Comes at a time of uncertain future for local institution While all the hoopla was over WGN-TV celebrating its 75th year of broadcasting, let’s not forget there’s another station celebrating its 75th, too. ABC-owned WLS-TV, branded as ABC 7 since the 1990s, celebrated its 75th on September 17. Although there was no two-hour special to comminate the occasion like WGN’s, […]
New shows dot local schedules The new television season outside of prime-time begins Monday and you will see some new faces and new places. For one, Jay Leno is returning to daily TV seven years after he left The Tonight Show for a second time. Now, he’s taking his act to earlier time slots with his new You Bet Your […]
Tamron Hall shifts to ABC 7; WGN-TV launches new morning show As expected, ABC 7 (WLS-TV) acquired the rights to Tamron Hall’s talk show to replace Windy City Live in the 1 p.m. time slot beginning September 6, when it starts its third season. The move was too easy to predict – ABC 7 and Hall’s show share a corporate […]
Cancellations a blow to local TV production The pandemic has thrown a wrench into local TV revenues and the latest reflection of the tough times came within the last few days as two well-known local TV shows are ceasing production. ABC-owned WLS-TV/ABC7 announced the end of local talk show Windy City Live as a weekday strip after ten seasons Wednesday, […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 — […]
Cancellation comes as a bit of a surprise as self-help guru could not catch up to Clarkson, Hall in freshman talk show race In a surprise move, it’s over and out for The Mel Robbins Show after Sony Pictures Television announced it isn’t bringing back the series for a second season. This comes as Sony – who was considering renewing […]
Disney Plus made the biggest splash of the year 2019 saw the end of several institutions, big media battles, and disappointing sports teams. Let’s start with the huge changes in big media, as Disney closed on its purchase of the 20th Century Fox film studio and Viacom reuniting with CBS again with a new name (ViacomCBS) as the race […]
Lack of room on WLS-TV’s schedule leads Disney/ABC to sublicense program to WCIU In an interesting twist, Weigel Broadcasting-owned WCIU announced Thursday the acquisition of Tamron Hall’s new talk show and is airing in primetime at 8 p.m., beginning in September, after WLS-TV’s weeknight 7 p.m. newscast on the station. The news was first reported by Robert Feder Thursday morning. […]
Led by Kelly Clarkson and Tamron Hall, new shows aim for time slots With the 57th National Association of Television Programming Executive convention set to start this coming Tuesday from the Fontianebleau Hotel in Miami, there is actually something to talk about regarding syndication in 2019, in vast contrast to previous years. That’s because syndicators are actually offering new […]
ABC 7 to carry local show in unspecified time period In an expected move, Disney/ABC’s new Tamron Hall daytime talk show strip has found a home on the eight ABC-owned-and-operated stations, covering 23 percent of the country. In addition to ABC 7 here (WLS-TV), other clearances include WABC in New York, KABC in Los Angeles, WPVI in Philadelphia, and KTRK […]
Development swings into full gear as stations prepare for 2019 With the new fall syndication season beginning in less than a month, distributors are already lining up for fall 2019 – at least in daytime. Last week, two faces took in the lead in development: NBCUniversal has signed American Idol winner and The Voice judge Kelly Clarkson for a talk […]
With NATPE arriving this week, it’s nothing but slim pickings as veteran shows continue to have shows locked up Looking for something new in syndication for 2018? You might want to stop. With buyers and sellers descending to Miami this week for the 56th National Association of Television Programming Executives gathering, the syndicated marketplace for new shows is lackluster in […]
Media outlets looking for boost – even those who aren’t carrying games For better or worse, the worldwide spotlight on Chicago lately hasn’t been a positive one: the city continues to make headlines for its gun violence epidemic, as Republican Presidential nominee Donald Trump has name-dropped Chicago every chance he got as a symbol of what’s wrong in America – […]