T Dog’s Grab Bag: Sun-Times fires entire photography staff

– In a stunning move, the Chicago Sun-Times fired almost all of its photography staff on Thursday, which left 28 people out of work. The Wrapports -owned paper instead plans to train reports to take pictures with smartphones. Yes, smartphones. Among those who were laid off include 35-year veteran Pulitzer-prize winning photographer John H. White, one of the first African-American […]

T Dog’s Grab Bag: “Ellen” renewed through 2017

– Good news for fans of Ellen DeGeneres’ daytime talk show: Warner Bros. has renewed the strip through 2017 on more than twenty station groups, including all ten of the NBC-owned stations. Airing on WMAQ in Chicago at 3 p.m., Ellen is the top-rated program among women 25-54 in the time period, besting rival talkers Katie, Dr. Phil, and Maury. […]

Analysis: ABC 7 dominates February sweeps… well, almost

Say with me everybody… ABC-owned WLS-TV (ABC 7) dominated the local news competition during the sweeps – this time is the February “book”, as it has done since 1987 (excluding Olympic years.) According to information obtained by Chicagoland Radio and Media, WLS won almost all local news time slots in households and the key adult 25-54 demo, with one major […]

Go Ricki…Go Ricki… She’s gone

A week after the NATPE conference had taken place, Twentieth Television notified stations carrying The Ricki Lake Show it will not return for a second season. The series halts production on March 28, with reruns and originals continuing until September 6. Lake’s second stint as a talk show host was different this time around as she focused more on issues […]

“American Idol” shakes things up. Again.

They might as well have renamed American Idol “Bozo’s Circus”. Become a clown is joining the judging panel. And I don’t mean Keith Urban. In news that leaked a few weeks ago, American Idol’s latest new judges are clownish rapper Nicki Manaj and country artist Keith Urban, announced by Fox early Sunday morning (because I guess observing the day the […]

T Dog’s Grab Bag: “Ellen”, “Dr. Oz” return strong

Hey Katie, the old school’s got a message for you: we can draw an audience, too. That was the vibe sent Monday while Katie Couric posted strong numbers of her debut Monday – but returning talkers also posted good numbers for their season premieres, despite pre-emptions from tennis on some CBS stations. Warner Bros.’ Ellen tenth season premiere drew a […]

Bethenny and Khloe take broadcast media

          Yeah, you’re going to need a lot of liquor when you read this news. Man, you really got to weep for the media business these days. Tuesday was clearly a dark day for those who still care about the integrity of the business as two (more) dark clouds are descending on the horizon. One cloud […]

T Dog’s Six Pack: Moo & Oink

Jim Laski and Kevin Metheny: Their immortalized testament to their time together at WGN Radio. Guess which one is Metheny…     The winners and losers for the past week in local and national media. On we go: The Winning Attitude WGN Radio listeners. With Moo & Oink (Kevin “Pig Virus” Metheny and evening host James “Don’t Drop the Soap” […]

TCA: Fox leaves "American Idol" questions unanswered

Fox’s 2010 TCA Presentation won’t be remembered for its three new shows (in fact, they’re quite forgettable), but for the questions it didn’t answer… Fox execs Kevin Reilly and Peter Rice talked about a lot of things pertaining to their network, but disappointed many at the press tour by refusing to answer any questions related to American Idol, especially on […]

T Dog’s Four Pack

The best and the worst in media for the week ending May 9: Winners: – Perfect. The City of Oakland and the word “perfect” often goes together as Playboy models and science-fiction conventions. But the city gets to celebrate for one day as Dallas Breaden pitched a perfect game Sunday for the hometown Athletics against the Tampa Bay Rays. Now […]

T Dog’s Four Pack

Haven’t done it for awhile, so let’s bring it back! It’s another edition of T Dog’s Four Pack: Winners. – Diane Sawyer to World News Tonight. She replaces the retiring Charles Gibson, and she certainly has the ability to anchor a major network evening newscast – unlike a certain former Today co-host (and the ratings more than tells that story.) […]

Writer’s Guild Strike Roundup – 11/9/07

Writers Held Hostage: Day 5 – NBC is planning to lay off its Tonight Show and Late Night staff next week, but may rely on guests hosts on those shows beginning Nov. 19. Meanwhile, The Late Show with David Letterman will be in repeats next week. – Ellen DeGeneres is under fire for crossing the picket line to work on […]