Station group plotting future without off-network fare in key time periods? Tribune Broadcasting announced last week it has cleared a new weekend scripted hour series from Trifecta Entertainment titled Rescue 3, created by former Baywatch showrunner Gregory J. Bonann. Clearances include WGN-TV Chicago, WPIX New York, KTLA Los Angeles, WPHL Philadelphia and KDAF Dallas. As first reported by Broadcasting & […]
It looks like its back to the beach for Phyllis Schwartz. The WFLD vice president and news director exited the station Tuesday after nearly a year. She replaced Carol Fowler in the same capacity on January 6. A former WLS-TV and WMAQ-TV executive, Schwartz returned to Chicago from San Diego where she ran her own consulting company and was previously […]
The dream is over: in a move that didn’t particularly come as a surprise, Michael Essany has shut down his nightly talk show strip Seven On Ridge due to several production disputes, reports Phil Potempa of nwi.com (The Times Of Northwest Indiana), where this was first reported. The show taped at the Gary Convention Center. This past week, independent WJYS […]
Another all-local edition of the Grab Bag… including an item on a possible sale of some downstate TV stations: – Julian Nieh, one half of the duo of B96’s (WBBM-FM’s) The JNiice & Julian Morning Show, exited the station on Wednesday to pursue other interests. The seven-year veteran of the contemporary-hit station was paired with Jamar “JNiice” McNeil in January […]
Larry Hagman, known for his roles as Tony Nelson on I Dream Of Jeannie and J.R. Ewing on Dallas died Friday night in a Dallas hospital of complications from cancer, which he had been battling for the past year. He was 81. Born in Fort Worth, Texas and raised in nearby Weatherford, Hagman’s acting career started after he left the […]
Get the cranberry sauce ready: it’s time for the 7th annual T Dog Media Turkey Awards where every Thanksgiving, yours truly honors the worst in the media business for the year and 2012 is filled with so many media turkeys! Without further ado, here are this year’s, um… “winners”: Animal Practice. Premiering after the Summer Olympics (or more aptly put, […]
And this after the T Dog Media Cancellation Bus gets crushed into a cube… Usually, these type of “Bloody Friday” cancellations take place the week before the upfronts in May. But in a season where rules change as often as someone’s underwear, Bloody Friday came six months early. CBS canceled Partners Friday after eight episodes. That was followed later in […]
In the 27 years yours truly has followed the media business, I’ve never encountered anyone who is arrogant, incompetent, and stupid – aside from Randy “Court Jester” Michaels and his minions – in running a radio or TV station as Fox-owned WFLD and WPWR General Manager Mike Renda. On Friday, Fox management – which is proven to be every bit […]
Once again, Bruce DuMont was played the fool – and this time by one of the biggest names in all of entertainment. I’m talking about Howard Stern’s “induction” into The Radio Hall Of Fame by the Chicago-based Museum of Broadcast Communications, located in the city’s River North neighborhood, finally making it in after four tries. You’d think he’d be happy, […]
The T Dog Media Six Pack is back! Yes the roundup of winners and losers in the media business has an election theme as the race for the White House is over… Landslide victories Barack Obama. Okay, it wasn’t exactly a walk in the park for our 44th President, but his defeat of challenger Mitt Romney to win a second […]
As reported here and on other trade sites last week, Queen Latifah’s return to daytime TV snared its first major deal with Sony Pictures Television: CBS’ owned and operated TV stations signed on for the show in sixteen markets. According to an article in Broadcasting & Cable last Monday, Latifah’s show will in fact, be shown on WBBM-TV next fall, […]
This is a double blue-striped, four red-star edition of the Grab Bag, containing nothing but local items! So fly the Chicago flag high over Rahm’s head and let’s get cracking: – As first reported by Robert Feder at Time Out Chicago earlier this week, Tavis Smiley and Cornel West – who were recently ousted by WBEZ on September 30 – […]
It looks like the first fallout from The Walt Disney Co.’s purchase of Lucasfilm came sooner than we thought… As first reported by The Hollywood Reporter Friday, Lucasfilm-produced half-hour animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars, is expected to end its five-year run on Cartoon Network and is expected to land on Disney XD if Lucasfilm decides to continue the […]
With the pitiful ratings they get, Fox Chicago’s duopoly of WFLD and WPWR could use some Anger Management – not to mention a “winning” formula. Debmar-Mercury and Fox announced Wednesday it has secured a deal for all nine of its O&O duopoly markets to carry reruns of Anger Management beginning in 2014, including Fox’s duopoly of WFLD and WPWR here […]
We knew Mickey Mouse had a little Darth Vader in him. The Walt Disney Co. announced its acquisition of Lucasfilm Ltd., the production company behind the Star Wars franchise. Included in the deal is visual affects company Insudtrial Light & Magix, Skywalker Sound (a post-production sound house), LucasArts (computer and video game division), and Lucasfilm Animation, which produces Cartoon Network’s […]
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