T Dog’s Grab Bag – The syndication edition

The T Dog Media Blog has a lot of syndication items in the Grab Bag this week. Let’s see what we have: – Program Partners, which was burned earlier this year by failing to find the funds to launch Marie Osmond’s daytime talk show, is turning to Canada once again to launch a syndicated program. The syndicator acquired Steven and […]

"Marie" dropped – before it begins

After speculation that Marie Osmond’s new talk show would not go forward, Program Partners made it official today. The daily talk-show strip was to premiere on September 14 in 80 percent of the country, including WCIU-TV in Chicago. It has been reported some stations had been pulling their offers to air the show. The weak ad market, the recession, and […]

T Dog’s Groovy Grab Bag

– Tuesday night’s Major League Baseball All-Star Game drew 14.6 million viewers to Fox, according to Nielsen. Locally, the game drew a 12.8 household rating and 21 household share – a big number despite the fact only two players from Chicago’s baseball teams were represented. In St. Louis (where the game was held), the contest drew a whopping 37 rating […]

Report: Sony cancels "Judge David Young" and "Judge Karen"

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 […]

Syndication Update

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 […]

Can syndication find the next hit?

Quick, when was the last true first-run syndicated hit? Though many syndicators would argue, it was six years ago with Dr. Phil averaging a 4.4 Nielsen rating in its freshman season. Before that, you would have to go all the way back to June 1996 for the last breakout hit – Warner Bros.’ The Rosie O’Donnell Show. And if you […]