Announces end to American Idol in May 2016. Break out the Belvedere! Fox announced its 2015-16 schedule Monday during its upfront presentation and as you would have guessed, the show centered around Empire, the hottest TV show ever. The central cast made an appearance, including a performance from Chicago’s own Jennifer Hudson, who played a gospel singer in a few episodes. […]
Renewed through 2017; seasons 27 and 28 on tap In a move certain to stir debate, Fox has given a huge vote of confidence to long-running animated comedy The Simpsons, which renewed the series through 2017, taking it through its 28th season. By the time the deal is up, The Simpsons would have produced 625 episodes – only ten short […]
Get your conspiracy on folks, because Mulder and Scully are about to make another run to find “the truth”. Looking to strike gold again, Fox announced Tuesday it has ordered six episodes of The X-Files, with production set to begin this summer. With an airdate yet to be set, the X-Files revival is expected to air sometime next season […]
While the FCC has moved on to Net Neutrality and the upcoming spectrum auction and Fox is busy celebrating the success of new hit drama Empire, the Parents Television Council wants to remind you there is some unfinished business that needs to be attended to – old rival Family Guy. As first reported by The Hollywood Reporter, the conservative group is […]
– Life’s tough in the business: ABC-owned WLS-TV meteorologist Mike Caplan was let go from the station last week after 21 years on the air. There was speculation WLS was going to release one of their meteorologists after hiring WMAQ exile Cheryl Scott late last year. In fact, WLS announced it was going to feature Scott during the 4 and […]
Mission to one hundred is accomplished; syndication riches to follow. Maybe. Bob’s Burgers, the underrated show that’s become a utility player for Fox in the last few years, has been renewed for a sixth season, pushing it past the one-hundred episode mark and guarantees itself a syndication afterlife. The show is produced by Twentieth Television. The Emmy-winning animated series lives […]
There isn’t really much to talk about in the recently-concluded November sweeps period, since two of Chicago’s most dominant news operations – ABC-owned WLS-TV and Tribune CW affiliate WGN-TV continue to roll along. While sweeps periods are less important to the networks these days – for one, low-rated lame-duck shows (such as Mulaney, Bad Judge, and A to Z) are […]
Gobble, gobble everyone! It’s that time of year… to celebrate (and criticize) the worst in media. It’s the 2014 T Dog Media Turkey Awards. If you’ve noticed, the first eleven items are all local, and makes up a third of the list. Just goes to show you the power of The Chicago Way. The sad part is, the Jackie Robinson West […]
After weeks of wavering, the broadcast networks finally canceled some freshman primetime shows. Last week, NBC canceled Thursday night comedies Bad Judge and A to Z, two shows who never had a chance to succeed, given they were just time-filler material for the network until The Blacklist takes over their slot in February. On Sunday, Fox finally got rid of […]
Let’s get this over with: the Bears hit another season-low on Sunday with yet another blowout loss – a 22.6 Nielsen household rating according to Chicago Business Journal, down 16 percent from last week’s game against Miami. The Bears lost to the New England Patriots 51-23, with the team trailing by 38 at halftime. Ratings have plunged 28 percent since their last […]
– Sun-Times reverses decision on endorsements – Premiere week shows cool off, but Jane The Virgin and Criestla debut to respectable numbers with cancellations coming from other places – Florida Panthers attendance woes * Fox announced Friday morning it had a new affiliation deal with Tribune Broadcasting’s KCPQ, but with a few catches – the deal only runs through July 2018 and […]
– Also: other Sunday, weekend rating results – The Game to stick around, while another The Game ends – Goodbye, Everybody Loves Mancow Jay Cutler and the Chicago Bears’ winning performance Sunday also translated to a ratings victory – the game against the Atlanta Falcons drew a 31.5 Nielsen household rating according to Lewis Lazare at Chicago Business Journal – […]
Also: Fox buys “Seattle” station and cancels local Mancow show – In news breaking exclusively Tuesday evening at RobertFeder.com, Steve Dahl is returning to WLS-AM in an afternoon slot now occupied by Roe Conn and Richard Roeper, who each were let go from the station. In addition to his new WLS gig, Dahl would continue his podcasts and retain the pay model […]
Bears may be losing grip of city again After yet another agonizing baseball season which saw disinterest from Chicago sports fans, a lot of them hoped the Bears would cure what ailed them. Well, keep looking. Sunday’s game featured yet another disastrous performance by Jay Cutler and numerous miscues by the team as the Bears fumbled away a victory and […]
Don’t discount Cardinal Nation: The St. Louis Cardinals finished the just-concluded 2014 season with the highest-rated regular season average in Major League Baseball: according to Nielsen, the team drew a 7.76 average on FS Midwest. Despite the playoff-bound team’s success, this year’s rating is down 12 percent from a year ago. Finishing behind the Cardinals are the Detroit Tigers, Pittsburgh […]
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