The 53rd annual gathering of the National Association of Television Program Executives (NATPE) got underway at the Fontainbleau Resort in Miami on Tuesday as syndicators, producers, and content creators converged for the three day conference, which ends on Thursday. There were some programming announcements made at or just prior to NATPE’s start: – Disney-ABC Domestic Television announced updated clearance information for new Tyra […]
Editor’s note: This post has been updated with additional information since being published on Saturday. – T.H. It’s the end of an era as the last “superstation” rides off into the sunset. By the end of this month, WGN America – which once carried WGN-TV programming across the country, is converting into a basic cable network in most areas […]
Don’t discount Cardinal Nation: The St. Louis Cardinals finished the just-concluded 2014 season with the highest-rated regular season average in Major League Baseball: according to Nielsen, the team drew a 7.76 average on FS Midwest. Despite the playoff-bound team’s success, this year’s rating is down 12 percent from a year ago. Finishing behind the Cardinals are the Detroit Tigers, Pittsburgh […]
– Inside Edition/Jeopardy return to old time slot – WMAQ adds 11 a.m. newscast – Chicago Little Leaguers success on and off the field – Dan McNeil, Cheryl Scott exit while Dish Nation adds a Real Housewife – Back to the future in early fringe: as expected, ABC-owned WLS-TV is returning syndicated first-run series Inside Edition and Jeopardy to its […]
In a surprise move, CBS announces its moving its affiliation to WTTV, ending a 58-year relationship with WISH-TV The current battle over retransmission money has claimed another victim – and ended a longtime relationship. Tribune Broadcasting and CBS Corporation announced a new affiliation deal which shifts CBS from LIN Broadcasting’s WISH-TV – which has been a CBS affiliate since 1956 […]
Also: WBBM-AM nears deal to land Cubs telecasts Back in 1978, WGN-TV in Chicago joined WTBS in Atlanta and WOR-TV in New York (now WWOR) and uplinked their signal to a satellite to deliver their signal throughout the country as a “superstation”. In 2014, the “superstation” era is nearing the end. In a report surfacing on Crain’s Chicago Business website Friday, […]
– The other shoe has dropped: Craig Ferguson announced Monday he was stepping down as host of CBS’ Late Late Show, effective at the end of 2014. The news comes as David Letterman (who is the executive producer of the show and controls the 11:35 p.m. weeknight time slot), announced his retirement three weeks ago. With this move, he also […]
(Editor’s Note: This piece contains strong language. Reader discretion is advised.) If you want to make the case cable TV is one big ripoff, look no further to what aired this past week. And no, I’m not talking about CNN’s crappy Chicagoland show. I’m talking about the inane puke garbage that is The Real Housewives Of Atlanta, which had an […]
News briefs from Chicago and beyond: – Cumulus-owned WLS-AM has been fined $44,000 from the Federal Communications Commission for failing to disclose eleven news items it broadcast were advertisements. The “news items” aired on WLS between March and May 2009 (during the ownership reign of Citadel, Inc.), for Workers Independent News, who pretended to interview a local politician. Workers failed […]
FCC approves purchases; deals close It’s a Holiday Week edition of the Grab Bag – will it be presents or several lumps of coal? Let’s find out: Both Gannett and Tribune received presents in their stockings thanks to the FCC approving their deals on December 20. Gannett purchased Belo last summer, while Tribune announced their takeover of Local TV, LLC […]
Also: WLS-TV dominates November ratings With the NATPE gathering just weeks away, syndicators are gearing up their sales teams to pitch new projects for the fall of 2014, including Celebrity Name Game (see below) and The Real – both recently receiving “firm gos”. Several freshman and sophomore series are on the bubble including Queen Latifah, The Arsenio Hall Show, Katie, […]
Simpsons to run on My50; Modern Family penciled in for 6:30 p.m. and 10 Arsenio, Bethenny score on the first day; The Test flunks The 2013-14 syndication season started Monday, as viewers welcomed back Arsenio Hall and sampled Bethenny Frankel’s new show, but snubbed Kirk Fox’s paternity test show. In addition, the final pieces of Chicago’s local fall schedules finally […]
The Tribune Co. announced Wednesday it was splitting its publishing properties from the rest of the company’s assets, becoming the latest media conglomerate to do so. The new company is being named Tribune Publishing Co., and consists of the Chicago Tribune, Red Eye, Hoy, Los Angeles Times, Orlando Sentinel, Sun-Sentinel (Miami-Ft. Lauderdale area), Hartford Courant, Morning Call, and Daily Press. […]
Tribune adds stations from Cleveland, Milwaukee, and Memphis to its stable About a year or so ago, there was speculation on whether or not Tribune Broadcasting, planning to exit Chapter 11, would stay in the broadcast business. Consider this a definite answer. Chicago-based Tribune announced Monday it was acquiring Newport, Ky.-based Local TV LLC for $2.7 billion. The […]
Grab baggin’: – ABC-owned WLS-TV widened its lead over its competitors during the just-completed May sweeps, according to Nielsen. According to CRM, ABC 7 swept all local news time periods in households (25-54 demos weren’t available at press time), with a decisive victory at 10 p.m., surging 11 percent from May 2012 with a 10.0/18, leaving NBC-owned WMAQ-TV (5.9/11, +4% […]
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