The latest

The T Dog Media Think Tank: Let’s Get Into It.

The Sun-Times: Let’s Get Into It. But will anyone get into it? The paper relaunched last Wednesday to bring the paper out of the 1990s to the 21st Century, and to stem a continued circulation decline at the newspaper. It has a ton of new features, and it has a new sleek layout and design, and a reemphasis on Chicago. […]

Fight of the night

Reality TV show producers and contestants – Survivor in particular – take notice -This is how an argument is done, courtesy of Geraldo and O’Reilly. Memo to Lisi and Dreamz : Your dust-up on that once-popular show last night was ABSOLUTELY PATHETIC. You two losers need to be schooled from these two losers. UPDATE: This story is hotter than we […]

Deconstructing Feder

Robert Feder’s column in the Sun-Times today: – WCIU-TV is taking advantage of WFLD-TV’s move of The Simpsons to 10:35 p.m. by taking out billboards proclaiming that “Now Bart can watch The King of Queens at 10 p.m.” Somehow, I envisioned Bart watching Futurama on Adult Swim instead… – Meet WKQX-FM’s (or Q101) spokesman: retiring Price is Right host Bob […]

The Ten is coming

It’s not a sequel to ABC’s failed drama “The Nine”, but “The Ten” is the catchy name of Fox-owned WFLD-TV’s new 10 p.m. newscast that premieres on Monday. The new show will feature a more faster-paced newscast than its 9 p.m. newscast, and will have a weather report every night at 10:10 p.m. The station is also trying new features […]

Wasted opportunity?

Arthur Greenwald of TVnewsday says that many ABC affiliates are passing up a chance to promote Dancing With the Stars locally. He compares the promo efforts of ABC-owned KABC-TV in Los Angeles, Tribune’s WGNO-TV in New Orleans, and Hearst-Argyle’s WTAE in Pittsburgh (which won in his book for its promo efforts over the Tribune station and the network O&O website.)

The Daily Show – Milwaukee style

The joke’s on WTMJ-TV, Milwaukee’s NBC affiliate for falling for a fake story that a blogger posted as an April Fool’s prank. What’s even funnier? – The blogger works for a website that’s co-owned by Journal Communications – the same owner of WTMJ.

WCIU launching new kids show

WCIU-TV is launching a new locally-produced Saturday morning children’s show called Green Screen Adventures, in which Chicago Public School students’ stories will be transformed into real-life television experiences. The show will use the same green-screen technology used in TV weather reports, hence the name Green Screen Adventures. The program airs Saturday morning at 7 a.m. and meets the educational requirements […]

WLS-TV leader profiled by Sun-Times

Robert Feder of the Sun-Times interviews Emily Barr of ABC-owned powerhouse WLS-TV here in Chicago on her ten years at the station, and keeping it one of the highest-rated ABC stations in the country. She also talks about how the station is well-prepared for the transition from analog-to digital (if fact – it’s already there – the station was the […]

No charges in radio station water drinking stunt

The district attorney’s office has determined that Entercom’s KDND-FM (107.9 The End) in Sacramento, and its members (current and former) will not face any charges in the water-drinking radio stunt that killed Jennifer Strange back on January 12. She participated to win a video game system, where whoever drunk the most water without going to the bathroom the longest would […]

Best commentary of the day…

Comes from Richard Huff from the New York Daily News, who blasts the right-wing Parents Television Council (or the Prick Tofu Crud as I call it) for declaring the V-chip a failure and blaming the industry and not the parents who let their kids watch the racy stuff. Good for him! (And good for him on ripping Jennifer Lopez’s no-talent […]

Syndication Update: 2008 development in full swing

After a lackluster 2007 development season, the 2008 syndication development season is packing some punch. Warner Bros. has confirmed it has signed Chicagoan Bonnie Hunt to host a daily talk-show that would begin in September 2008. The Second City alum has appeared in numerous movies and TV shows, including Life With Bonnie and The Building (a personal favorite of yours […]

Sam Zell wins Tribune auction: Cubs to be sold (Updated)

Chicago billionaire Sam Zell has won the auction for control of the Tribune Co., paying $13 billion to beat out two Los Angeles-area billionaires with a winning bid of $34 a share. Zell is also supporting the new investment with a $315 million influx of cash. In addition, Mr. Zell will became a board member, and will become chairman once […]