– Robin Robinson is going to stay at Fox-owned WFLD after all: first mentioned by Robert Channack at the Chicago Tribune last Thursday and verified by Time Out Chicago’s Robert Feder the following day, Ms. Robinson has signed a one-year contract extension to continue co-anchoring the station’s 9 p.m. newscast alongside Bob Sirott. According to the Tribune, the deal was […]
A bunch of items in this week’s Grab Bag: – Is Robin Robinson on her way out at Fox-owned WFLD? Sure looks like it: According to a report surfacing a little over a week ago at Chicagoland Radio and Media, Robinson is expected to depart when her contract expires later this year. Robinson is the longest-tenured anchor at WFLD, being […]
Some sad news to start off this edition of notations: Emmy-award winning actress Kathryn Joosten died on Sunday after a long battle with lung cancer at the age of 72. She was best known for her portrayal of presidential secretary Mrs. Landingham on The West Wing, and most recently, the nosy neighbor on Desperate Housewives. Born in Eustus, Fl. in […]
– One up, one down: Archer just received a vote of confidence from FX as the cable net green-lighted the animated series for a fourth season for thirteen new episodes. Ratings for the show in the Thursday night time slot are up 32 percent in total viewers and 62 percent among adults 18-34. In addition, the show’s creators (Adam […]
The Winter TCA Press Tour concluded last weekend with many panels dedicated to cable. Here is a brief roundup of what went on, grouped in alphabetical order: AMC To the delight of critics (and fans), AMC announced it was extending the third season order of hit series The Walking Dead from thirteen to sixteen as the second season with thirteen […]
Last week saw the premiere of several underachieving sitcoms (and proud of it) while one of them (Work It, which premiered Jan. 3) was canceled. Meanwhile, It wasn’t all love and kisses at the TCA Winter Press Tour as the critics wanted to drop the gloves with a few people on stage – literally. The best and the worst of […]
The National Association of Programming Executives (NATPE, for short) convention is winning again, and what better way to celebrate than have Charlie Sheen show up. Yes, NATPE is now “winning”! A gathering that was once written off for dead several years ago is back with a vengeance – this year’s convention is being held at the Foutainebleau Resort in […]
We’ll just keep on killing Kenny: Comedy Central and the producers of South Park have come to an agreement to keep the series on the air through the 2016 season. This means the series is guaranteed to reach its twentieth season, only behind The Simpsons, who notched its own renewal deal last month with a deal that guarantees its 25th […]
But no Belo deal…yet In good news for fans of Sons And Anarchy and soccer, DirecTV and News Corp. have come to a deal to continue to carry all nineteen Fox cable channels on their system, according to TVNewscheck. The deal is only for the cable channels and not for other News Corp. entities, such as their owned-and-operated broadcast stations, […]
Judging by the animosity between the two, you’d would never know News Corp. and DirecTV were once sister companies. On November 1, the satellite-service provider is planning to pull nineteen News Corp. cable networks from its system if they can not come to an agreement on a new deal. And now, Fox is saying all 26 of its owned stations […]
The Simpsons has been renewed for two years. Let’s go to Moe’s to celebrate! That is, if he let us… In news that has dominated TV news headlines all week long, there was drama on whether The Simpsons‘ voice actors would agree to take a 45 percent pay cut – or cancel the […]
The Television Critics Association Press Tour came to an end on Saturday with the last three days devoted to cable networks. In the past, cable usually kicked off the press tour, but this year shoved toward the end of the twelve-day tour. Neverthless, critics stayed through the end, with the HBO presentation playing to full capacity on Saturday. The biggest […]
Are these guys worth $4 million per episode? You bet your behind it is. Is the high-priced off-network sitcom on its way back? With the upcoming sale of The Big Bang Theory, we may soon find out. Not since the days of Friends, Seinfeld, The Simpsons, and The Cosby Show have we seen a sitcom come close to the $4 […]
So now that Conan O’Brien has wrapped up his tenure at NBC in late night after sixteen years, what’s next for the once low-key talk show host? Mr. O’Brien could have offers from other competing networks from several cable networks and at least one broadcast network. And he may have helped his cause on Friday night: Ratings for his final […]
– WWE’s move of Friday Night Smackdown to My Network TV drew 3.2 million in its first airing Friday night, finishing first in the time period among males 18-34 and 18-49, and giving the small net its largest audience ever. However, the premiere of Star Wars: The Clone Wars on Cartoon Network drew 4 million viewers, setting a record as […]
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