San Francisco’s KRON up for sale
The Bay Area’s former dominant NBC affiliate-turned-My Network TV also-ran is up for sale by Young Broadcasting. Calling Rupert Murdoch….
Harvey, Dahl big winners in book
The Fall Arbitron book released yesterday didn’t really provide much surprises (even with WLIT’s annual surge due to Christmas music), but a couple of new arrivals shook up Chicago’s already competitive morning-drive race: – Steve Harvey’s syndicated show on Clear Channel’s WGCI-FM finished third overall and topped all FM morning drive shows in 12+. The controversy regarding “Crazy” Howard McGee’s […]
Doug Banks returns to Chicago
A Chicago radio icon in coming home – well, at least on the air. Chicago radio veteran Doug Banks is back on the airwaves thanks to a deal with Urban Adult Contemporary WVAZ-FM (V103), which will see it become the first station to carry his new syndicated radio show, which is being distributed by ABC Radio Networks (which is actually […]
The Fall Arbitron books
Here are your radio Fall Arbs (+12) for: Chicago Quick analysis: Tribune’s WGN is first, but stumbled. Clear Channel’s Urban Contemporary WGCI is back in second place, while sister Urban AC WVAZ fell from fifth place to eighth (they announced a huge schedule change today – more on that later, so watch the blog.) CC’s WLIT surged to fifth place*, […]
Paramount to kick HD DVD to the curve, too?
According to this report, Paramount (with the DVD rights to most of the CBS library), may follow Warner Bros. lead and dump HD-DVD for Blu-Ray, possibly leaving NBC Universal as the only studio left using the format. Initally, Paramount supported both HD-DVD and Blu-Ray. Guess the HD in HD-DVD stands for Hung Dry.
Broadcast of Golden Globes canned
Finally, some good came from the writer’s strike… NBC will air a paired-down version instead. In other news, the guild has signed a side deal with United Artists, allowing the writers who work there to return to the job. This latest incarnation of the studio is partly joint-owned by Tom Cruise and long time production partner Paula Wagner.
"Gladiators" smashes competition
The return of American Gladiators was a huge ratings success story, drawing a 5.9 rating among adults 18-49 for NBC, according to Nielsen. The two-hour premiere even drew numbers that it never achieved in its syndication run (1989-95). It also drew the highest-rated program for any new show this season. Gladiators will move to regular day and time tonight (8 […]
Warner says "screw you" to HD-DVD
Racketing up the HD home video format wars up a serious notch – and just in time for the 2008 International Consumer Electronics Show – Warner Brothers announced today that it was ending its support for HD-DVD and going solely with arch rival Blu-Ray. Warner was previously releasing its material on both HD-DVD and Blu-Ray. The HD-DVD/Blu-Ray battle is reminiscent […]
CW reshuffles the deck
The CW is finally out with its midseason schedule, which you can access here. Among the changes: – Gossip Girl moves to Monday at 7 (CT) with the Pussycat Dolls’ reality show at 8. – The CW comedies move to Sunday (good luck, they’ll need it) – Supernatural is being replaced by Reaper on Thursdays at 8, beginning February 28
Strike gets nastier
With the Screen Actors Guild boycotting the Golden Globes and the WGA about to enforce its strike rules against Jay Leno (which NBC said is a violation of Federal labor laws), one could think that this mess in Hollywood between the WGA and AMPTP would get any worse… But don’t laugh Chicagoans – if our version of the WGA and […]
Trump’s got bump
Last night’s debut of The Apprentice: Celebrity Edition on NBC notched a 4.5 adults 18-49 rating, up 9 percent from last January’s edition. The good opening numbers for the reality program marks a continued trend of such shows with increased ratings for The Bachelor and Survivor, two once-struggling reality shows that are hot again. With the absence of scripted programs […]
Adult Swim news
The Aqua Teens are back: A movie and a Boston bomb scare later, the trio is back with more wild irrelevant adventures. Aqua Teen Hunger Force returns to Adult Swim to begin its sixth season on January 20. The last new episode aired on December 20, 2006 (not on March 25, 2007 as the linked article states). While Aqua Teen […]