The list of winners and losers are back! Yes, they can! Conan. As Conan O’ Brien is settling down in his new Tonight Show role, he has more than proven himself as a successor to Jay Leno (or… maybe not.) Futurama returns. Six years later after Fox canceled this underrated show, Comedy Central comes to the rescue with 26 new […]
Rachael Ray is on the move. After three underperforming seasons at CBS-owned WBBM-TV, Rachael Ray’s talk show is shifting to Tribune-owned CW affiliate WGN-TV this fall. Rachael Ray has not fared well in its 2 p.m. time slot, with tougher competition coming from Chicago native Bonnie Hunt, whose talk show airs opposite it and has beat Rachael in the ratings. […]
The Church of Tisch has done it again. CBS-owned WBBM-TV underwent numerous staff cuts, including entertainment reporter Bill Zwecker, reporter Joanie Lum, and longtime fill-in sportscaster Howard Sudsberry. In addition, the station also demoted Anne State – who is now only anchoring the 5 p.m. newscast with Rob Johnson, who is anchoring the 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. newscast solo. […]
From the recently concluded March ratings period: Chicago: WLS-TV remained on top, as usual at 10 p.m., but CBS-owned WBBM-TV is up 50 percent in the same time period in households. At 9 p.m., WGN-TV’s newscast had a 43 percent advantage over an above-average WFLD-TV, despite popular Fox prime-time lead-ins. Milwaukee: And lead-ins didn’t matter here either, as NBC affiliate […]
In a move that could put its fourteen-year NBC affiliation at risk, WHDH-TV in Boston has told NBC it plans not to run Jay Leno’s new weeknight show at 10 p.m. (ET) but instead run a prime-time newscast. Leno got the 10 p.m. time slot after losing his longtime 11:35 p.m. Tonight Show slot to Conan O’Brien. Leno leaves Tonight […]
The Guiding Light may soon be extinguished. CBS and Procter & Gamble Productions are expected to decide soon on the fate of television and radio’s longest-running program (combined) currently clocked in at 70 years. Light, which began on radio in 1937 and moved to television in 1952, has fared poorly in the ratings over the last two decades. It is […]
A Cook County judge is allowing a lawsuit filed by former WMAQ-TV reporter Amy Jacobson against CBS and its O&O here (WBBM-TV) to go forward after the station videotaped her at Craig Stebic’s house in July 2007. The tape aired on the station and cost Ms. Jacobson her job. Stebic is a suspect in the disappearence of his wife, who […]
Syndication switcheroo; Universal Sports add more clearances; Young files Chapter 11. – With another ratings period ahead, two Chicago stations have made some major changes to their syndicated lineups: * Beginning today, WCIU-TV is swapping time periods with Warner Bros.’ The People’s Court and Sony’s now-canceled Judge Karen. With Karen now out of production, WCIU has moved the show to […]
If you’re one of those who waives to the few people watching Channel 2’s newscasts through the window of its street-side studio, time may be running out. CBS-owned WBBM-TV is considering moving its newscasts from the street-level studio it occupies along Dearborn Street at Daley Plaza to the second floor. Nothing is definite yet, but the station is considering moving […]
Fox-owned WFLD-TV has hired former WBBM-TV news director Carol Fowler to work in the same capacity. Fowler replaces Andrew Finlayson, who today took a job with News Corp. as director for online content and business for the Fox Television Stations Group. Fowler was news director at CBS-owned WBBM for six years before being fired last fall in a newsroom shakeup. […]
Jeff Kiernan has been named the new news director at CBS-owned WBBM-TV (CBS 2), being charged of cleaning up the mess former news director Carol Fowler left. Kiernam is a native of nearby Munster, Ind., and has been in charge of news operations for CBS O&Os stations in Minneapolis (WCCO-TV) and Boston (WBZ-TV.) While at WCCO, Kiernan kept WCCO competitve […]
CBS Television Distribution’s has sold weekend runs of Criminal Minds and Numb3rs into syndication on station groups representing CBS, Gannett, Belo, Meredith, and Cox. Here in Chicago, CBS-owned WBBM-TV will begin carrying the syndicated weekend runs of both crime drama series, beginning in September 2010. They replace the two current CSI shows in syndication: New York and Miami. Minds was […]
Here’s a look at some of the new syndicated programs and how they are faring thus far, based on info culled from Broadcasting & Cable and TV Week: Legend of the Seeker. Disney-ABC’s first syndicated scripted hour in a decade has made a strong impression in the ratings, with a 2.9 Nielsen household rating and 4.2 million viewers for its […]
Yeah, we knew this was coming: News director Carol Fowler of CBS-owned WBBM-TV was fired today after six years. She was brought in as a stooge of former general manager Joe Ahern, who was fired last month. During her tenure news ratings failed to move upward and still placed behind most of their rivals, including ABC-owned WLS-TV and CW affiliate […]
With Oprah Winfrey scheduled to run her new cable network in a joint venture with Discovery beginning next year, there is increasing speculation she may discontinue her daily talk show strip when her contract with CBS Television Distribution expires in 2011. The speculation increased when Discovery Communications CEO David Zaslav revealed in an earnings report a few days ago that […]
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