The incredibly shrinking Chicago Reader

The Chicago Reader, sold recently to Tampa-based Creative Loafing, is cutting the size of its free alternative weekly – and cutting back staff as well – they are asking its drivers to become independent contractors. This comes as the newspaper industry continues to struggle with declining revenues thanks to the move of classified ads to the internet portals like Craigslist, […]

Poll: Americans hate TV more than ever

Man, if you thought radio was a dying medium… according to an AP poll, television is even more so. Not only that, just 7 percent of respondents could name at least one new fall show. I can hear the Prick Tofu Crud popping Welch’s Sparkling Grape Juice corks now….

VMAs draws 7.1 million

Up 23 percent from last year. At least we know now that Britney Spears’ performance had a lot in common with the Bears’ and Browns’ performances on the same day – you know, that aroma you smell when somebody passes gas.

New season in syndication: Day 2

For results on the new first-run and off-network strips, click here. To sum it all up, it may be curtains for Merv Griffin’s Crosswords and Temptation sooner than we think, while I have one word about the ratings for the three new off-network sitcoms that debuted this week: disappointing.

Chances of XM, Sirius merger looks better

Make that much better. And it always helps to have Wall Street in your corner. Analysts are predicting that the XM/Sirius merger may go through as soon as next month, and it looks like the chances of the deal going though looks better than ever – inconceivable when it was announced last February. The FCC however, said that it will […]

Mancow sues Emmis and Q101

Erich “Mancow” Mueller has filed a lawsuit against Emmis Communications, his former employer who dismissed him last year as morning jock at the company’s alternative rock station, WKQX-FM, or Q101. The suit he filed was for $6 million dollars. In the lawsuit, Mueller alleges that Emmis kept him from employing him on another radio station in the market (he nearly […]

Tepid returns for new first-run and off-network strips (updated)

To no one’s surprise, the five first-run strips that debuted yesterday got off to a mixed start, with only one (Steve Wilkos) up from its lead-in and all down from year-ago time period averages. Here’s a metered-market ratings rundown of the five new syndicated first-run strips from Monday: Program Rtg/Shr Lead-in 9/06 TP Best performer TMZ 2.0/4 1.9/4 1.9/4 St. […]

Doin’ "The Barz"

Chicagoland Radio and Media titled a post “Dancin’ With the Barz” (clever) on this Feder story, as Mike Barz from WFLD’s Good Day, Chicago was doing some after-hours dirty dancing at a night club with a female staffer last Friday – and he actually won something – not a trophy, but a one-day time out from management. And yes, The […]

Update to WCIU’s fall schedule

Scroll down or click here to read post, with updated information on two shows (Becker, Girlfriends) that are no longer on the schedule (actually, it’s information that I wrote on this blog before – this is WCIU’s explanation of it…)

Oh yeah, I forgot. Happy belated birthday, My Network TV.

So did everybody else, it appears. But what you’d expect when not one show on this network – created by News Corp. after the WB and UPN merged – has been memorable? This story from B&C is about several My Network TV affiliates deciding to take matters into their own hands, as Meredith’s KSMO in Kansas City decided to do. […]

New syndicated season starts today

Five new shows debut today, including the highly anticipated game show Merv Griffin’s Crosswords and magazine TMZ . Other new shows include Temptation, Judge David Young, and The Steve Wilkos Show (which debuts in Chicago on WGN tomorrow at 2 p.m. A Cardinals-Cubs game is airing in that time slot today.) Don’t forget, the debut of two new off-network sitcoms […]

Former WBBM boss Applegate profiled

The Cleveland Plain Dealer profiled former WBBM-TV boss Bill Applegate last week at his latest venue as GM of beleaguered CBS affiliate WOIO-TV and My Network TV affiliate WUAB-TV, both owned by Raycom Media. Like WBBM, WOIO has struggled in the news ratings (placing fourth) and has credibility issues (such as news anchor Sharon Reed posing nude for a report […]

What a day in Chicago sports

The Bears lose, the Cubs fall out of first place, and the White Sox lose as usual. Right now, these three teams make any of the new fall shows look good by comparison. If these three were TV shows, they all would be gone after the first episode. Anyone who watched Anchorwoman sure were lucky. Unlike these three, they didn’t […]

Welcome to the NFL season!

And as a public service, every Friday, we’ll post NFL distribution maps, courtesy of J.P. Kirby’s the506.com, to find the regional Sunday afternoon game in your area. Click to see Week 1’s regional TV schedules: Single game: CBS – Early games (no late games because of U.S. Open Men’s Tennis Finals) Doubleheader – Fox Early games Late games

A suggestion: Move Katie to 7:30/6:30 Central

Brain Steinberg of Ad Age reviews The CBS Evening News with Katie Couric, and makes a couple of suggestions, including moving the beleaguered network newscast to the 7:30 Eastern (6:30 Chicago Time) prime access time slot. One problem with that – actually two: The affiliates won’t go for it, because they would lose that lucrative ad revenue in the hour […]