The Media Notepad: Former TV personalities have rough election night

Also: NASCAR Chicago race lines up radio, TV outlets;  Chicago’s Thanksgiving Parade returns to TV  It was not a great election night if you were a former television personality. Republican challenger Dr. Memhet Oz, who quit his daytime talk show to run for the U.S. Senate last year, lost to Pennsylvania Democratic challenger John Fetterman in a race where four […]

“Judge Jerry”, “The Good Dish”, “Nick Cannon” canceled

  Hat trick of pink slips within 24 hours dooms shows  In a bizarre occurrence, not one but three first-run syndicated strips were canceled within a span of hours Wednesday – a first in recent memory as their services were no longer needed: three-season veteran Judge Jerry from NBCUniversal Syndication Studios; Debmar-Mercury’s Nick Cannon; and Sony’s The Good Dish, a […]

Rewinding media in 2021: You just can’t explain it

  Popularity isn’t exactly overrated as 2021 ends a wild year in media Like mystery of the sphinx or crop circles, you just can’t explain the continued popularity of certain things despite questionable changes. After the firing of Mark Giangreco and seemingly public disdain for one of her former co-anchors, ABC 7 remains on top of local Chicago news ratings, […]

“Dr. Oz” exits for “The Good Dish”

The Good Dish takes over Oz’s old slots in January As expected, The Dr. Oz Show is ending after the host announced a run for U.S. Senate. On November 30, Memhet Oz announced he was running for the Pennsylvania Senate as a Republican for a seat now occupied by the retiring Pat Toomey, even though he currently lives in New […]

“Dr. Oz” future in question after host announces Senate run

FCC’s equal-time rules takes show out of New York City, Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh markets [Editor’s Note: This post was updated at 8 p.m.]  The future of Sony Pictures Television’s Dr. Oz is in serious question after the host of said show announced Tuesday he was running for a U.S. Senate seat in Pennsylvania.  Mehmet Oz – who is a cardiac […]

The Media Notepad: NBC scores with Olympic opening ceremonies

Plus: L.A. Times, San Diego Union-Tribune sold; Mike Flannery gets his own Fox 32 news show; This week in Chicago bashing; White Sox snubbed again (Editor’s Note: Contains strong language. Reader discretion is advised.) The opening ceremonies of the 2018 Winter Olympics from South Korea dominated the ratings as expected for NBC, and even performed stronger than expected. According to […]

Ratings roundup: “Harry” off to decent start

Cubs score; NFL slides a bit (Editor’s Note: The YouTube video in this post was deleted.) With the new season a week away, new programming is already popping up – and getting decent sampling. The launch of Harry Connick Jr.’s daytime talk show Monday met ratings expectations, drawing a 1.4 household rating/4 share in 56 metered markets, according to Nielsen. […]

T Dog’s Media Notepad: ABC 7 shifts “Windy City Live” to 1 p.m.

Local news returns to ABC 7 at 11 a.m.; Dr. Oz returns for three more years; WGN-TV needs a new GM; and more. In a victory for local programming (and yet another defeat for syndicators), ABC-owned WLS-TV (ABC 7) announced Tuesday it was bringing back its 11 a.m. newscast after three years and moving current time slot occupant Windy City […]

The Grab Bag: Tony Sculfeld heads to WSRB-FM

News and notes from around the industry – WSRB, a Crawford-owned urban adult contemporary station previously known as Soul 106.3, is trying its luck with an other former WGCI alum – Tony Sculfield, who’ll soon take over the evening slot vacated by Ramonski Luv, who was out after less than six months on the air. Recently, Sculfield was part of […]

Think Tank Express: Random thoughts

Oh, when are the upfronts? It’s been slow here at the T Dog Media newsdesk. So here are some random thoughts: – Dr. Oz said, for some reason “We will not be silenced” in response to some Columbia University doctors questioning his credentials. But would silence him is low TV ratings. – Instead of reporting the news, CNN and Fox try […]

Journal, Scripps continue to fuel media merger frenzy

Two Midwest media companies combine as media merger frenzy continues to sweep the nation In the latest media hookup, Milwaukee-based Journal Communications announced a merger with Cincinnati-based E.W. Scripps. With the merger, the newspaper division would be spun-off into a separate company. Once everything is said and done, Scripps would would own and operate 34 television stations in 24 markets, […]

Why “Bethenny” failed

Lack of experience, awkwardness, and arrogance kept viewers away from former Real Housewives star’s daytime talker In a project that never should have seen the light of day, Warner Bros. (or Telepictures, or Lorimar, or whomever) decided last week to put former Real Housewives star Bethenny Frankel’s talk show out of its misery after just five months on the air. […]

“Must Watch” Sunday and Monday for WGN-TV

Tribune Broadcasting scores a hat trick of good ratings Sunday and Monday Is no-longer-bankrupt Tribune Broadcasting becoming a “must watch” destination?  Chicago’s WGN-TV lit the ratings lamp twice with a Blackhawks game Sunday night and Monday morning news coverage. Meanwhile, a few Tribune stations outside of Chicago lit the ratings lamp of their own Monday with the premiere of a […]