Friendly regulatory climate, urge to compete with streamers fuels merger talk The future of Warner Bros. Discovery appears to be headed in two directions: a split or an outright takeover by another media company. It’s clear that Paramount head David Ellison, whose Skydance bought the company last year, is looking for more. That’s what media observers are looking at, as […]
The “late fringe” daypart of being relevant is over. How did we get to this point? If one were to look at the late-night landscape in the 1970s, it was quite a different world: NBC’s The Tonight Show With Johnny Carson ruled all, while CBS and ABC aired off-network series and movies It’s an era we could be heading back […]
Is the move politically motivated? Colbert was a frequent Trump critic In a stunning move, CBS announced Thursday it was ending The Late Show franchise after 33 years and getting out of the late-night business entirely, claiming the decision was made due to “financial decisions.” Current CBS late-night host Stephen Colbert announced before The Late Show began on Thursday. During […]
National feed to launch June 30; DirecTV also strikes deal with Paramount for ‘MySports’ and other skinny bundles Exactly a year after its launch, Weigel’s MeTV Toons is getting a major distribution boost, courtesy of DirecTV. Starting Monday, the classic animation channel will be available to Choice and Ultimate subscribers, as well as the newly announced MyKids genre pack. “Viewers […]
The move gives network an O&O station in the nation’s seventh-largest market Atlanta will get a new CBS outlet later this summer as it will move its affiliation to a station its owns in the market, WUPA (Ch. 69). Like they did in Detroit in 2022, CBS will launch a news operation from scratch (CBS News Atlanta) and a 24/7 […]
Syndicated show returns to CBS’ late-night lineup after test run in ’23 After CBS canceled After Midnight after two seasons, the network decided to replace it with…reruns of a syndicated show. CBS announced on Tuesday that it is bringing back Byron Allen’s Comics Unleashed in the slot following The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, beginning the week of September 22, […]
Cites loss of editorial independence after 60 Minutes lawsuit Paramount Global’s CBS News lost its leader Monday as Wendy McMahon was essentially fired as head of the CBS News and Stations group. On Saturday, Paramount co-CEO George Cheeks demanded her resignation from CBS News after she reportedly apologized to staff for how CBS was handling the 60 Minutes fiasco. The […]
Dominated by procedurals, the schedule features four comedies on the lineup Despite winning the total viewership crown for the seventeenth consecutive season, the 2024-25 season has one to forget for CBS, which is battling President Trump over whether 60 Minutes defamed him, and the continued limbo the Paramount-Skydance deal is in as the FCC is continuing to investigate the […]
Queen Latifah’s reboot of the 1980s series ends after time period shift The curtain has closed on Queen Latifah’s reboot of the 1980s crime drama as CBS canceled the series after five seasons. According to the logline, Latifah played Robyn McCall,“an enigmatic woman with a mysterious background who uses her extensive skills as a former CIA operative to help those […]
Programming plans unknown; may hand time back to affiliates After thirty years, CBS is exiting the late-late night business with the cancellation of the comedy game show After Midnight. An adaptation of an earlier version titled @Midnight on Comedy Central, the show was brought back to CBS in January 2024 with Taylor Tomlinson as host, airing after The Late Show […]
WSVN to stay with Fox as ABC shifts to a 7.2; First major affiliation switch in the market since ’95 Affiliation switches are rare nowadays, but when they happen, it’s big news – even in the streaming era. WPLG Miami-Ft. Lauderdale announced on Thursday that it is ending its 64-year relationship with ABC to become an independent station. Sunbeam’s WSVN […]
Majority-Black cast looking to resurrect daytime serials and daytime TV It’s been 25 years since a daytime serial debuted on television when Passions premiered on NBC. Since then, the soap opera genre has lost steam through the 1990s and 2000s, as younger viewers defected toward the more real-life (if you can call it that) drama of daytime talk shows such […]
23 channels stay on service Days after YouTubeTV emailed subscribers (including this writer) that it was on the verge of losing 23 channels owned and/or operated by Paramount Global, the two reached a resolution Saturday night with a new deal. Terms were not disclosed. News of the impending blackout made news Wednesday night and intensified Thursday, as CBS ran ads […]
Latest carriage dispute comes out of nowhere Update, February 14, 12:36 a.m.: Paramount and YouTubeTV have agreed to a short-term extension of their previous contract, keeping CBS and 22 other channels on the virtual provider as they hammer out a new agreement. Neither party stated how long the extension would last. Original Story from February 12: Another carriage dispute […]
Also: Ramblin’ Ray gives up KCMO gig to focus on WLS-AM; Moffett Nathanson gives mixed reviews of upcoming NBCU cable spinoff Unlike other Chicago Sports embarrassments this year, this one was shown live in front of the largest audience of the season. The Bears’ major meltdown against the Detroit Lions on Thanksgiving drew a record of 37.5 million viewers for CBS […]
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