Largest network defection since 1994 when it happened to…CBS With Nexstar acquiring three-fourths of The CW, the network who was once partner in the venture is now dropping the low-rated network from its eight big-market stations by September 1 and is being re-christened as independents. The eight are located in Philadelphia, Atlanta, San Francisco, Seattle, Tampa, Detroit, Sacramento, and Pittsburgh. […]
Johnny Green Jr. becomes first African-American in position in WCBS’s history ViacomCBS announced Wednesday the promotion of interim news director Johnny Green Jr. to president and general manager of WCBS-TV, the CBS flagship station in New York City, becoming the first Black executive to hold the title at the CBS-owned station. “Since returning to CBS nine weeks ago, I have […]
Production commitments likely after station clearances top 70 percent, plus other syndication news of note As expected, new talk shows headlined by former American Idol winner Kelly Clarkson and former WFLD news anchor and Today co-host Tamron Hall received a big boost as both programs announced new stations at the beginning of NATPE from Miami, which begins today. NBCUniversal’s Kelly […]
Plus… HBO Boxing swan song a bust; Judge Joe Brown returns to TV The Monsters Of The Midway are back! Sunday Night Football scored a significant ratings victory with the matchup between two first-place teams: the Los Angeles Rams and Chicago Bears. Being played at a frigid Soldier Field in Chicago, the Bears beat the Rams 15-6, thanks to the […]
Also: Telemundo expands local and national news; Funny You Should Ask renewed through 2021; Fox interested in Sinclair stations You’d think an appearance on a national TV show would be a great thing for your local radio station, right? Well, in this case, it turned out to be a huge nightmare. Alpha Media’s WRXQ-FM in southwest suburban Coal City fired […]
Also: WGN-TV unveils new set and logo; Jon Kelley gets a new gig as host of a syndicated game show; Kathy Hart still MIA; “Wheel” celebrates Chicago In another huge blow to his nationally syndicated radio show, Crawford Broadcasting-owned Soul 106.3 (WSRB-FM) announced Tuesday it was grounding the “flyjock” the syndicated Tom Joyner Morning Show after eight years due to […]
Discussion on Chicago violence draws over a million viewers; also, news on CBS, The Bulls, and Big Bang As gun violence continues to plague Chicago, the national spotlight on the city isn’t dimming anytime soon with MSNBC’s All In With Chris Hayes the latest television program to come here to discuss the issue. Despite a last-minute scheduling change (originally scheduled […]
Sinclair realigns newscasts downstate; talent shows to hit syndication; No one is “asking America” – Remember back in October when yours truly asked if new weekly hour-long game show Monopoly Millionaires’ Club would air in Chicago because Illinois was not participating in the related lottery game? Well, here’s your answer: WGN-TV picked up the new Monopoly game hosted by Mike & Molly’s […]
It was CBS’ turn at the mic at the Television Critics Association press tour last Tuesday, and it featured a surprise cameo appearance from CEO Les Moonves, who filled in for Entertainment president Nina Tassler at the last minute. – Moonves didn’t really get into details regarding the retrans dispute between CBS and Time Warner Cable, hoping it would be […]
The Tribune Co. Unofficially puts its papers on the block; Oscar viewership is up over a year ago; and more Mancow is headed to your TV: – It looks like the Chicago Tribune is up for sale. As first reported by CNBC on Monday, the 166-year old paper and others in the chain are on the block by creditors who […]
After two decades in syndication, an off-network property is getting a facelift Cops, a longtime staple on both Fox and in off-network syndication, is being re-branded by Twentieth Television as Cops Reloaded in broadcast syndication and is being re-formatted an re-edited into different segments appering in the body of the show. For example, one segement could feature a car chase in […]
The CBS-Weigel collation has struck again. CBS Television Distribution cleared TV Land’s off-cable Hot In Cleveland in 65 percent of the country for fall 2014, including WCIU in Chicago and several CBS-owned stations in the nation’s largest markets. This is the same collation that acquired Warner Bros.’ Mike & Molly and 2 Broke Girls for off-network syndication in 2014 and […]
In a sale that could alter the power structure among which station groups purchase off-net sitcoms – and other programming in the future, Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution has sold CBS Monday night comedies Mike & Molly and 2 Broke Girls to Weigel broadcasting’s WCIU in Chicago and to thirteen non-CBS affiliated stations owned by CBS Corporation for fall 2014 […]
The Grab Bag today includes a revival of a classic game show – with a hip-hop bent; a local time slot change for syndicated reruns of 30 Rock; and Chicago lands another reality TV show: – Oprah and Rosie are long gone from the Windy City, but believe it or not, television production is expanding in Chicago – of the […]