The Media Notepad: Marquee sees ratings slide two years after launch

Also: Elon Musk officially takes over Twitter; “The Real Love Boat” becomes the season’s first casualty; “Dr. Phil” drifting toward right-wing propaganda? The new Marquee Sports Network’s fortunes seems to ebb and flow with the Cubs’ performance, and with two consecutive losing seasons, ratings are down. But the picture may not be what it seems. According to a Chicago Tribune […]

“Drew” returning for third season as CBS stations expands local news

  Show will have new format to accommodate local news expansion The struggling Drew Barrymore Show has been renewed for a third season. Making it official, CBS Media Ventures announced Friday that the show is returning for the 2022-23 season, but with a twist – Drew is being split into two half-hours stations can run separately or together as an […]

Fall syndication preview: It’s all Drew

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 […]

Coronavirus update: Local shows shut down production

CW 26’s The Jam, ABC 7’s Windy City Live enter production hiatus The coronavirus epidemic has not only crippled the economy and changed the way we live, but it’s now affected television production in Chicago and nationwide. The latest scheduling changes took place last week when CW 26’s (WCIU) morning show The Jam and ABC 7’s (WLS-TV) Windy City Live […]

Coronavirus fears forces “Wendy Williams”, others to pull live studio audiences

Syndicated, network daytime shows latest to pull audiences due to coronavirus After Sony’s decision to close tapings of Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune to the public as of Monday night due to coronavirus concerns, more shows have followed suit as expected. Tuesday night, Debmar-Mercury and Wendy Williams announced they would not host audiences for their show for now: pic.twitter.com/pM3yZEitZU — […]

The Media Notepad: “Game of Thrones”, Masters score big

Also… Face The Truth won’t be back for a second season; CourTV returns May 8; AT&T sells Hulu strike While HBO turned Chicago’s weather into one big promotional machine (Winter came on Sunday…and left a big, slushy mess), it seemed to have worked: Sunday’s eighth-season premiere of Game Of Thrones proved to be a big draw. The season premiere attracted […]

The state of syndication in 2017

Few first-run series being offered this year as veteran shows – even low-rated ones – continue to roll along As the National Association Of Programming Executives gathering began Tuesday in Miami, stations are firming up their schedules for next fall as first-run and off-network series are being rolled out onto the marketplace. But what has been the norm in previous years, […]

“Goldbergs “sold to WGN-TV, Tribune for 2017

Off-network deals include WGN-TV, WQAD In good news for off-network sitcom-starved stations, Sony Pictures Television announced it has sold ABC Wednesday night sitcom The Goldbergs in syndication starting in the fall of 2017, starting with eighteen Tribune markets. Cash-plus-barter deals include WGN-TV in Chicago and ABC affiliate WQAD-TV in the Quad Cities area, consisting of Davenport, Ia., Rock Island, and Moline, […]

Syndication 2016: Yawn.

Outside of Harry Connick Jr., there’s practically nothing on the market Looking for something new for the fall of 2016 in syndication? Good luck. That’s the consensus as the 2016 market has come to a crawl. Outside of NBCUniversal, who is marketing Harry Connick Jr.’s show this fall and Entertainment Studios pushing a new one-hour panel talk show, syndicators are […]