Luck quickly runs out for “Lucky 7”

ABC canceled hour-long drama Lucky 7 on Friday after two low-rated episodes and became one of the shortest-lived dramas in the network’s history. The Tuesday drama premiered on Sept. 24, with a 1.3 adult 18-49 demo and dropped to a 0.7 in its second airing, declining 46 percent week-to-week and drawing just 2.6 million viewers opposite CBS’ Person Of Interest, […]

Why is Chicago still hung up on Oprah?

A few days ago, Oprah Winfrey announced she put her Harpo Studios up for sale. The facility, which hasn’t been used much since her talk show ended in 2011, could fetch over a million bucks in the real estate market. On Thursday, the Sun-Times’ Neil Steinberg slammed her for not being “Chicago” enough, or something. Great article. If it were […]

“Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” slips in week two

Blacklist still strong on Monday Is it time to hit the panic button at Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters? S.H.I.E.L.D. took a spill in its second week as ratings fell 30 percent week-to-week in the adult 18-49 demo (4.7 to 3.3), finishing behind The Voice (4.5) and NCIS (3.5) in the first hour of primetime Tuesday. Despite its third-place finish, […]

Cubs, White Sox bleed viewers

Disastrous season on both sides of town had fans fleeing for the exits – but at least they’re not the Astros After the Chicago Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup June 24, most local sports fans checked out for the summer, thanks to the inept play of both the Chicago Cubs (66-96) and Chicago White Sox (63-99), each finishing last in […]

“Breaking Bad” breaks the competition

Forget the major networks, Sunday night belonged to Walter White. The series finale of AMC’s Emmy-winning drama Breaking Bad after eight seasons was the most watched entertainment show of the evening, drawing 10.3 million viewers and a 5.3 rating among adults 18-49, translating to about 6.7 million viewers. Bad finished only behind the finales of HBO’s Sopranos (11.9 million in […]

T Dog’s Grab Bag: Bruce Levine out at ESPN 1000

– Talking Baseball host Bruce Levine confirmed via Twitter Saturday he was out as host of WMVP-AM’s (ESPN 1000) Talking Baseball after station bosses declined to renew his contract, ending his 22-year run as host. The move to cancel the show comes as ESPN 1000 continues to slag far behind rival WSCR-AM (The Score) in the ratings. Not helping Levine’s […]

“Law & Order: SVU” continues to perform in Season 15

To quote the late singer Aaliyah, “Age Ain’t Nothing But A Number.” But to Law and Order: Special Victims Unit, putting up fantastic numbers at its age 15 is a huge feat. According to Wednesday night numbers released by Nielsen, the special two-hour premiere of SVU earned a 2.7 rating among adults 18-49, up 29 percent from the 14th season […]

“Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D” debuts big

ABC’s new Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. came out swinging Tuesday night, as the season’s most anticipated new series lived up to the hype with a well-done pilot and a huge debut. Agents debuted with a 4.7 adults 18-49 demo rating, the highest rated premiere for any drama in five years. However, the agents went up against some pretty tough competition from […]

Emmy Awards score big for CBS

But still beat by Da Bears. Despite going up against a Sunday Night Football game whose teams have one of the most rabid fan bases in the NFL, the Primetime Emmy Awards still managed to snare a 4.9 adult demo rating (18-49) and 17.36 million viewers, the largest total audience in eight years; and the highest-rated adult demo in six […]

“Survivor”, “Big Brother” score on Wednesday night

But poor casting decisions on both shows’ part hurts ratings Not much to talk about Wednesday’s ratings with CBS’ Survivor and Big Brother winning the night among broadcast networks in the adult 18-49 demo (though A&E’s Duck Dynasty won overall with a 4.3)  – but there was a lot to talk about with these two shows besides the ratings. Survivor […]

Fox, “Queen Latifah” score in ratings

Sleepy Hollow, Dads, and Brooklyn get ample sampling; Queen Latifah scores well in her premiere With the new fall season only a few days away, a few shows jumped the gun with premieres this week, while summer series wrap up their runs: – Despite going up against Monday Night Football and Dancing With The Stars, Fox’s Sleepy Hollow debuted nicely […]

Remembering Jerry G. Bishop

When you think of Svengoolie these days, you think of Rich Koz, the personality behind the character. But to a generation of Chicago TV viewers back in the 1970’s, Svengoolie went by the person who originally created and played the character for Screaming Yellow Theater: Jerry G. Bishop. Bishop, whose real name was Jerry Ghan, died Sunday in San Diego at […]

T Dog’s Grab Bag: Oh, Bethenny…

-As expected, ratings for syndication’s three new shows (The Arsenio Hall Show, Bethenny, and The Test) declined from Monday’s premiere, but Arsenio still was on top with a 1.5 overnight household rating, down from a 1.9 rating.  Bethenny slipped to a 0.9/3 household rating/share from a 1.2/4; and The Test slid to a 0.7. On Wednesday however, Arsenio was up […]