options for September 2022. One immediate beneficiary is Kelly Clarkson, who could slide in to the 3 p.m. […]
NBCUniversal gives vote of confidence to singer Fans of The Kelly Clarkson Show got an early Christmas present last week as NBCUniversal announced a two-season renewal for the hit Emmy-Award winning daytime talk show, taking it through 2023. “One ray of sunshine in this wildly unpredictable year is that we get to continue to deliver to stations and fans a […]
Pandemic, shifting audiences makes it challenging for stations and syndicators Generally, I write these state of syndication articles in January before the NATPE gathering in Miami. But as we know, there has been nothing normal about the current times we live in, the television business included (and of course, NATPE isn’t likely happening as a traditional gathering in 2021.) […]
Drew Barrymore show set to debut Monday – on TWO local stations [Editor’s Note: An earlier draft listed incomplete time period information for Law & Crime Daily and The First 48. This post was updated on September 19.] With Nick Cannon’s new syndicated talk show on the shelf for another year, it’s just Drew Barrymore as the lone new syndicated […]
Internet’s having fun on who would replace her after several high-profile miscues, but with a contract running through 2022, it may be impossible [This post has been updated.] After several high-profile incidents regarding Ellen DeGeneres and her talk show amid viewers stampeding for the exits, is it time for the veteran talk show host to call it a career? Speculation […]
Also: Jonathan Brandmeier returns with a podcast; daytime talkers perform from home; changes at Tamron Hall. Even though iHeartMedia and other radio companies are either furloughing or laying off employees due to the loss of advertising revenue caused by COVID-19, one station did manage to announce a promotion: iHeart’s WGCI announced last Tuesday that Zach Boog is the new evening […]
With Tamron Hall and Kelly Clarkson hits, syndication’s doing well thank you very much If you’ve read this blog over the years, I usually write a “state of syndication” article around this time every year as NATPE approaches, and it often wasn’t rosy – especially this piece I wrote in 2016, Charlie Brown dozing off and all. But as we […]
Judge Jerry, Later With Leon also debuted Monday Two of the most talked about names in the last few months finally debuted Monday with NBCUniversal Television Distribution’s Kelly Clarkson and Disney-ABC Domestic Television’s Tamron Hall and both good of to good starts. Clarkson earned an overnight live-day 1.9 household rating and 6 household share according to Nielsen while Hall earned […]