Arbitron has delayed its controversial Portable People Meter until September 2008 for several markets including New York and Chicago. The delays are being instituted because of kinks that have to be worked out in the system, including better measurement of minority audiences.
Bam! And the show goes to TV heaven. Or hell, depending on your point of view.
A melancholy happy trails to John Drury. The former WBBM-TV, WLS-TV and WGN-TV news anchor who retired in 2002, lost his battle with ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s Disease. He died last night at the age of 80. Drury got his started in television at Milwaukee’s WTMJ, where he was a staff announcer. He began anchoring the news at the station […]
Still on holiday, but this news is important since this involves FCC action against a local TV station: WMAQ-TV, owned by NBC Universal, was hit with a $10,000 fine from the Federal Communications Commission for failing to publicize the “existence and location” of its children’s TV programming reports. Click here for more details. Also on the FCC beat, former CBS […]
With the Pumpkin Pie Awards for Excellence Welcome to the second annual T Dog Media Blog Turkey Awards. Once again, we’re here to serve up the disasters in media in 2007. I have nineteen turkeys to hand out… so let’s get gobbling! And this year’s awards go to… – The Chicago Bears. A Super Bowl hangover this year. And especially Rex […]
New York’s WWOR is borrowing a page from its old WOR days – by signing a deal to bring the New York Knicks and the New York Rangers back to the station – though for two games each. The Rangers games that are scheduled to be televised are at the home against the Dallas Stars on Nov. 25, and Dec. […]
Weigel Broadcasting’s Chicago independent WCIU-TV scored another urban sitcom coup by acquiring CBS Television Distribution’s Everybody Hates Chris. The program will air in off-network syndication as a strip beginning in the fall of 2009, assuming the CW renews the show for next season. WCIU is likely to pair Chris with Debmar’s Tyler Perry’s House of Payne, another urban sitcom that’s […]
Former WBBM-TV anchors Bill Kurtis and Walter Jacobson are reuniting to teach a graduate level class at Columbia College on a lecture course regarding local journalism. Starting in January, both men will serve as professors. Click on this link to see Kurtis and Jacobson speaking together at the Chicago History Museum last March, as part of the “Chicago Treasures” series […]
Despite their mostly sub-par performance, all three of its daily courtroom strips – Judge Alex, Divorce Court, and Cristina’s Court have been renewed for the 2008-09 season. (i.e. the move keeps other syndicators at bay with their upcoming courtroom shows – Sony introduced Judge Karen last week.)
Larry Dobrow of Ad Age reviews ESPN’s SportsCenter, and he tells what we already know about: It’s an hour (or more) of excessive hype, constant product plugs, and some anchor yelling “Say hello to your little friend!”, plus “The Ultimate Highlight” presented by some shoe or sports drink company. Oh, and don’t forget “Who’s Now”, which sent this once-cool show […]
They are running out of fresh episodes, and the countdown is now underway to indefinite reruns and new episodes of reality shows non-stop. The writers and producers have agreed to return to the bargaining table next Monday, so keep your fingers crossed. If you want a laugh, scroll down to the comments section at the end of the linked article. […]
Its’ hot Sunday night lineup trumped the American Music Awards on ABC and the New England Patriots-whatever team lost to them on NBC (however, the AMAs scored its highest ratings in three years, no doubt owing its success to female viewers, who are the biggest mainstream music fans.) Fox’s Sunday night lineup in up 23 percent in adults 18-49 from […]
It’s been a great year for animated prime-time shows – The Simpsons were a success at the box office and continues to be so on TV in its 19th season; Family Guy continues to roll on thanks to its new found success in syndication; Adult Swim continues to be a strong draw among young males; and even shows like Drawn […]
Get your jet skis ready, because there’s gonna be a show. Fox is apparently proceeding with the production of new Family Guy episodes, without the input of creator Seth MacFarlane, who is on strike with the rest of the Writer’s Guild, and has refused to work on the series. The first of those “strike affected” episodes will air, starting this […]
I know I’m supposed to award this on Friday, but it’s a blowout in the race for the award this week (a blowout so large, even FCC Chairman Kevin Martin and the Sun-Times’ Jay Mariotti couldn’t compete – plus it’s a slow news day), so I might as well award it now… To the pricks who came onto James Hibberd’s […]
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