TCA, Part 5: ABC opens the broadcast portion

The Winter Television Critics Association Press Tour continued on Monday with ABC as the first commercial network to present. – ABC right off the bat announced the early renewal of six shows for the 2011-12 season: Castle, Cougar Town, Grey’s Anatomy, The Middle, Modern Family, and Private Practice. Fans of Dancing With The Stars, Desperate Housewives, and 20/20 need not […]

WLS-TV dominates households in November

ABC’s “Dancing With The Stars” was Chicago’s top entertainment (non-sports) program in November.  November sweeps came and went and as usual, ABC- owned WLS-TV won the 10pm news race, and also dominated the market overall (thank you Oprah and Dancing With The Stars.) While household numbers were only available at this time, look for WLS to dominate in all key […]

T Dog’s Six Pack: The new season so far

Since we’re three weeks into the new fall season, here’s how things are shape up in TV land in this edition of T Dog’s Six Pack: Three Up NFL Football. The quality of play is down, but ratings are up? It’s true – viewers are tuning in droves to NFL Football with CBS, Fox, ESPN and NBC all posting year-to-year […]

Monday Night Fights

(Courtesy: Chicago Tribune) Bears-Packers, Dancing destroy competition in Chicago – and everywhere else It was a huge face-off on Monday night. Wait, you thought I was just talking the Bears and the Packers? Ratings in Chicago for the game were phenomenal – the Bears beat the Packers 20-17. But Dancing with the Stars was just as phenomenal (in its own […]

T Dog’s Think Tank: Better days ahead for NBC (2000th post)

The party’s over for Doogie and Partyman. Post number 2000. Yes, yours truly is finally written his 2000th post after four years. And what better way to celebrate by writing a Think Tank regarding the departures of biggest boobs to ever grace – or disgrace a media corporation’s executive suite outside of Laurence Tisch. I’m talking about Jeff Zucker and […]

T Dog’s Grab Bag

Glee is off to a hot start – 5.5 adults 18-49 rating for its second season premiere. – The new fall season is underway, and here’s the storylines so far… Dancing With The Stars and Glee are in peak form; Hawaii Five-O had a successful debut; Mike & Molly was amply sampled; and all of Fox’s new shows (Lonestar, Raising […]

T Dog’s Think Tank: Unnecessary press conference patrol

Yours truly is pleading to the powers that be – enough with the press conferences. This past week saw the most stupid, contrived, and ridiculous publicity stunts known to man. It reminded yours truly of those phony press conferences the WWE used to have back in the day with Randy “Macho Man” Savage and the Ultimate Warrior nearly coming to […]

T Dog’s Six Pack: The Emmys, "Hot In Cleveland", LeBron, and more

Three up, three down: The best and worst in media during the past week: What’s Hot. The Final Answer: Pay up, Mickey Mouse. A grand jury ruled in favor of Celador after The Walt Disney Co. skimmed the Who Wants To Be A Millionaire producer out of millions of dollars, thanks to “Hollywood Accounting.”  The jury awarded Celador $269 million, […]

Another "Bachelor" break up (wow, what a surprise)

Reader discretion is advised. Two idiots. One’s a BP exec, the other runs the Baltimore Orioles. Another Bachelor couple is kaput: Jake Pavelka and Vienna Girardi split up after becoming engaged on the inane ABC show last spring. Pavelka ended the relationship with Girardi because he believed he was cheating on her – a charge she vehemently denied – and […]

WCIU gets Sept. 27 Packers-Bears game

ESPN have come to agreement with WCIU to air a Monday Night Football game featuring the Chicago Bears and the Green Bay Packers at Soldier Field on September 27, according to Phil Rosenthal’s Tower Ticker blog. This marks the sixth local outlet to carry a Bears game this upcoming season. Aside from the regular home of the Bears (WFLD, whose […]

Chicagoan Lee DeWyze wins "American Idol"

American Idol winner Lee DeWyze with runner-up Crystal Bowersox. It was a Midwestern feel at the American Idol finale, with one finalist from northern Illinois and the other from north central Ohio and both auditioning in Chicago. But in the end, it was Mount Prospect native and former paint store salesman Lee DeWyze who took home the prize and the […]

ABC’s new 2010-11 lineup

ABC announced its new 2010-11 lineup in front of advertisers during its upfront presentation today, and unveiled several new programs. While Saturdays, Sundays, and Mondays remain pat, Tuesday gets a significant face-lift with two new dramas surrounding the Dancing With The Stars results show: No Ordinary Family and Detroit 1-8-7, while Better Together joins ABC’s Wednesday sitcom block, with new […]

FlashForward… to your demise – for real this time

Law & Order’s fate hanging in the balance It was a day for cancellations. In a move that does not surprise anyone, The Thursday night science-fiction series’ ratings declined significantly throughout the season in the key adults 18-49 demographic. Last Thursday’s airing of FlashForward finished in last place among adults 18-49 in its time period, even behind CW’s Vampire Diaries, […]

T Dog’s Four Pack – Putting the biscuit in the basket

Here’s who is scoring goals – and who isn’t – it’s a hockey-themed T Dog’s Four Pack: Lighting the lamp: Family Guy. No, you don’t see this show in the winner’s circle too often, but Sunday’s night episode – despite some rather uncomfortable dialogue in the first act – was the best of the season and perhaps ever, on a […]

Analysis: The real winners and losers in the CoCo lottery

The drawing in the Conan O’Brien lottery took place Monday, and it was Turner Broadcasting who turned up the lucky winner. So what does TBS actually win? Young demos. A proven name. An increased profile. And a new car – advertiser or two. But it seems a lot of players in this saga appear to winners – TBS, Conan O’Brien, […]