Jennifer Hudson lands new talk show at Fox-owned stations

  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 […]

The Media Notepad: Marquee’s future getting on Dish looks very bleak

Also: Big 3 add overnight news repeats; Fox renews three daytime shows; Disney + signs ten million users; two prime-shows pink-slipped We have an update on the latest with the Cubs’ new Marquee Network and Dish…and I’m guessing those negotiations aren’t going well. In an interview with the Tribune’s Eric Zorn (a rather pointed opinion piece urging Dish not to […]

NBA Finals score highest ratings in nineteen years

Third straight Warriors-Cavs matchup sends viewers through the entrances Despite a few games in boring blowout territory, the 2017 NBA Finals matchup between the Golden State Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers drew the highest ratings for a NBA Finals matchup in nineteen years. According to Nielsen, the series drew  20.4 million viewers – the most on average since 1998 when […]

T Dog’s Media Notepad: WGN-TV succeeds with annual toy drive

Also: The Wall off to a decent start; WCIU to showcase local comedians; Drew Barrymore talker on hold; Fox duopoly picks up another show. WGN-TV held its fourteenth annual Drive-Thru Toy Drive on Thursday to benefit needy families in Chicago and the Tribune-owned independent collected nearly 14,000 unwrapped toys at the event held at the station. Award-winning actress and singer […]

The Grab Bag: "Entertainers with Garry Meier"

Here’s what going on: – WGN-AM’s Garry Meier is starring in his own TV special, set to air on WCIU July 11 at 10:30 p.m, titled The Garry Meier Special. Among the featured interviews: George Wendt (Cheers), Cubs broadcaster Len Kasper, Richard Lewis (Anything But Love), Tim Kazurinsky, and the lady who pick the lottery numbers. This sounds awfully like […]

WBBM-TV 10 p.m. news soars in the ratings

Leno hampering NBC affiliates’ late news; other November “sweeps” notes ABC-owned WLS-TV dominated the ratings in households and key demos in the just concluded November “sweeps” period (do we still have those in this LPM era?) but it was the two other network O&Os who made headlines. NBC-owned WMAQ-TV slipped to third place in households at 10 p.m., behind a […]

Local May sweeps numbers, Part 1

Overall analysis: While the major networks lost steam in the recently concluded May sweeps, many local stations actually saw increases year-to-year in late news and in other time periods. Translation: Viewers are tuning out the prime-time shows on the major networks, but not local programming or local news on their affiliates. Boston: CBS-owned WBZ-TV pulled off a major upset by […]

NBC stations dominate in late news

Remember when I said NBC stations get no help from their network lead-ins, hurting them? Turns out they don’t need them. NBC stations in Boston, Milwaukee, and Baltimore won the 11 p.m. late news races, according to recent July numbers from Nielsen. Among the highlights: Boston: NBC affiliate WHDH won the 11p.m. news race, but finished behind ABC affiliate WCVB-TV […]

Wasted opportunity?

Arthur Greenwald of TVnewsday says that many ABC affiliates are passing up a chance to promote Dancing With the Stars locally. He compares the promo efforts of ABC-owned KABC-TV in Los Angeles, Tribune’s WGNO-TV in New Orleans, and Hearst-Argyle’s WTAE in Pittsburgh (which won in his book for its promo efforts over the Tribune station and the network O&O website.)