Dabl dumps lifestyle shows, adds Black sitcoms

The move is reminiscent of Netflix deal as shakeup hit digital subchannel space  Circle chooses FAST channel over linear as it shutters  Usually, when we talk about format changes, we talk about radio (i.e., WDAI-FM dumping rock for disco or WLUP becoming a Christian music station and so forth), but in television, it rarely happens – unless you’re in the […]

CBS Television Distribution swings deal for off-network African-American sitcoms to Netflix

Numerous off-network sitcoms are receiving a second life thanking to the proliferation of streaming service, reconnecting viewers with past laughs. But not all sitcoms have shared in the streaming fortune. Some off-sitcoms – mainly targeted to Black audiences, have been left out despite the fact those shows being were quite popular in the 1990s and 2000s. But all of that […]

WCIU gets into A.M. news business – sort of

Weigel’s WCIU-DT and its sister station ME-TV (WCIU-DT, 26.2) are getting into the morning news business – sort of. Scheduled to kick off in August, titled “U and Me In the Morning”, the news segments run for as little as 30 seconds and as long as 10 minutes. Former WGCI-FM personality and WMAQ-TV reporter Jeanne Sparrow will be live-in-the studio […]

Syndication notes

– As reported here last week, CBS Television Distribution’s new hour-long medical talk show The Doctors (working title) has cleared 50 percent of the country, and has been declared a firm go for next fall. It has been confirmed that Weigel’s WCIU-TV has picked up the show, but in a surprise move, the program will air in Chicago at 5 […]

WCIU’s fall schedule

Weigel-owned independent WCIU is out with its fall schedule. To see it, click here (Adobe Acrobat required.) Pretty stable schedule, particularly in daytime…. Notables: -Jury Duty, a new syndicated courtroom show (yeah, we need another one of those) with C-list celebrities serving as jurors, airs at 9 a.m., beginning Sept. 17. –CBS Television Distribution’s Half & Half, a former UPN […]

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. […]