T Dog’s Media Notepad: US 99 rounds out new lineup

– US99 rounds out new lineup – Another CHR vet gets prime morning gig – Politically divided FCC keeps cross-ownership rule – Thomas Gibson out at Criminal Minds – Larry Wilmore’s Nightly Report canceled CBS-owned country radio station WUSN has completed its makeover by hiring another new personality for its vacant nighttime slot – the latest hire is Kimmie Caruba, […]

T Dog’s Media Notebook: HBO cancels “Vinyl”

What the Good Lord giveth, can also taketh: In a reversal, HBO has canceled freshman drama Vinyl – despite renewing it for a second season four days after it premiered. Despite a stellar cast in front the camera and behind the scenes, the series never gained traction with viewers or critics (though it seemed Vinyl only registered with the elitist […]

“Star Trek” returns – for a price

                The legendary series returns to the airwaves – but on CBS’ SVOD service The Starship Enterprise is back in business. But if want you get on board, it’s going to cost you. CBS announced Monday it was rebooting Star Trek, which would be the seventh television incarnation of the franchise. But there […]

T Dog’s Media Notepad: Richard Roeper returns to Fox 32

Catching up on media news: Sun-Times film critic Richard Roeper is returning to the Fox 32’s morning show: as first reported by Robert Feder Monday, Roeper has signed on as host of Good Day Chicago,  joining Corey McPharrin and Darlene Hill. Roeper will continue his role as film critic at the Sun-Times. The signing comes as current host Jon Kelley is departing […]

“Family Feud” soars to No. 1

-Becomes the top-rated syndicated game show for the first time since November 1983 – Also: Inside Edition beats ET for first place in magazine genre Well, look who’s back at No.1… Debmar-Mercury’s Family Feud, the venerable game show which survived numerous host changes since its return in 1999, has finished as the top-rated syndicated game show and top-rated strip for the first […]

“Wheel”, “Jeopardy” renewed through 2018

As expected, CBS Television Distribution’s Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy have been renewed for another two years, taking the veteran game shows through the 2017-18 television season. The options for hosts Pat Sajak, Vanna White, and Alex Trebek were picked up a few weeks ago, so the game shows’ renewals were right around the corner. CTD has renewed both shows […]

T Dog’s Grab Bag: “Monopoly Millionaires'” heads to WGN

Sinclair realigns newscasts downstate; talent shows to hit syndication; No one is “asking America” – Remember back in  October when yours truly asked if new weekly hour-long game show Monopoly Millionaires’ Club would air in Chicago because Illinois was not participating in the related lottery game? Well, here’s your answer: WGN-TV picked up the new Monopoly game  hosted by Mike & Molly’s […]

“Queen Latifah” canceled

      At least Jimmy DeCastro didn’t screw this up. But it wouldn’t have mattered: Sony Pictures Television has canceled The Queen Latifah Show after two seasons, marking the second time she struck with with a daytime talker (the last time was in 2001, when Warner Bros. dropped her similarly-titled show after two seasons.) The program will continue in […]

CBS (finally) gets into the digital subchannel business

Chicago’s last digital subchannel holdout is about to convert. WBBM-TV owner CBS – who operates Chicago’s only TV station not operating a digital subchannel – is entering a new venture with Weigel Broadcasting in launching Decades, a new digital subchannel network scheduled to launch in the second quarter of 2015 (in layman’s terms, next spring.) The channel has been cleared […]

More news on weekends is good news for CBS 2

Also: CBS 2 adds “Good Wife”, “Blue Bloods” to weekend late fringe On the surface, CBS 2’s decision to expand their weekend newscasts would be greeted with as much enthusiasm as driving on the Eisenhower. But to the political advertising community, the news of a another news expansion was like waking up on Christmas morning. As first reported by Robert Feder Tuesday […]