‘Family Feud’s” Canadian expansion

Classic game show to get Canadian version. But I have news about James Holzhauer! (keep reading below; does contains spoilers.) Question: What American game show in getting its own version in another country? Show me Canada! Good answer. Fremantle Media and the CBC announced Wednesday it is launching a new prime-time version of Family Feud north of the border this […]

The Media Notepad: “GMA” expansion forces “The Chew” off the road

Also: New host of Check Please is a familiar name; Chicago radio still playing R. Kelly’s music; Peoria public radio in trouble; CBC cancels arts show who visited Chicago In a mind-numbing move, ABC announced Wednesday it was expanding Good Morning America to three hours. Only problem is… the extension is airing at Noon Chicago time, 1 p.m. Eastern time […]

“The Jeff Probst Show” canceled

I’ll bet you’ve heard a lot of this in the last 48 hours: Jeff Probst …the tribe has spoken. CBS Television Distribution voted The Jeff Probst Show off the talk show island after one season, as the program could not find an audience. The Survivor host’s daytime talker had been averaging around a 0.7 Nielsen household live-plus same-day rating this […]

CBC slammed for airing American shows. Again.

Stop me if you’ve heard this before… The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation is being criticized by governmental leaders and actor unions for airing too much American programming on the public network – a practice it has been doing for decades. The controversy comes as CBC dropped two Canadian-produced newsmagazine/lifestyle shows: Fashion File and Steven & Chris, due to low ratings and […]

T Dog’s Groovy Grab Bag

WFLD relaunches web site; More Howie; NATPE Wrap-up. – Fox-owned WFLD has relaunched its website (myfoxchicago.com), as part of an effort to revamp its websites in all eighteen markets where it owns stations. WFLD is the second to get a makeover; Fox’s WNYW-TV in New York was the first. WFLD’s new website looks more clean and organized than the previous […]

Program Partners offers new shows

Program Partners is offering two new strips in syndication this fall – both coming from north of the border. The company already offers several first-run dramas which have originally aired on Canadian broadcast networks CBC, CTV, and Global in weekly broadcast syndication, including ReGenesis and Cold Squad. Branding the block Daytime Plus, Program Partners is offering Style by Jury – […]

Rogers to bid for more U.S. shows?

Will Rogers bid on more U.S. shows? That’s the question many media watchers are asking now that Canadian cable giant Rogers Communications has bought the five CityTV stations from CTVglobemedia, thanks to a forced divestiture by the CRTC after CTV bought Chum, Ltd, the former owners of CityTV. Rogers is buying CityTV formatted stations in Toronto, Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, and […]

CTV gets the NFL

Private Canadian broadcaster CTV has acquired the rights to air NFL games for a three-year term, beginning this fall. The Canadian NFL package was previously held by Global, another private-owned broadcaster. The deal includes the next three Super Bowls, all playoff games, and the weekly 1 p.m. regular season game, which usually features teams in American border cities (mainly the […]

Canadian Broadcasters are on the clock

Private Canadian broadcasters (CTV, Global) are drawing more viewers for American fare like American Idol, but it is costing more, and it’s hitting them in the pocketbook. Not surprisingly, Canadian broadcasting advocacy groups aren’t happy with the continuing influx of American shows.