Sci fi’s hot, except in syndication
Ratings are down for the majority of off-network sci-fi repeats in weekend syndication. A better way to put it: Who’s at home at 3 p.m. on a Saturday afternoon to watch a Smallville rerun?
TCA News: CBS
Today was CBS’ turn at the press tour. And there is a lot to cover: – CBS President Nina Tassler declined to answer questions about Mandy Patinkin’s departure from the hit crime drama Criminal Minds, which can be attributed to “creative differences”. Patinkin left former CBS show Chicago Hope after one season only to return much later. -Tassler also admitted […]
Program Partners scores coup in New York
Let’s Play Crosswords, the new game show from small syndicator Program Partners, nabbed a big timeslot in the biggest market in the country – by getting the 4 p.m. time slot on WNBC-TV in New York City. This comes as syndicators are gearing up to launch their new shows in September. (registration may be required to click on link) Among […]
Wallace named head of NBC-owned stations
NBC Universal announced this morning that John Wallace will succeed Jay Ireland as president of the NBC-owned stations (Ireland took a position with GE Capital management. GE owns NBC Universal.) Wallace will report directly to NBC Universal President and CEO Jeff Zucker. NBC owns and operates ten English-language stations in New York (WNBC), Los Angeles (KNBC), Chicago (WMAQ), Philadelphia (WCAU), […]
Try, try again
The fights continues between the city’s media outlets and community activist groups. Chicago Media Action has asked the FCC to reconsider its decision to turn down license renewal challenges at several Chicago and Milwaukee television stations (fifth item.) This comes after a new study by a University of Wisconsin study citing the lack of coverage of local governmental elections in […]
More NBC from the press tour
More nuggets from the NBC portion of the press tour: – NBC has signed disposed Grey’s Anatomy star Isiah Washington to appear in five episodes of The Bionic Woman, which debuts this fall. – Jerry Seinfeld will appear on the season premiere of 30 Rock, while Alec Baldwin will stay with the show. Last spring, he wanted out of the […]
WTMJ, WGBA get "Better"
Journal Broadcasting’s NBC affiliates in Wisconsin, WTMJ in Milwaukee and WGBA-TV in Green Bay, will begin airing a new show from Meredith Broadcasting called Better, a new daily lifestyle hour that was tested on Meredith’s two Fox affiliates in Las Vegas and Portland, Ore. In those two cities, the program perform strongly in the ratings. The program also cleared Journal’s […]
10,000 reasons not to go to a Phillies game
This has nothing to do with media, but it’s worth noting: The Philadelphia Phillies lost their 10,000 game on Sunday losing to the St. Louis Cardinals. Must be a great landmark to lose more games than Charlie Brown’s baseball team.
NBC shakes things up
It seems to be tradition at the TCA press tour that NBC changes its fall schedule once that it is out. But they have a good excuse this time. At TCA, the peacock network unveiled some changes to its prime-time lineup, with NBC moving Chuck to 7 p.m. (CT) Mondays while Deal or No Deal goes to Friday at the […]
TCA news: Cablepoolloza continues
More news from the Television Critics Association tour in L.A. : -Discovery is celebrating the 20th anniversary of Shark Week, from July 29 to August 4, with all sharks, all the time. The marathon will also feature footage of Amy Jacobson’s appearance at the Stebic House two weeks ago, in which her career – and local news – jumped the […]
Renewal news
Though not at the TCA Press Tour, two major syndicators have big news of their own: – As expected, NBC Universal has renewed Jerry Springer and Maury on the Tribune stations that currently carries them until 2010. Sinclair stations in Pittsburgh, Columbus (OH), and Cincinnati also renewed the duo. Separately, Maury was also renewed on Tribune’s WGN-TV in Chicago and […]
T Dog Media Blog Think Tank: Local media blows it again
From the blog that gave you “The NHL blows it again” and “Radio blows it again”, now we proudly present “Local media blows it again.” Yes, we now have a “blows it again” franchise. As you know by now, Amy Jacobson, a reporter for NBC-owned WMAQ-TV in Chicago was fired from her job after a video surfaced of her at […]
TCA news
From the Television Critics Association tour: -The Disney Channel will premiere a sequel to the phenomenonal movie High School Musical called High School Musical 2 on August 17 (now that’s an original name.) -Snoop Dogg amd Missy Elliott will be toasted in latest installment of VH-1’s Hip Hop Honors due to air in October, while gossip queen (yes, I said […]
NBC vs. Fox
The only difference between this rivalry and the Yankees-Red Sox one is that people actually care about the latter one. Still, for TV fans, this one is going to be an interesting one to watch, with former NBC exec Kevin Reilly now at Fox and two karaoke-contest series are hitting the airwaves at the same time on their respective networks […]
The ultimate insult
It’s worst enough the Chicago media has been angering everyone with the shenanigans over the Amy Jacobson- Craig Stebic controversy, and now ESPN has decided to join in, at least angering White Sox fans. In a SportsNation poll, ESPN asked viewers “Which sports team do you most associate with Chicago?” and listed were the Bulls, Cubs, Bears, and even the […]