Remembering Grant Tinker

The television world is remembering Grant Tinker and the legacy he left as he passed away at the age of 90 on November 28 in his Los Angeles home. While network executives were known for meddling into the creative process, Grant Tinker would be best known for his hands-off approach – which made sense given he headed one of the most […]

T Dog’s Media Notepad: Chicago radio stations to carry Mayor Emanuel interview

Also: Conviction canceled, becomes first casualty; NFL ratings continue to decline; WLIT to flip to Christmas music Thursday; PlaysttionVue drops Viacom channels Fresh after a bruising election season, Chicago radio listeners are going to subjected to a half-hour with Mayor Rahm Emanuel – whether they like it or not. On Monday, over 40 radio stations in the Chicago area are airing a half-hour interview […]

T Dog’s Media Notepad: A Tronc war breaks out

Can’t we all get along: With the Chicago Cubs and the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLCS, leave it to those idiots at  Tronc to ignite a war between the two cities’ newspapers – given the company runs newspapers in both cities. On Friday, overrated Chicago Tribune columnist Rex Huppke wrote a column bashing Los Angeles, saying the city is a […]

Sunday Night Television: The Brown Bag Club

Sad sack Bears, lackluster ABC and Fox lineups dampen night Note: numbers are 18-49 preliminary unless otherwise noted.  And you thought Friday night television was bad. Sunday is fast becoming Tune-Out Night In America. And the lackluster Bears (and two of their oldest animated sitcoms who are like Steve Dahl and Jonathan Brandmeier – past-their-prime acts who won’t get off the […]

“MacGyver” tops Friday ratings

CBS remake scores decent sampling; Church of Tisch dominates the evening Note: These results are based on adults 18-49 preliminary ratings. On The Simpsons, Patty and Selma said they’re favorite TV show was MacGvyer, the 1985-92 ABC series featuring Richard Dean Anderson (it was even part of a plot of one 1992 episode where Selma marries Sideshow Bob.) So you […]

Tough night for network TV

Unless you’re CBS After three nights of momentum, network TV slid off the rails Thursday as two programs’ premieres underwhelmed. For the record, real-life events had an effect on TV schedules – police protests in Charlotte were covered on cable news networks and spurred pre-emptions on several Charlotte TV stations; and here in Chicago, where Mayor Rahm Emanuel gave a […]

“Designated Survivor” off to strong start

Kiefer Sutherland gets to do something he was never able to do on 24 – become President of The United States. And he didn’t even battle Dennis Haysbert for the job. The biggest debut of the night was the premiere of Designated Survivor, the Kiefer Sutherland vehicle where he plays the President Of The United States – getting the position […]

“This Is Us”, ‘Bull” rams through competition

New dramas get strong sampling; The Voice continues to dominate; S.H.I.E.L.D. skids off radar The first Tuesday of the new season bought more ratings riches for both CBS and ABC while ABC and Fox struggled to remain competitive. Obviously, the story of the night is the successful debuts of CBS’ Bull and NBC’s This is Us. The latter show benefited […]

Affiliation realignments rock Peoria, South Bend

Quincy and Sinclair do some wheeling and dealing, moving networks onto digital subchannels In what may become commonplace in small markets across the country, major broadcast networks are winding up on digital subchannels of other stations. In a huge television realignment just 80 miles east of Chicago, Sinclair Broadcasting’s WSBT snagged the Fox affiliation from Quincy Media-owned WSJV, which dropped […]

WCIU to air special edition of “26 N. Halsted”

Starting this week, WCIU’s 26 N. Halsted public-affairs program is going to tackle one of the hottest issues facing the nation right now: gun violence and police brutality against minorities. This Sunday at 7 p.m., George Blaise is hosting a special edition of the public-affairs program with the title 26 N. Halsted – A Special Community Conversation, featuring guests who’ll […]

T Dog’s Media Notebook: WGN-AM extends deals for Cochran, Manley

WFLD finally launches 5 p.m. newscast ABC’s game show block off to good start Sorry, Cochran haters: As first reported by Robert Feder Monday, WGN-AM morning personality Steve Cochran has re-upped with the Tribune Media station through 2020. Cochran had been with the station off-and-on since 2000 but was off it in 2010 after being fired by former WGN program […]

Bubble Bustin’ Thursday – nets cancel shows

Networks pull plug on underperforming shows. Ten shows axed; Supergirl changes networks For the last several years, the major networks have made decisions on “bubble shows” on the Thursday and Friday before the upfronts – thus, “Bubble Bustin’ Thursday” and “Bubble Bustin’ Friday”. These two days are brutal for the prime-time TV business; decisions are made on what pilots are picked up […]

The “Live” mess

Michael Strahan’s unexpected departure from Live stuns industry insiders – and Kelly Ripa The announcement of Michael Strahan’s departure from Disney-ABC Domestic Television’s Live With Kelly and Michael stunned the entertainment world Tuesday – perhaps none other than co-host Kelly Ripa herself, who reportedly wasn’t happy about the news. The NFL Hall Of Famer and former New York Giants defensive back accepted an […]