Makes aggressive changes; brings comedies back to Friday nights ABC released its 2018-19 schedule Tuesday morning in advance of its upfront presentation on Tuesday, and there are some numerous changes. For one, long-running series Once Upon A Time, Scandal and The Middle have retired and Agents of SHIELD was picked up at the last-minute only to get burned off next […]
Anderson Cooper’s new syndicated talk show began on Monday. Welcome to Life… After Oprah. Monday marked a new era in syndication as repeats of The Oprah Winfrey Show came to an end on Friday (her last original episode aired on May 25) as the broadcast business is without the queen of talk […]
Twentieth’s game shows canceled, and other news of note For the first time in a long time, it’s time for The Grab Bag – items not good enough for individual posts – but good enough to be written here: – Ricki returns. In a report confirmed by B&C and TVNewscheck, Ricki Lake signed a deal with Twentieth Television to launch […]
Martha Stewart is pulling an Oprah Winfrey – only difference is she’s leaving a year earlier. In news that caught NBC Universal off guard, Martha Stewart Living Enterprises announced The Martha Stewart Show is moving from first-run syndication after five years to cable’s Hallmark Channel, this coming September. The daily one-hour strip will be a part of a block of […]
Move likely ends Deal’s run ; Debmar-Mercury clears True Hollywood Story in 65 percent of the country; Nancy Grace’s format revealed Today is the first day of the NATPE convention, a three day extravagnza being held in Las Vegas where buyers and sellers meet up. Originally, this was a large syndication convention where shows were sold, but over time, it […]
Nancy Grace’s court show clears 90% ; “No Deal!” for a third season? Twentieth Television has renewed game show strip Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader for a second season in syndication with renewals from Fox and Tribune stations, including WPIX-TV in New York and WPWR-TV in Chicago, who airs the show at 4 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. 5th […]
The past week’s winners and losers… Kool-Aid Man style. Oh, yeah. Roe Conn. Roe Conn? Yes, you read right. Despite less-than-stellar numbers, Roe Conn is expected to sign a contract renewal with WLS-AM for a lower salary, despite parent company Citadel becoming the latest media company to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader. In […]
Lots of items of note in today’s Grab Bag: – WCFS-FM (Fresh 105.9) has dumped morning man Mark LeBaron. Rick Hall will take over until a replacement is found. Is this a signal something big is coming? Or is the cancellation clock ticking for Fresh FM? – Speaking of which, the clock is up for The Beautiful Life, which CW […]
Fox-owned WFLD-TV here in Chicago (and sis station KTTV in Los Angeles) have picked up the half-hour syndicated version of Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader from Twentieth Television for this fall. The game show, produced by Survivor creater Mark Burnett and hosted by Jeff Foxworthy, has aired on prime-time on Fox to respectable ratings. The program has cleared […]
WFLD relaunches web site; More Howie; NATPE Wrap-up. – Fox-owned WFLD has relaunched its website (myfoxchicago.com), as part of an effort to revamp its websites in all eighteen markets where it owns stations. WFLD is the second to get a makeover; Fox’s WNYW-TV in New York was the first. WFLD’s new website looks more clean and organized than the previous […]
Some news, not enough time: – Chicago-based Weigel Broadcasting has sold its three low-power TV stations in South Bend, Ind. to Schurz communications, owners of dominant CBS affiliate WSBT-TV. The three TV stations are WBND (ABC), WCWW (CW) and WMYS (My Network TV.) Weigel has stated its main Chicago and Milwaukee properties are not for sale. – Twentieth Television is […]
Fox has announced its lineup for next season, with separate Fall 2008 and Winter 2009 lineups. The sked includes only two new shows, but one of them is getting a big push: Fox is expected to heavily push Fringe, a new drama from Lost creator J.J. Abrams. Fox plans to launch its new slate the week of August 25. However, […]
Trouble ahead: It looks like the party’s over for ABC’s Ugly Betty, as the series appears to heading for a ratings free fall. Last Thursday’s episode hit a season low, earning a 2.3 rating and 7 share in the Adults 18-49 money demo, and 7.9 million total viewers. The results were down 30 percent in total viewers and 35 percent […]
Thursday’s ratings race showed established returning shows picking up where they left off – grabbing lots of viewers. Here’s a quick analysis (all times Central): 7 p.m: Four of the five shows had something to crow out, with Survivor winning in adults 18-49 and total viewers. NBC’s hour-long season premiere of My Name Is Earl also did well, particularly among […]
It’s Fox’s turn at the mic at TCA press tour. Among the nuggets: – The first of Fox’s new fall lineup to roll out will be on August 30 with the season premiere of Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader? with Cops and America’s Most Wanted following on Sept. 8 and Kitchen Nightmares on Sept. 13. – Fox has […]