In an item posted in Chicagoland Radio & Media about two weeks ago, Comcast Corporation announced it was making a $2.7 million donation to the Museum of Broadcast Communications to help open the new facility at the southwest corner of State and Kinzie in the River North neighborhood (immediately north of the Loop and Downtown Chicago.) The deal includes […]
The late-night battle for viewers is quite fierce. Battling for audience – and all those ad dollars, you have Jay Leno, David Letterman, Conan O’Brien, Jimmy Kimmel, Jimmy Fallon, Craig Ferguson, George Lopez, Chelsea Handler, Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, Monique, and Frank Woolanski. Wait a minute… who’s Frank Woolanski?? In news first reported by CRM yesterday, Tribune-owned WGN-TV announced it […]
The Court Jester rides again. In a move that took everyone by surprise, Emmis Communications sold controlling interest in WLUP-FM (The Loop) and WKQX-FM (Q101) and a New York City station (WRXP-FM) to a constroium headed by former Tribune Co. CEO Randy Michaels and Chicago-based equity group investement group GTCR, Inc. The news was first reported yesterday as a tip […]
Conan’s excited to be on TBS. Monday finally marked former NBC late-night host Conan O’Brien venture into basic cable on a network which was once stood as a momument to Ted Turner. Conan’s conquest of the Turner Broadcasting System started in essence with an overnight rating of 2.8 for his Monday premiere. But it gets better: – The program drew […]
It’s the 2010-11 Turner upfront presentation, and you know who is the man of the hour. I’m talking about Conan O’Brien, TBS’ new late night star, who stopped yesterday at the event to say hi to media buyers (and to convince him he’s the real deal in a daypart dominated by David Letterman and Jay Leno.) O’Brien woke the quasi-sleepy […]
NBC announced its 2010-11 schedule to the press today, with significant changes from last year. For one thing: no Jay Leno in prime-time. Second, NBC has picked up dramas from J.J Abrams and Jerry Bruckheimer, two producers who know how to create hit shows – something NBC desperately needs right now. From Abrams comes Undercovers, a new spy drama which […]
– Put ’em up: It’s an afternoon at the fights! In this corner, its WLS-AM’s Roe Conn and new partner Richard Roeper… and in the other corner, its Conn’s former partner and friend – Garry Meier on WGN-AM. Beginning Monday, Conn & Roeper are on from 2-6 while Garry Meier is on from 3-7 (on days when the Cubs aren’t […]
WFLD continues to struggle at 9 p.m. with its local newscasts, despite the fact of a strong prime-time lead-in. The March numbers show the Fox-owned station continuing to lag behind WGN and the other stations in the market in households and key demos. According to Nielsen and numbers supplied by the Sun-Times, WFLD averaged a 3.1 household rating for its […]
It all began on January 7, when a website reported that NBC had canceled The Jay Leno Show. It ended on January 22, with Conan O’Brien leaving The Tonight Show. Welcome to The Late Shift 2: The Screwjob Continues. Based on New York Times writer Bill Carter’s book (and later HBO movie), this is a sequel to the mid 1990s […]
Here’s the recent list of winners and losers of the last week-in-a-half – plus an extra-long rant at the end… What worked for yours truly… Winners Conan O’Brien. His final “Tonight Show” drew 10.3 million viewers, with one of the classiest send-offs I’ve ever seen from a host. The result: new found respect from the public, including yours truly. Chicago […]
Conan O’Brien will exit NBC tomorrow with a lot of dough. Due to his exit from NBC’s Tonight Show, Mr. O’Brien will collect a total severance of $45 million, with $4.5 million going to his executive producer, and the rest to be split up among 200 employees of the show. As part of the deal, Mr. O’Brien also agrees to […]
Here’s what working for me this week… Yes. – Chicago broadcasters branding together to help Haiti. If you read this blog on a regular basis, then you know yours truly often criticizes our town’s media outlets – a lot. But these competitors can band together for a cause in a time of need like no other, with Thursday’s Chicago Helps […]
A lot of wacky stuff has been going on Late Night Land – too wacky, in fact. In the last few days, we saw Leno caught in a lie, Kimmel slam Leno – on his show no less, an NBC exec rips into Conan O’Brien, and even a protest taking place outside of WMAQ-TV’s studios in support of “CoCo”: – […]
The deals made by Tribune, Fox, and Weigel’s WCIU for Family Guy last week showed a return of cash into the syndication marketplace, something that has lacking for the past year or so. But hold the bubbly; in fact, you might have to take the bottle of champagne back to the store. It turns out Tribune paid less to renew […]
With the Jay Leno-Conan O’Brien saga unfolding hourly it seems, here is the latest: – According to the New York Times, it looks like NBC is expected to move Jay Leno back to 10:35pm (Central Time), beginning perhaps as soon as the Winter Olympics is over.The show is expected to be cut back a half-hour. – This means Conan O’Brien’s […]
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