Bubble Bustin’ Thursday (or Wednesday)

Thursday night actually saw some high drama – and I’m not talking about the NFL draft. ABC decided to announce the programs it picked up and renew existing shows – creating a little bit of drama of their own on Texas A&M QB Johnny Manizel’s big night. Fans of several shows – notably Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD – were forced […]

“American Idol” bleeds African-American viewers

But the series is renewed for a 14th season A year ago, T Dog Media examined American Idol’s ratings among African-American viewers. So let’s check in to see how the show is doing in black households this year. For the week ending April 20, the Wednesday night edition of Idol finished in seventeenth place with a 4.4 rating, down considerably from the 10.3 […]

More Grab Bag: Jim Richards exits WLUP, WKQX

Cedric also leaves Millionaire, but new host already lined up Fox cancels Almost Human – On Wednesday, Gallup released a poll showing half of Illinois’ residents would move out of the state if they could. Well, one lucky resident just hit the jackpot. Jim Richards, who was the operations manager for classic rock WLUP-FM and alternative WKQX, is being transferred […]

Grab Bag: Craig Ferguson exits “Late Late Show”

– The other shoe has dropped: Craig Ferguson announced Monday he was stepping down as host of CBS’ Late Late Show, effective at the end of 2014. The news comes as David Letterman (who is the executive producer of the show and controls the 11:35 p.m. weeknight time slot), announced his retirement three weeks ago. With this move, he also […]

Fox dumps “Animation Domination HD”

In news first reported Thursday evening by Broadcasting & Cable, Fox has decided to pull the plug on its Animation Domination High Def (ADHD) Saturday night block, with the last airing scheduled for June 28. Despite the cancellation, the Fox ADHD programming initiative will continue, creating programs for digital platforms and incubating shows for primetime. In fact, Fox is bringing […]

WGN-TV looks Easterly for new GM hire

A man named Easterly is heading west to become WGN-TV’s new general manager. Tribune Broadcasting announced Monday the hiring of Greg Easterly as president and general manager of WGN-TV, moving over from the same capacity at WJW-TV in Cleveland effective April 14. Easterly is a seventeen-year veteran of the Cleveland Fox affiliate, with a news background. He spent the first […]

Local ratings box: WLS-TV returns to dominance at 10

– WLS-TV returns to the top of the late news heap – American Idol continues to slide With the Olympics over and done with, normal viewing patterns have resumed – good news for ABC-owned WLS-TV, which saw its 10 p.m. news dominance temporarily usurped by NBC-owned WMAQ. In March, WLS returned to the top spot at 10 with a 9.0 […]

T Dog’s Grab Bag: “Arsenio” to return for second season

Grab Baggin’- * It’s like good prevailing over evil: CBS Television Distribution announced the renewal of The Arsenio Hall Show for a second season Wednesday evening, with former Tonight Show host Jay Leno delivering the news to Arsenio in person (see above.) This comes as Arsenio has the youngest median age of any late night talk show amid a recent ratings […]

Super Bowl ratings: One for the record books

Tribune Broadcasting came out as biggest winner of all – four of its stations placed in the top ten most-watched markets  If you thought the audience would dwindle due to the Seattle Seahawks’ blowout of the Denver Broncos in last Sunday’s Super Bowl, think again. To the surprise of many (and to the astonishment of others), Super Bowl XLVIII on […]

Fox, FX gobble up two days of Winter Press Tour

Fox and its cable sibling FX Networks took the Monday and Tuesday sessions of The Television Critics Association Winter Press Tour. Fox began its Monday at TCA with network president Kevin Reilly addressing the troops. He defended moving Bones to Fridays and said the cast is in discussions for a tenth and likely final season. Reilly also went to bat […]

T Dog’s Grab Bag: CW showing signs of life, while Fox ebbs

Also: MST3K, Wild Chicago holding fan events in Chicago this weekend  The latest items in the Grab Bag: – Once left for dead, it looks like there is signs of life at The CW: Three of their freshman dramas – Vampire Diaries‘ spinoff The Originals, The Tomorrow People, and Reign have all been picked up for the full season. The […]

Bears win on the field – and in the ratings

After a few lackluster matchups on ESPN’s Monday Night Football, the franchise got back on track with the Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers meeting up at Lambeau Field – another meeting in the long, storied rivalry between these two popular teams. According to Broadcasting & Cable, ESPN drew 16.1 million viewers, making it the second most-watched MNF telecast this […]

“Scandal” remains red hot

Super Fun Night has Super Fun ratings Crazy Ones decline; NBC Thursday sitcom block flops Judging by all the viewing parties held nationwide for this show (yours truly even got an invitation to one,) you’d think Scandal would be the hottest thing since the advent of the pancake. You’d be right. Scandal skyrocketed in popularity over the past year thanks […]