NBC, NHL agree to one-year deal extension

And both ought to thank Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins (and the Outdoor Classic in Buffalo) for this, as well as other young upcoming stars in the league (like the Blackhawks’ Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews.) While ratings are still low, they are up 33 percent in the key male 18-49 demo and up 11 percent in households. NBC […]

Superstation WGN in for makeover

The national version of WGN seen on cable systems and satellite (except in Chicago, where Superstation WGN is seen only on satellite), is in for a major Extreme Makeover-type overhaul. Specifics weren’t mentioned, but Superstation WGN is scheduled to be re-launched in May, but the changes may only involve imaging, and not programming. WGN went national in 1978, linking national […]

"Gossip Girl", "Deal" tank

Despite all the hoopla – for Gossip Girl and its racy ads and pulling the program from the Internet, and for Deal for having President Bush appear – neither did well with Girl pulling in only 2.5 million viewers (even pulling in fewer viewers than MTV’s The Hills, which drew a little over 4 million) and Deal matching a season […]

WFLD gets Bears pre-season games and a whole lot more (updated)

Once again, the Chicago Bears have a new broadcast partner. And it’s with a Fox. This time, and for the first time, Fox-owned WFLD-TV will carry pre-season Bears games and is the new official television station of the team. WFLD outbid the previous carrier, NBC-owned WMAQ-TV. The move also means Spanish-language games broadcast over NBC’s WSNS-TV is also ending. WFLD’s […]

About WGN’s 60th Anniversary Celebration…

Good thing you didn’t take my advice. Yours truly did watch WGN’s celebration and it turned out to be well done. Jim Belushi actually did a decent job of hosting (yes, I’m surprised myself) – though he was a little wooden. Personally, I would’ve preferred Dean Richards or Bill Murray, but Belushi did an alright job. (This blog praising Jim […]

Debmar-Mercury switches ad sales for "South Park"

Cartman. A Twentieth Television Production. Debmar-Mercury has replaced Tribune Entertainment with Twentieth Television as national advertising representative for syndicated reruns of South Park, meaning Twentieth will now sell the national barter ad time for Cartman and friends, effective immediately. Tribune helped clear the off-Comedy Central sitcom in several markets in 2004 and 2005. But the ironic thing here is, South […]

New premium channel planned

In news which could shake up the cable landscape, Viacom, MGM, and Lionsgate have announced a new joint venture that will launch a new pay-TV channel and a companion video-on-demand service next year. The new channel is expected to compete with Time Warner’s HBO and Cinemax and CBS Corp.’s Showtime and The Movie Channel – which used to be under […]

T Dog’s Think Tank: Worst debate ever?

You want to know what I thought of the Clinton-Obama debate? Worst. Debate. Ever. If Comic Book Guy watched the debate Wednesday night on ABC, he would’ve said this: “Worst. Debate. Ever.” Of course, he more was likely to be watching NBC and the 26 suitcase models on the “Spring Break” episode of Deal or No Deal. I’m surprised more […]

"Survivor’s" back, baby!

WARNING: Contains spoilers. If you haven’t seen the episode, don’t scroll down… Although ratings are down slightly from a year ago, there’s no denying Survivor is back from the dead. If you can recall (here’s hoping you don’t), yours truly ripped the program for being too bland and predictable last fall (most of the profanity from that post is gone, […]

Larry Wert promoted (updated)

WMAQ-TV general manager Larry Wert has been promoted to president, Central and Western region, of the NBC Local Media Division. Among the stations Wert will be overseeing include WMAQ (which he’ll continue in his role as GM) and fellow NBC O&Os KNBC-TV Los Angeles, KXAS-TV Dallas, KNTV San Francisco/Oakland/San Jose, and KNSD-TV San Diego. NBC also named a new GM […]

PTC rips NBC "Family Hour" pledge

Regarding the peacock network’s Thursday night comedies. And this after the organization praised NBC for setting aside the 7-8 p.m. hour (Central) for family shows. And what about last night’s Deal or No Deal (another show they endlessly praise), which featured a rather raunchy Spring Break episode? If the PTC has to change their story, then this group clearly has […]

Top Chef: Chicago called out for profanity

The usually solid cooking reality show is being criticized for its excessive use of profanity in this current cycle (and ironically, not from the PTC or Rev. Pflager), which forced the lead chef and judge on the show (Tom Colicchio) to apologize on his blog for last week’s salty episode. Maybe we swear a lot in Chicago because, well, let’s […]