Primetime specials also coming to ABC With the worst kept secret in Hollywood, Jeopardy! producers named Mike Richards as host of the long-running game show as expected. But in a bit of a curveball, actress Mayim Bialik was named host of several prime-time special editions starting next year, with the Jeopardy! National College Tournament first on tap. The news was […]
May have complications for Marquee In what could be a troubling sign for broadcasters and regional sports networks alike, Sinclair Broadcasting apparently threw in the towel with a week to go in negotiations with Dish as 108 local stations faces deletion from the satellite service on August 16. The company acknowledged such in a press release Monday, noting the chances […]
Veteran animated series renewed for at least sixty more episodes over six years AND fourteen movies With South Park airing on another streaming service, there had to be some kind of way to get the show’s content on ViacomCBS’ Paramount Plus. After all, the show has been home to Comedy Central since 1997, also owned by ViacomCBS. Well, how about […]
Comes after months of guest hosts News leaked Wednesday on who would be the successor of the late Alex Trebek as host of one of television’s most popular and iconic game shows. Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune executive producer Mike Richards (not the Kramer guy from Seinfeld) is now the front runner to take over the long-running game show starting […]
DirecTV is an independent company once again. But can they recapture their own glory? AT&T completed the spinoff of the satellite provider to private equity firm TPG Monday in a deal valued at $15 billion. The transaction includes streaming provider AT&T Now and U-verse systems, which are being rebranded as DirecTV Stream. In a three-way split, AT&T gets $7. 8 […]
Tamron Hall shifts to ABC 7; WGN-TV launches new morning show As expected, ABC 7 (WLS-TV) acquired the rights to Tamron Hall’s talk show to replace Windy City Live in the 1 p.m. time slot beginning September 6, when it starts its third season. The move was too easy to predict – ABC 7 and Hall’s show share a corporate […]
CBS 2 Chicago GM Derek Dalton out after three years; L.A. GM out too After ViacomCBS concluded its six-month investigation into racial and sexual harassment at its 28 CBS-owned television stations, the network relived two local station executives of their duties. Fired from their positions Thursday were WBBM-TV/CBS 2 general manager Derek Dalton and Los Angeles’ KCBS/KCAL GM Jay Howell […]
Cancellations a blow to local TV production The pandemic has thrown a wrench into local TV revenues and the latest reflection of the tough times came within the last few days as two well-known local TV shows are ceasing production. ABC-owned WLS-TV/ABC7 announced the end of local talk show Windy City Live as a weekday strip after ten seasons Wednesday, […]
Lightning’s Stanley Cup Final win is the finale for NBC NBC closed out its sixteen-year run with the NHL with modest ratings for the Stanley Cup Final series between the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Montreal Canadiens, who made their first Final appearance since 1993. According to Sports Media Watch and Nielsen, the entire five-game series drew an average of […]
Hard news show flops with viewers but will stick around – for now NewsNation isn’t the only new news venture seeking to struggle when it comes to attracting viewers looking for non-partisan newscasts. An unflattering profile in The Daily Beast last week showed CNBC’s The News With Shepard Smith struggling with declining ratings – not to mention behind the scenes […]
Ends traditional news programming in prime-time, but adds news in mornings Despite ultra-low ratings, Nexstar’s NewsNation is expanding by adding a morning newscast and adding legal analyst Dan Abrams. Abrams is being added to NewsNation’s prime-time lineup beginning on September 27. Titled Dan Abrams Live, the new one-hour show is basically a discussion of the day’s events. Abrams is a […]
Also: A Shark becomes a judge; Pictionary returns; MyNetworkTV adds Chicago Fire and a new Detroit affiliate Once again, Chicago-based NewsNation is making changes to its lineup. Announced last week, the network formerly known as WGN America is adding another personality show in primetime, featuring a show hosted by former Fox News personality Leland Vittert, who’ll helm On Balance. Beginning […]
Johnny Green Jr. becomes first African-American in position in WCBS’s history ViacomCBS announced Wednesday the promotion of interim news director Johnny Green Jr. to president and general manager of WCBS-TV, the CBS flagship station in New York City, becoming the first Black executive to hold the title at the CBS-owned station. “Since returning to CBS nine weeks ago, I have […]
Expands footprint in Chicago area In news that would’ve been a big deal fifteen years ago, WOW! – or Wide Open West, has sold its cable and broadband services to RCN parent Astound Broadband for $661 million. The deals were one of two separate transactions WOW! made last Wednesday: the other was a sale of its Cleveland and Columbus, Ohio […]
Also: The Score’s Danny Parkins raises money for a neighborhood grocery; ESPN 1000 comes to HD Radio; Lauren Lake signs on with Entertainment Studios for new show As the website was under construction for the last two weeks, here were some stories that made news, and as you can imagine, this first item was the biggest. With Alden Global Capital […]