Syndication’s banking on three shows for fall

The syndication business hopes that three new shows can break the losing streak the platform has had for the last few years. The most controversial of the three is Warner’s TMZ, the anti-celebrity website that has grown in popularity in the last few months. The trash-celeb show, reminiscent of Hard Copy, premieres Sept. 10 locally on Fox-owned WPWR-TV and WFLD-TV. […]

WJBK back in the news game at 11

We have The Ten, they will have The Edge. WJBK-TV, the Fox-owned station in Detroit, is returning to the 11 p.m. newscast race effective on September 24 named The Edge. WJBK had news in the 11 p.m. slot when it was a CBS affiliate, but was moved to 10 p.m. when the station was switched to Fox by then-owner New […]

TMZ is in the zone

Aaron Barnhart of TV Barn takes a look at the new Warner Bros.- syndicated show spun off from the popular website premiering in the fall (It airs in Chicago on WPWR-TV at 6:30 weeknights and late nights on sister station WFLD-TV beginning in September.) And that website has scored another coup – it was the first to break news of […]

Chicago’s weather wars

An article in Crain’s Chicago Business this week details the ongoing weather wars between Chicago’s television news operations. Competitors are taking aim at each other, particularly at Fox-owned WFLD-TV and new meteorologist Amy Freeze. The weathermen at other local stations are taking their shots at her and her station, with one weatherman saying that WFLD’s breaking into regular programming for […]

Look, here’s how you do a newscast….

Guess who gave advice recently to the staff at Fox News Chicago? None other than Shepard Smith of Fox News, who, in a meeting with several news staffers, anchors, producers, and managers, completely ripped the station’s efforts, notably the station’s new 10 p.m. newscast, The Ten. Smith said that the newscast should have more music, move at a faster pace, […]

"The Office" sold to TBS and Fox

My Name Is Earl also goes to TBS NBC Universal sold its (somewhat) popular sitcom The Office to TBS and to several Fox-owned television outlets today. Fox stations will clear the show in ten markets, including WFLD/WPWR in Chicago. TBS will air repurposed episodes this fall and will strip the program in 2009. TBS adds the show to its stable […]

Fox to sell nine stations

News Corp. has announced it will sell nine of its Fox owned-and-operated stations in these markets: Cleveland (WJW), Denver (KDVR), St. Louis (KTVI), Kansas City (WDAF), Milwaukee (WITI), Salt Lake City (KSTU), Birmingham (WBRC), Memphis (WHBQ), and Greensboro-Winston-Salem-High Point (WGHP). This is part of a trend in which major networks are selling their O&Os in smaller markets. CBS and NBC […]

Idol helping late news on Fox affiliates

While Fox has become very competitive with American Idol, Fox affiliates’ prime-time newscasts – which usually trail the big three network stations in any given market – now often beats them on nights when Idol is on, particularly in adults 18-49. WBFF is an example of this – the Sinclair-owned Fox affiliate in Baltimore beats market leaders NBC affiliate WBAL-TV […]

The Ten’s ratings problem exposing problems at another station

WFLD-TV’s new 10 p.m. newscast called The Ten is clearly struggling in the ratings – but the program is skewing younger, and is exposing problems at crosstown rival WBBM-TV with their 10 p.m. newscast. According to an article in the Sun-Times today, The Fox-owned station’s newscast has surprisingly beat the CBS-owned station’s late newscast in the household ratings on some […]

‘The Ten’ tanks

The Ten, WFLD-TV’s new 10 p.m. newscast, which targets the 18-49 audience, didn’t attract much of that demo it in its premiere Monday night, according to Nielsen and Trib columnist Phil Rosenthal. The Ten didn’t even come close to to achieving that number ratings-wise, scoring a 0.8 rating and 2 share, finishing sixth in its time slot behind the more […]

The Ten is coming

It’s not a sequel to ABC’s failed drama “The Nine”, but “The Ten” is the catchy name of Fox-owned WFLD-TV’s new 10 p.m. newscast that premieres on Monday. The new show will feature a more faster-paced newscast than its 9 p.m. newscast, and will have a weather report every night at 10:10 p.m. The station is also trying new features […]

UFC Series cleared on Fox-owned MyNetworkTV stations – except in Chicago

The newly formed Trifecta Entertainment has sold its new syndicated martial-arts series, UFC Wired (based on the popular Ultimate Fighting Championship franchise) to all Fox-owned MyNetworkTV stations with one notable exception – WPWR-TV here in Chicago. The deal coincides with the upstart network landing the rights to air International Fight League’s Total Impact ultimate fighting series, which airs in primetime […]

Yes, it’s still around

Phil Rosenthal has a short story today in the Tribune about the continuing sagging fortunes of MyNetworkTV and Fox’s station operations president Dennis Swanson insistence that the brand will be big – someday. In the article, Mr. Swanson points out that his stations need prime-time network programming (Translation: our stations aren’t paying anything for prime-time-unlike the CW and independent stations, […]