President Obama invites Chicago stations to interview him; Robin Rock returns; ABC 7 launches new anti-fake news campaign; Dish Nation returns for two more seasons.; NBC launches new station in Boston; TCA’s Winter Tour begins Thursday was a big day for local Chicago TV news operations as in an unprecedented move, outgoing President Obama gave interviews with all five local […]
Also: CBS 2 adds “Good Wife”, “Blue Bloods” to weekend late fringe On the surface, CBS 2’s decision to expand their weekend newscasts would be greeted with as much enthusiasm as driving on the Eisenhower. But to the political advertising community, the news of a another news expansion was like waking up on Christmas morning. As first reported by Robert Feder Tuesday […]
For CBS’ The Good Wife, life is good… and about to get better. CBS Television Distribution scored a syndication mega-deal for reruns of The Good Wife, with a multiplatform off-network rollout staggered between today (yes… today! This very day!) and September 2014. Good Wife was not only sold to traditional platforms who are regular customers (cable networks and local stations) […]
January is yours truly favorite time of year. Why? (No, its NOT the weather.) This month is home to TCA Winter Press Tour and the National Association of Television Program Executives gatherings take place, with the latter being held later this month. Let the fun begin! This edition – the Winter portion of the tour – is taking place over […]
I guess this isn’t a good thing. Hallmark Channel announced the cancellation of the low-rated The Martha Stewart Show after two low-rated seasons. Part of the reason for the program’s demise was due to the series’ high production costs, which included renting an expensive studio to shoot the show in New York City. This story was first reported on Wednesday […]
It’s not a good thing: “Golden Girls” reruns had more viewers than Martha’s relocated show on Hallmark. The new crop of first-run and off-network/cable fare has gotten off to a slow start with the The Nate Berkus Show leading the pack with a 1.2 household Nielsen Overnight rating in its first two days. How low is this number? Back in […]
Stations are hoping to strike it rich with “The Nate Berkus Show”. While the official start of the 2010-11 television season is only a week away, syndicators rolled out their new programs this week per tradition, with several new faces. One is interior designer Nate Berkus, who hosts his own talk show courtesy of Sony Pictures Television. A lot of […]
In what can be described as very good news for the NBC owned-and-operated stations, the group acquired Sony’s new daytime talk show from Nate Berkus for airing this fall. The deal includes WMAQ-TV locally. According to the New York Times, all ten NBC-owned stations are carrying the show. The move is part of a huge shakeup of the NBC O&Os […]
Martha Stewart is pulling an Oprah Winfrey – only difference is she’s leaving a year earlier. In news that caught NBC Universal off guard, Martha Stewart Living Enterprises announced The Martha Stewart Show is moving from first-run syndication after five years to cable’s Hallmark Channel, this coming September. The daily one-hour strip will be a part of a block of […]
As you know (or may not know), the Television Critics Association (or TCA) Press Tour is underway in Los Angeles, with cable nets rolling out its programs over the next couple of days: –Hallmark: The network’s original programming on tap this fall includes stars Jane Seymour, Ed Asner, Cheech Marin, Florence Henderson, and Donna Mills (If it features Donna Mills, […]
The Golden Girls is shifting from long-time cable home Lifetime to the Hallmark Channel, effective early next year. The off-network sitcom has been a constant performer on Lifetime, drawing new generations of viewers that never saw the program during its original seven-season run on NBC (1985-92.) However, ratings have been declining over the years, and Lifetime felt the program has […]
Hallmark Channel has snapped up the cable rights to several off-network programs owned by CBS Television Distribution. Among them include Cheers, I Love Lucy, and 7th Heaven. I Love Lucy and Cheers currently air on TV Land. Viacom owns TV Land and once owned the rights to Lucy and Cheers, but those went to CBS after the 2006 split that […]
Aside from the Amy Jacobson junk going on, there is something else of note going on in the television industry: The critics press tour. Here is a detailed analysis of what’s on tap this fall from HBO, Hallmark, and Lifetime.