The NBC-owned stations have made a deal with co-owned NBC Universal Television Distribution to begin airing off-cable repeats of The Real Housewives Of… as a weekday strip beginning in the fall of 2010. Locally, the program will air in a unspecified time period on WMAQ-TV. The program has also been sold to Hearst Broadcasting, which means the series will also […]
“Is that your final answer?” is becoming a popular phrase in Chicago again. While Who Wants To Be A Millionaire has not caught fire in the ratings like it did in August 1999 when it first premiered, it has rekindled its love affair in the Windy City. According to Nielsen, Millionaire’s return to ABC’s prime-time lineup has paid dividends for […]
The long national nightmare is over – the Bulls Ballboy is moving on. NBC Entertainment Co-Chairman Ben Silverman resigned today after two years to start a new company with Barry Diller’s IAC. He’s essentially returning to his entrepreneurial roots: he founded production company Reville, producers of The Office and Ugly Betty. His replacement is Jeff Gaspin, who will now add […]
Could canceled CW comedy The Game make a return? According to TV Guide, CBS Television Studios (formerly CBS Paramount Television) and Black Entertainment Television (BET) are negotiating a lower license fee so CBS can produce the series for cable. If negotiations are successful, The Game would become the first former live-action network sitcom to be revived on basic cable since […]
But don’t call it new. The network, which now bills itself as a programming service, unveiled its 2009-10 lineup with barely any original programming. The only original program airing on the service is WWE Smackdown on Fridays. Monday through Wednesdays will feature reruns of existing fare with Law & Order: Criminal Intent on Mondays; Are You Smarter Than A Fifth […]
The very first Think Tank yours truly wrote back on November 28, 2006 dealt with the follies of the National Hockey League and its Chicago franchise, and those of broadcasters (over-the-air TV stations and networks), sharing the same tale of missteps and woe. After the Chicago Blackhawks fired head coach Trent Yawney, yours truly wrote this on a comment board […]
I’ll tumble for the 4 pack – the week’s winners and losers: Winners of the week: The Chicago Blackhawks. Great job by the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday Night taking a 3-2 lead over the Vancouver Canucks. The Cinderella run continues. Go Hawks! (UPDATE: The Hawks defeated the Canucks tonight 7-5 to go to the Western Conference Finals for the first […]
A lot of items in The Grab Bag today: – Warner Bros. and HBO has sold the sitcoms Entourage and Curb Your Enthauism to the Tribune station group for late-fringe time periods begining in 2010 on all-barter basis (meaning stations don’t have to pay a dime – just surrender half of their ad inventory to the syndicator.) Locally, you can […]
Production to move to Connecticut to join other NBC Universal shows Well, what took them so long?After months of being on the fence, NBC Universal’s Deal or No Deal syndicated strip is finally renewed for its second season – with a catch.Production of the syndicated strip is moving production to Waterford, Connecticut from Culver City, Cal., a suburb adjacent to […]
NBC Universal’s The Steve Wilkos Show has been renewed for a third season according to officials at the syndicator, with 70 percent of the country on board. According to this article in TV Week, Wilkos has cleared Tribune stations in New York, Los Angeles, and Philadelphia – but in Chicago, the article cites a renewal for the “Weigel’s station in […]
This version of the Groovy Grab Bag comes to you from the National Association of Television Program Executives convention going on in Las Vegas. Before we start on a barrage of news and notes, let’s talk about the convention itself: things are not going so well. Attendance at the convention is way down, as station managers and others have decided […]
An extended version of The Bag. Here what’s been going on the last couple of days: – Spike O’Dell signs off: The WGN-AM host wrapped up his eight-year stint in morning drive today with a live show at the Metropolis Theater in Arlington Heights. The building was sold out for the show, as people were lining up as early as […]
CBS Television’s new Doctors has tied NBC Universal’s Deal or No Deal in the first-run syndication race among new series, with both shows tying each other at 1.9. GAA rating. Doctors was up 12 percent from last week; Deal was flat. But Disney-ABC’s new weekly hour Legend of the Seeker beat them both, with a 2.1 rating, up 5 percent. […]
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 […]
It’s another edition (and another new name) of the weekly winners and losers list, now called The T Dog’s 4 pack. Let’s hope this one sticks, as the last two titles were quite clunky. There are two 4-packs: one Fab, another Flop. Simple for you? I know it is for me… – T Dog’s Fab Four-Pack: President-Elect Barack Obama. Yes, […]
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