Paramount, “South Park” creators strike new streaming mega-deal

Comedy Central’s signature show moves to Paramount Plus domestically After a contentious back-and-forth with a lot of insults thrown, South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone and their South Park Digital Studios agreed to a new five-year, fifteen billion dollar deal with Paramount Global, bringing the entire library exclusively to Paramount Plus. Paramount Plus will offer next-day new episodes […]

CBS ends Stephen Colbert’s show and entire “Late Show” franchise

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 […]

Paramount Global plans to pull networks, stations Thursday from YouTubeTV (updated)

  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 […]

Comcast, Paramount Global renews deal

CBS Chicago to stay on Xfinity systems; subscribers to get Paramount Plus Paramount Global and Comcast announced a new carriage deal on Tuesday. The multi-year deal includes Paramount’s portfolio of networks, including CBS and its owned stations, BET, MTV, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, and others. Comcast subscribers will also continue to gain access to streamers Paramount Plus, BET Plus, and Pluto […]

Global IT outage impacts media outlets

TV stations, networks affected A widespread outage affecting Microsoft Windows-based programs had major implications worldwide Friday morning, impacting flights, banks, government offices, hospitals, and more. The outage started around 2 a.m. CT and lasted throughout the morning though systems are slowly returning online. The outage also affected media outlets worldwide, with control hubs and traffic departments being hard hit and […]

Partying with a Chicago aunt

Netflix’s new Chicago Party Aunt is creating a lot of buzz Over the years, we were treated to jokes regarding all the number of Chicago shows Dick Wolf has created for NBC: Chicago Fire, Chicago P.D., and Chicago Med. What’s next? Chicago Sanitation Department? Chicago Animal Control?  Well, how about Chicago Party Aunt?  For once, we have a show with […]

“South Park” snares blockbuster ViacomCBS deal

Veteran animated series renewed for at least sixty more episodes over six years AND fourteen movies With South Park airing on another streaming service, there had to be some kind of way to get the show’s content on ViacomCBS’ Paramount Plus. After all, the show has been home to Comedy Central since 1997, also owned by ViacomCBS. Well, how about […]

The Mountain Of Entertainment unveiled: Paramount + is here

36 original series; changes to subscription structure from CBS All Access [Editor’s Note: This story was updated on March 5. – T. H]  ViacomCBS officially jumped into the streaming wars this week with their three-hour upfront-like Paramount + presentation Wednesday afternoon, unveiling a slog of programming with a whopping 36 original series and tons of specials all set to launch […]

ViacomCBS’ cable networks snares “Young Sheldon” syndication rights

Starts November 30 on Nick at Nite; rights are non-exclusive Signaling the sign of the times in the television business, ViacomCBS’ cable networks acquired the linear syndication rights to Young Sheldon from Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution for an unknown sum, announced in August. But to show you how far recent off-network sitcoms have fallen in the marketplace, the news […]

Emmy winner “Schitt’s Creek” ready for wider exposure

Canadian sitcom makes history by sweeping Emmy Awards– Half-hour sitcoms are (or were) the bedrock of the television industry here in the United States, but in Canada…it’s a completely different story. The only sitcom from the Great White North to even come close to being a global hit was in the mid-1980s when Check It Out!, a sitcom taped in […]

Reunification: CBS and Viacom get back together

Split in 2005, both companies re-merge in order to compete with other entertainment giants In news that was expected for several months, it is now official: CBS Corporation and Viacom, Inc. are re-merging after nearly fifteen years apart. The company will be known as ViacomCBS. The reunification returns several well-known properties to one roof: CBS, with its top-rated broadcast network, […]

Wednesday night ratings roundup: Cubs outdraw NBC’s “Chicago” shows in Chicago

Broadcast networks continue to struggle; Empire top-rated 18-49 show of night nationally Wednesday night, NBC’s Chicago shows returned with their season premieres. But it was the Chicago Cubs who beat the Chicago-based dramas on their own home turf. Fueled by their chase for the NL Central championship, the Cubs game from Wrigley Field topped all prime-time programs in viewership in […]

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 […]

Welcome Back: MST3K to return

Thanks to Kickstarter, a cult classic rises again In this era of reboots and revivals comes an unlikely name surfacing: Mystery Science Theater 3000. And so it shall be done. Thanks to a Kickstarter campaign, the movie mocking series Mystery Science Theater 3000 – or MST3K, for short, is indeed coming back with fourteen new episodes – thanks to a […]