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 […]
But it’s no trick: WCIU-TV acquired the rights to air MTV’s Punk’d with Ashton Kutcher to strip five nights a week beginning in September from Trifecta Entertainment. The proram cleared 80 percent of the U.S. with WNYW-TV in New York and KTLA in Los Angeles also on board. This comes as Trifecta and Litton Entertainment announced a strategic partnership last […]
The beast known as American Idol has finally fallen – at least in Minneapolis-St. Paul. A Minnesota Wild NHL playoff game topped Idol last Wednesday night with Game 1 of the Western Conference Quarterfinal series against the Colorado Avalanche earning a 11.3 household rating and a 22 household share on independent KSTC-TV with Idol on Fox-owned KMSP-TV nabbing a 10.3/19. […]
“The message being sent is, if you succeed in your job, you succeed in your craft, look out! You’re too expensive.” – Tom Petner, TVSpy.com, quoted in “CBS layoffs signal in a financial squeeze on TV stations” article in the Los Angeles Times today. That quote can be attributed to any industry these days, but nowhere where it rings more […]
Last week’s purge at the CBS O&Os is just another reminder of how tough things are going on the local TV level, especially in the newsrooms. This article from the Baltimore Sun details how things are really going in the market’s local station community, where CBS’ WJZ-TV laid off four people last week and ABC affiliate WMAR-TV axed three employees. […]
Another hiring to report (now that’s more like it…) The Tribune Co. has hired radio veteran Sean Compton to senior VP of programming and entertainment for the 23-station Tribune group, which includes WGN-TV. Compton replaces Marc Schacher, who is stepping down after 29 years with the company. Schacher was behind the Tribune group purchases of programs such as Friends, Two […]
Back to serious business: The causality list at CBS just keeps on coming. In addition to the cuts at WBBM-TV on Monday: – New York: WCBS-TV (which was home to “Black Wednesday” in 1996 when seven on-air personalities were laid off) dropped two correspondents, and canceled its Sports Sunday wrap-up show. – Dallas: More layoffs at KTVT/KTXA, where several more […]
Burns, Childers, Malone out at Channel 2; layoffs at other CBS O&Os The ax fell at CBS-owned WBBM-TV on Monday, with eighteen people either laid off or their contracts not being renewed. The causalities include on-air veterans Mary Ann Childers, Diann Burns, and Mark Malone. Burns was the highest-paid anchor at the station, making a reported $2 million per year. […]
From The San Diego Union-Tribune’s TV Critic Karla Peterson, and the San Diego Business Journal. Phil Rosenthal from the Chicago Tribune also weighs in.
That’s according to Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel TV Critic Tom Jicha, who is dead on correct about NBC, who bought WTVJ (a CBS affiliate) in 1987, switched its long-time affiliation from WSVN-TV two years later, then traded in a strong channel position (Channel 4) to CBS for a weak one (Channel 6) in 1995 so they can own WCAU-TV (another former […]
It’s official: Tribune’s KSWB-TV – the market’s San Diego CW affiliate (and former WB affiliate) will switch to Fox effective this August. It was a rumor branded around TV circles the last few weeks, after new Tribune boss Sam Zell mentioned in a video on the company’s Baltimore Sun website (which has been since taken down) that he struck a […]
Local broadcasts of Detroit Tigers, Pistons, and Red Wings games have been locked up by cable channel FSN Detroit for the next 10 years, keeping the games off of broadcast TV in the Motor City (unless their respective broadcast network partners – i.e. Fox with MLB, NBC with the NHL, etc. carries a game.) It also erases the possibility of […]
It’s WTVJ in Miami and WVIT in Hartford that’s being chopped off, while the network’s Telemundo affiliate (WSCV-TV) won’t be sold. The sale will leave NBC with just eight O&O’s – the smallest of any network group.
This Sam Zell video posted on Trib-owned Baltimore Sun’s website (click on “Sam 5” to see video) may hint at a possible affiliation switch for KSWB, going from CW to Fox (why are they still called KSWB to begin with?) So what happens to current Fox affiliate XETV based in nearby Tijuana, Mexico? It could be deja vu all over […]
– Wizards Rule: Disney-ABC Domestic Television has cleared Wizard’s First Rule in 84 percent of the country, including all top 50 markets, i.e., the 50 largest metro areas in the country – essentially making it a “firm go”. To see a complete list of station groups airing the show this fall, click here (locally, Wizard’s will air on WGN-TV.) This […]
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