Usually this post would be called “T Dog’s Groovy Grab Bag”, a roundup of media notes, but an item here is a tragedy and it involves a helicopter and a radio tower: -Four people were killed Wednesday Night when a medical helicopter slammed into the radio tower in Aurora of west suburban WBIG-AM. Three adults and an one-year old were […]
After three episodes, the opportunities have run out for Opportunities Knocks. ABC pulled the plug on the Ashton Kutchner-produced game show after languishing in its Tuesday night time slot against CBS’ NCIS, NBC’s The Biggest Loser, Fox’s House, and The CWs 90210. The program was hosted by J.D. Roth, who also hosted the kids’ game show Fun House, which ran […]
NBC renewing the awful Knight Rider revival for four more episodes and ABC renewing the very ultra-lame I Survived a Japanese Game Show for next summer. And you wonder why the networks are losing audiences. Maybe they should bring back National Bingo Night as well…
If you had Do Not Disturb in your pool as the first program to be canceled this new season, you win! Fox officially dropped the Faulty Towers rip-off after three episodes. The program starred Jerry O’Connell and Niecy Nash (and where do outlandishly bad TV shows go when they are canceled? They head to The T Dog Media Blog TV […]
Tribune has scrubbed The CW monkier off almost all of its’ affiliates websites, and its sending a message to the beleaguered network – improve your ratings. Tribune has even changed the branding of many of its CW stations. For example, WDCW-TV in Washington, D.C. goes by the name “DC 50” instead of “CW 50”. For KWGN-TV in Denver, it’s now […]
The week that was: T Dog’s Fab Four – Jay Mariotti leaves the Sun-Times. Yes! Oh God, Yes! -Barack Obama’s Acceptance Speech. Drew just as many viewers as the opening ceremonies of the recent Summer Olympics. – The U.S. men’s and women’s basketball team. The ladies brought home the Gold and the Redeem Team did likewise. Way to go! – […]
Tribune’s KPLR-TV in St. Louis is moving its half-hour 9 p.m. newscast to 7 p.m. and expanding it to a hour beginning on Sept. 8. This means CW primetime fare currently airing at 7 p.m. is shifting to 8 p.m., with KPLR taking the Mountain Time feed. For example, when 90210 airs in St. Louis (8 p.m. Central), it’ll air […]
In the “don’t hit your behind out the door” department… ABC inane I Survived A Japanese Game Show didn’t survive the ratings Tuesday night as the two-hour season finale notched a 1.8 rating and 5 share in adults 18-49, down 22 percent from last week. The program only drew 4.5 million viewers and did not register any significant rating increases […]
Anyone watching the new summer fare here in Chicago? You know, shows like I Survived a Japanese Game Show, Celebrity Family Feud, Swingtown, Duel, and Wanna Bet? Didn’t think so (in fact, no one is watching them anywhere else, either.) What people are watching in the Windy City are the Cubs – and on Monday night, the Cubs-Brewers game dominated […]
Before TCA began, Broadcasting & Cable held a critics’ roundtable on what would they do if they ran the networks. Critics who participated included the Chicago Tribune’s Maureen Ryan and the Kansas City Star’s (and TV Barn’s) Aaron Barnhart. Among the observations: – ABC needs more comedies closer to Roseanne and Home Improvement, and not According to Jim and The […]
Cable cleaned up in the 2008 Emmy nominations, with 85 nominations for HBO (but none for Best drama series) and nominations for Best Drama landing in Mad Men’s and Damages‘ lap — marking the first time two basic cable series competed in the category. Despite ABC nabbing 76 nominations – the most of any of the broadcast nets – its […]
The first of the Big Three started its’ presentation today at the TCA Press Tour. First up, ABC and its two-parter: – Odd sight: A reporter for the “Sarasota N.Y. newspaper” asks if ABC is courting Jay Leno. Turns out the reporter is… Jimmy Kimmel! He dashes about before real journalists asked him about… well, you know… – ABC chief […]
The Osbournes hosting a variety show? Yes, it’s true… Fox has ordered six episodes of a variety show hosted by Ozzy, Sharon, Kelly, and Jack from producer FremantleMedia, set to air next year. The Osbournes of course, headlined their own reality show on MTV from 2002 to 2005. Thought: Remember the last segment that aired on The Simpsons’ 138th Episode […]
For the first time ever in Chicago, viewers will have a real option to the network evening newscasts. As expected, Tribune-owned WGN-TV has signed former WMAQ-TV and WFLD-TV Mark Suppelsa, renewed the contract of longtime veteran Steve Sanders and is expanding the station’s newscasts. Suppelsa left Fox-owned WFLD in a contract dispute a few months ago and was slated to […]
The Boston Celtics won their first NBA championship in 22 years, and ABC scored its highest ratings for NBA in their current broadcast deal. The 131-92 blowout win by the Celtics over the Lakers averaged 17 million viewers and a 6.9 Nielsen rating among adults 18-49 and a 7.1 among adults 25-54 (from 8 p.m. to 11:01 p.m. CDT), according […]
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