Also: Don’t Bet Your Life; Bids made for Tegna; Johnny B to host RHOF ceremony The NFL continues to rack up impressive numbers at a time when viewers are abandoning linear TV in droves. Case in point: The Bears game on Sunday against the Bengals drew a household 22.9 rating and 60 share for Fox-owned WFLD-TV Chicago Sunday, easily making […]
New shows dot local schedules The new television season outside of prime-time begins Monday and you will see some new faces and new places. For one, Jay Leno is returning to daily TV seven years after he left The Tonight Show for a second time. Now, he’s taking his act to earlier time slots with his new You Bet Your […]
Featuring the White Sox and Yankees in Iowa was the highest-rated regular season game since 2005 If you build it, they will come. Well, they came all right – and proved to be a boon for Major League Baseball. The inaugural Field Of Dreams game – set in Dyersville, Iowa (located in the Cedar Rapids-Waterloo-Dubuque market) in a newly-built ballfield […]
Ratings are down for local news – but not out [Editor’s Note: This post was updated on June 1.] If you’ve noticed, ratings are down across-the-board for just about everything on linear TV these days. And yes, that includes local news. As reported by Robert Feder Friday, three Chicago news stations: ABC-owned WLS-TV, NBC-owned WMAQ-TV and Nexstar independent WGN-TV, all […]
And other news of note Traditionally, there is a crush of syndication news at this time of year, but we’re not in any normal times as the coronavirus pandemic continues to ravage the globe as vaccines rolls out. As expected, the yearly NATPE gathering went virtual (as did the annual CES gathering). While NATPE hasn’t exactly been a magnet for […]
(AP Photo/Julio Cortez) Most drop the ball on coverage on a day democracy nearly died Wednesday’s attempted coup by President Trump and his allies brought out the worst and when everything was said and done, four people were dead and there were calls for him to resign, be impeached, or invoke the 25th Amendment to remove him. Perhaps the […]
But national spotlight games keep on coming Over the years here at T Dog Media, it seems I’ve written more negative news about the Chicago Bears than positive – 2006 and 2018 the exceptions, of course. But in most other years, writing about the team has been an absolute drag – especially the infamous 2014 and 2017 seasons. And despite […]
Pandemic, shifting audiences makes it challenging for stations and syndicators Generally, I write these state of syndication articles in January before the NATPE gathering in Miami. But as we know, there has been nothing normal about the current times we live in, the television business included (and of course, NATPE isn’t likely happening as a traditional gathering in 2021.) […]
Oprah Winfrey to speak to local grads The coronavirus pandemic has wiped out graduation ceremonies all over the Chicago area, but they get to celebrate virtually – with an assist from Chicago’s local stations. In a very rare show of collaboration, Chicago TV stations are simulcasting a virtual celebration titled Grad 2020: For Chicago by Chicago, honoring the Chicago area’s […]
With Tamron Hall and Kelly Clarkson hits, syndication’s doing well thank you very much If you’ve read this blog over the years, I usually write a “state of syndication” article around this time every year as NATPE approaches, and it often wasn’t rosy – especially this piece I wrote in 2016, Charlie Brown dozing off and all. But as we […]
But local ratings down from last prime-time outing The last time the Chicago Bears faced the Dallas Cowboys at Soldier Field on Thursday Night Football, the game aired only on NFL Network, was on opposite a live production of Peter Pan, and protesters denouncing the police shootings of Eric Gardner and Michael Brown were marching on Lake Shore Drive (Chicago’s […]
Also: Big 3 add overnight news repeats; Fox renews three daytime shows; Disney + signs ten million users; two prime-shows pink-slipped We have an update on the latest with the Cubs’ new Marquee Network and Dish…and I’m guessing those negotiations aren’t going well. In an interview with the Tribune’s Eric Zorn (a rather pointed opinion piece urging Dish not to […]
Viewers, syndicators prepare for regular daytime TV schedules to be disrupted (Editor’s Note: This post will be continuously updated with any information on who is carrying the impeachment hearings. – T.H.) If you are a fan of daytime TV, get ready for a serious reality check. Beginning Wednesday, the major broadcast networks and cable news channels will begin carrying impeachment […]
Group renews quartet of shows and forces format change (Editor’s Note: This story has been edited as an accompanying YouTube video was deleted.) In a massive deal, the Fox-owned station group renewed four Warner Bros.’ first-run shows currently on its stations. But the deal come with some changes that you, the viewer will notice. Four shows from the AT&T-owned syndicator: […]
Bears bomb on field but not in the Nielsens While Chicago’s public school teachers went on strike last week, it looked like the Chicago Bears joined them on the picket line as they simply decided not to show up for work at Soldier Field Sunday. Despite a horrible performance from the Bears’ offense and from quarterback Mitch Trubisky in particular, […]
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