T Dog’s Grab Bag… News and Notes

As of this writing, the “Groovy” is being dropped from “Grab Bag” title – but it is still newsworthy nonetheless:  …The Winter Television Critics Association press tour is currently taking place in Pasadena, Calif. Among the non-Jay Leno/Conan O’Brien items going on: – Simon Cowell made an appearance at TCA today to officially announce his departure from American Idol  to […]

Chicago ratings box

Here are some notable ratings items: – Lewis Lazare’s Sun-Times column noted ABC-owned WLS-TV’s continued ratings dominance in the month of December. According to the ratings “book”, WLS finished first at 10 p.m. in households, followed by CBS-owned WBBM-TV and NBC-owned WMAQ-TV, which continues to suffer from having Jay Leno as a news lead-in (though that may not be the […]

Tribune’s WGN-TV renews "Family Guy" – with WCIU in tow

  Soon, “Family Guy” will have TWO places to call home in Chicago. In a rather odd twist to a renewal deal, Tribune-owned WGN-TV has renewed syndicated repeats of Family Guy for a second cycle in a new four-year deal through 2015, which kicks in on September 12, 2011. But as a part of the deal, Weigel-owned independent station WCIU-TV […]

T Dog’s Fridge Pack: The twelve items that made the decade

In his 2008 speeches, President Barack Obama talked about change. Well, in the media world, change arrived in the 2000s. And boy, did it ever! When the decade started, who knew we would be watching clips on YouTube, or friending people on Facebook, or watching network TV shows online? Or how broadcast television and terrestrial radio would both have trouble […]

T Dog’s Fridge Pack: The dirty dozen of the decade

The 2000s brought with us a decade of change on how we consume media – whether if its at home or on the go. But it also brought a decade of  flops – some which you have to see – or hear – to believe. Here are the T Dog Media Blog’s twelve biggest media blunders of the decade, in […]

2009’s Excellent 10 – and more

Despite a down year (or decade, depending on your point of view) 2009 has had some good moments too! Here is the best of the best – the Top 10 items of 2009, count them down from ten to one – remember, this list includes not only TV shows, but events as well… The Excellent 1010. Glee (Fox). A surprise […]

Vikings-Bears score in the ratings

Well, well, well… I guess the Bears are still relevant in Chicago after all. Despite a losing season, Bears fans turned out by the boatload for Monday night’s game between the Brett Favre-led Minnesota Vikings and the Chicago Bears. Locally, ABC-owned WLS-TV averaged a 20.6 Nielsen household rating for its ESPN simulcast of the game. ESPN itself added 10.5 rating […]

2009’s Toilet 10 – and more

Over the next week, we will be reviewing the year in television and other things – the best and worst – as well as the events and issues that helped define the decade. We’ll start at the absolute bottom – with the worst shows and other items in the annual year-end lineup of the Toilet 10 – with a few […]

T Dog’s Four pack – The Santa edition

Ho! Ho! Ho! Merry Everyone! Terry Claus is here to deliver some goodies to the good little children… and coal to those who are not-so-good! Who won and who lost… Gifts under the tree – The Doctors. Christmas came early for the one hour medical talk show strip with seasons three and four cleared in 85 percent of the country.  […]

T Dog’s Four Pack

The past week’s winners and losers… Kool-Aid Man style. Oh, yeah. Roe Conn. Roe Conn? Yes, you read right. Despite less-than-stellar numbers, Roe Conn is expected to sign a contract renewal with WLS-AM for a lower salary, despite parent company Citadel becoming the latest media company to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader. In […]

T Dog’s Four Pack – We’ll have a grand old time

It’s been two weeks, so a T Dog Media Blog Four Pack is long overdue… with a little bit of a Flintstones twist… Hanging out with Fred and Barney. Yabba Dabba Doo! -V103. The most (and only) surprising item in the recently concluded Arbitron PPM November survey is the strong performance of Urban AC WVAZ-FM, who ranked second in 12+ […]

WBBM-TV to handle Monsters and some Money in the Morning

In a surprise move, CBS-owned WBBM-TV announced it is dropping its current morning show and has hired Mike North, Dan Jiggetts, and financial analyst Terry Savage to host Monsters and Money In The Morning, beginning on February 1.The program is scheduled to run from 5 to 7 a.m., leading-in to the network’s Early Show. The program once again reunites North […]

WBBM-TV 10 p.m. news soars in the ratings

Leno hampering NBC affiliates’ late news; other November “sweeps” notes ABC-owned WLS-TV dominated the ratings in households and key demos in the just concluded November “sweeps” period (do we still have those in this LPM era?) but it was the two other network O&Os who made headlines. NBC-owned WMAQ-TV slipped to third place in households at 10 p.m., behind a […]

Jonathan Brandmeier out at WLUP

For the second time in as many years, Jonathan Brandmeier is no longer calling The Loop home. The eclectic morning radio personality and his show was canceled by Emmis-owned WLUP-FM on Monday after four years, with Friday being the last show (Pete McMurray filled in today.) Brandmeier recently signed a one-year contract extension with the Classic Rock outlet, with Emmis […]