WWOR in New York also drops 10 p.m. newscast, but moves it to 11 p.m. Time’s up for The Ten. Fox-owned WFLD is dropping its 10 p.m. newscast titled The Ten after two uneventful years and will remove it from its schedule on September 18 (this blog’s birthday.) On September 21, WFLD will air off-network repeats of The Office 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 […]
Wendy Williams goes forward. CBS Television Distribution has decided to shelve preacher T.D. Jakes’ new syndicatedtalk show until 2010, according to the distributor. The reason given was the tough economic conditions stations and advertisers are facing this year. Meanwhile, Debmar-Mercury’s new Wendy Williams syndicated talk show is going forward, clearing 70 percent of the country.
Broadcasting & Cable is reporting that two Sony-distributed courtroom strips (Judge David Young and Judge Karen) are expected to be canceled soon. Young will exit after two seasons and Karen after only one. The possible moves come as the tough economy has taken a toll on the first-run syndication business, as ratings and revenue coming in are very low for […]
No surprise here, it’s Tyler Perry’s House of Payne. But there is a surprise when compared to other programs in the viewer’s landscape: When you take the rating from its’ syndication airings and its cable runs on TBS, Payne tops everything else among African-Americans in all of television among adults 18-34, 18-49, and 25-54, including network prime-time, beating Grey’s Anatomy […]
The president of Debmar-Mercury is calling out the first-run syndication business. In an interview with Broadcasting & Cable, Mort Marcus says we might be seeing more syndie cancellations coming in the next several months as the economy continues to become worse. Marcus, who runs the company responsible for syndicating South Park, Family Feud, Trivial Pursuit, and the upcoming Wendy Williams […]
In a move that comes as a bit of a surprise, Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution announced Thursday the move of The Tyra Banks Show to CW from first-run syndication – giving the network two hours to fill in its daytime lineup starting next September. CW, home already to Ms. Banks’ America’s Next Top Model, acquired the program to run […]
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 […]
Let’s reach into the bag today and see what we can scoop out… – New fall syndication updates: WPWR plays the Feud again: Debmar-Mercury’s Family Feud returns to WPWR-TV for the third time beginning on Sept. 8, airing back-to-back episodes at 2 p.m, while Debmar’s new Trivial Pursuit: America’s Plays airs at 3 p.m. Family Feud aired on WPWR from […]
Another installment of T Dog’s Groovy Grab Bag: – Fox has decided to replace Moment of Truth on Thursday nights this fall with Hole in the Wall, a Japanese-like game show which debuts on Sept. 11. Let’s hope it doesn’t turn out like a similar show ABC aired this summer. For the record, the last time Fox aired something close […]
For the first time in 25 years, Family Feud is headed to prime-time. A celebrity edition of the syndicated game-show strip is being planned by Fremantle for NBC in prime-time, although it’s being proposed as a series of specials. If you recall, ABC aired prime-time specials in the 1970’s and 1980’s, which pitted celebrity casts of shows for charity, i.e., […]
Good news for local fans of the TV series Scrubs: WCIU-TV has acquired the second cycle of the hit NBC comedy from Disney/ABC Domestic Television beginning in the fall of 2009. The move means the program will stay in broadcast syndication and not head for an exclusive deal on cable, which many off-network sitcoms have recently done (i.e. Home Improvement, […]
– Debmar-Mercury has cleared 85% of the country for the ninth syndicated season of Family Feud, which was previously distributed by Tribune Entertainment. Debmar-Mercury has also recruited Twentieth Television to sell ad time for Feud and off-cable weekly sci-fi hour The Dead Zone. That program has also been sold to 85% of the country, including season two renewals for ABC […]
The continuing saga of the Tribune Co. continues to unravel: Fremantle Media, the producer of Family Feud, is dropping Tribune Entertainment as syndicator and is replacing it with Debmar-Mercury, a unit of independent film studio Lionsgate, Inc. effective immediately. It seems this program has been through more syndicators than hosts — John O’Hurley is currently the captain of this ship, […]
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