Same old Sunday Night Football story for Bears I’m not going to bore you whining about why the Chicago Bears keep getting national prime-time TV appearances; I’ve covered the topic aplenty over the years, most recently here and here. But the decision to keep Matt Nagy and Ryan Pace around for another year is one of those “Chicago Way” type […]
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 […]
Reportedly gets a huge severance in return When you announce you are “stepping away” from a franchise temporarily, believe me – it usually isn’t “temporarily”. This is exactly what happened to Chris Harrison, The Bachelor host who now isn’t The Bachelor host as he was fired by ABC and Warner Horizon Television Tuesday after nearly two decades with the franchise. […]
Fewer new shows reflect today’s reality of network television With television viewership shifting to streaming preferences, it seems a “fall schedule” for linear TV networks seems antiquated, especially when viewers are watching shows on their own schedules. Plus, the pandemic has all but canned the in-person upfronts experience. But old habits are hard to break, and despite plunging ratings, the […]
Also: remembering Dick Kay; Broadcast networks makes moves Longtime Chicago radio personality Greg Brown is calling it a career this week after five decades on the city’s airwaves, as first reported Friday by Radio Insight. The current WLS-FM personality started his Chicago radio career in 1970. His longest tenures were thirteen years at WKQX-FM (during its CHR/Hot AC era); eleven […]
Seven-year deal brings the league back to the Worldwide Leader In Sports In news certain to please hockey fans across the United States, the NHL officially announced its return to ESPN on Wednesday after seventeen years. This came as the league decided to split its television rights package with two different partners as opposed to one media outfit – in […]
Wheel gets first prime-time exposure Another syndicated game show is taking a spin in primetime. Wheel of Fortune is heading to primetime with a first-ever celebrity edition where it’ll air on Thursday nights starting January 7 on ABC. Those celebrity contestants have a chance to win a million dollars for their favorite charity. Sony Pictures Television produces Wheel of Fortune […]
Also: Fox News wins election night; NBA season to start Dec. 22 IHeartMedia’s WLIT launched its Holly Jolly format (or Christmas music as everyone else calls it) starting at 4 p.m. Friday, and is likely to last through the end of the year. This is the 20th year WLIT has turned its playlist to a Christmas Jukebox, playing Mariah Carey’s […]
A Charlie Brown Christmas abruptly exits network TV Details are scarce, but it looks like Snoopy, Charlie Brown, and his flimsy Christmas tree are heading off of linear TV and into the house Steve Jobs built. According to a tweet sent from the official Peanuts account Monday morning, the Halloween special It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown is streaming exclusively […]
ABC and NBC schedule Presidential town halls opposite each other as ratings dictate decisions instead of common sense NBC’s decision to schedule a President Trump town hall opposite Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden is so ridiculous, it’s hard to explain. A second Presidential debate was supposed to take place tonight between Trump and Biden. But Trump tested positive for […]
Pandemic wipes out annual San Diego fanfest but the show must go on Every in-person event this year (ranging from Lollapalooza to the Chosen Few DJs Picnic) has been wiped out due to an villain far more vicious than The Joker, The Riddler, and The Penguin combined: the Covid-19 pandemic. And this includes the annual San Diego Comic-Con, which would’ve […]
Career spanned ABC, CBS, NBC plus his own production company Media watchers are mourning the death of Fred Silverman, an executive who re-invented CBS and took ABC to the top, and later formed his own production company. Born in the Queens borough of New York, Silverman began his career right here in Chicago at WGN-TV in the early 1960s where […]
With Tamron Hall and Kelly Clarkson hits, syndication’s doing well thank you very much If you’ve read this blog over the years, I usually write a “state of syndication” article around this time every year as NATPE approaches, and it often wasn’t rosy – especially this piece I wrote in 2016, Charlie Brown dozing off and all. But as we […]
Jimmy Kimmel takes over with new format Well, that didn’t take long. Just mere months after airing its final episode in syndication, ABC announced Wednesday at the Winter TCA Tour it is bringing back Who Wants To Be A Millionaire as a series of prime-time specials starting April 8, the same night Modern Family is airing its final episode. Handling […]
Also: Big 3 add overnight news repeats; Fox renews three daytime shows; Disney + signs ten million users; two prime-shows pink-slipped We have an update on the latest with the Cubs’ new Marquee Network and Dish…and I’m guessing those negotiations aren’t going well. In an interview with the Tribune’s Eric Zorn (a rather pointed opinion piece urging Dish not to […]