“American Idol” exits a winner

As yours truly hinted before, American Idol’s “finale” may not be the finale after all – it’s going on a long hiatus. Idol exited a winner Thursday night, finishing up with 13.3 million viewers from 8 p.m.-10:06 p.m. EST. In the adults 18-49 demo, the program earned a 3.0 rating. In Nielsen’s 56 overnight markets, Idol dominated with a 9.6 […]

Closer to the exits: “American Idol” preparing to say goodbye

In an indication of how quick Fox wants to get rid of the show, American Idol is ending its fifteen-season run on Thursday, April 7, rather than dragging it out through the May sweeps, which the show usually wrapped up on the final night of the TV season. While yours truly was never a fan of the show (“loathed” is more appropriate), […]

Bulls, Blackhawks score in the ratings Wednesday night

The next time someone tells you a playoff game doesn’t resonate in Chicago – even when the hometown team is down 3-to-1 in a series – don’t believe them. According to Ed Sherman on his Sherman Report blog, Game 5 of the Chicago Bulls-Miami Heat NBA playoff series drew a surprisingly strong 8.9 household rating locally for TNT, despite the […]

T Dog’s Grab Bag: A Boatload of Renewals

– Good Friday was a month ago, but it was really a Good Friday for several bubble shows on network schedules as eight shows were officially picked up for next season: NBC’s Parenthood, Chicago Fire, Revolution, Grimm, and Law & Order: SVU; CW’s Hart Of Dixie and Beauty And The Beast; and CBS’ Two And A Half Men, though without […]

T Dog’s Think Tank: Seth MacFarlane, The Oscars, and you

MacFarlane panned at Oscars, but he wasn’t the problem with the show A few months ago on Twitter, yours truly said Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane wasn’t a good fit as host for the 85th Annual Academy Awards, aka The Oscars. Sunday’s telecast certainly verified that fact – well, somewhat. The first few minutes of MacFarlane’s gig actually got off […]

Fox at 25: The hits and misses

Fox celebrated their 25th Anniversary in prime-time this past Sunday with a two-hour retrospective, featuring clips of past shows and a few cast reunions. While the network officially launched its primetime lineup on April 5, 1987 with three airings each of Married… With Children and The Tracey Ullman Show, the network actually launched on October 9, 1986 with The Late […]

The Grab Bag: The Santa edition

Ho, Ho, Ho! It’s Terry Claus about to deliver you a special Christmas edition of The Grab Bag! I got special presents from the world of media that will make you happy – or cringe. Let’s start handing out the gifts! Ho! Ho! Ho! – WGN-TV has extra good reasons to cheer this holiday season – the Tribune-owned CW affiliate’s […]

Tuesday night fights: Bulls stumble on the court and in the ratings

Courtesy: NBA/Getty Images “Dancing” dominates broadcast channels in Chicago; “Idol” takes ratings hit Tuesday was a rather competitive night for television both locally and nationally with the final two performing on American Idol and the season finale of Dancing With The Stars. But national viewers preferred the dancers and wannabe signers as opposed to Derrick Rose and LeBron James. According […]

T Dog’s Six Pack: Special Emmy Package

On Sunday, NBC aired the 62nd Annual Emmy Awards live from Los Angeles with host Jimmy Fallon. Here are the hits and misses from the telecast: Shining bright on Emmy night – Jane Lynch’s shout out to the South Side. Glee’s Jane Lynch won Best Actress in a Comedy Series honors for her portrayal of Sue Sylvester in the wildly […]

Chicagoan Lee DeWyze wins "American Idol"

American Idol winner Lee DeWyze with runner-up Crystal Bowersox. It was a Midwestern feel at the American Idol finale, with one finalist from northern Illinois and the other from north central Ohio and both auditioning in Chicago. But in the end, it was Mount Prospect native and former paint store salesman Lee DeWyze who took home the prize and the […]

"Smackdown" moves to SyFy

In a move which illustrates once again the declining clout of broadcasters – and the growingpower of cable, Vince McMahon and the WWE have announced the departure of Friday Night Smackdown from Fox’s My Network TV and is moving it to NBC Universal-owned cable channel SyFy effective October 1. SyFy smacked down Fox with a $30 million offer to WWE, […]

T Dog’s Four pack – The Santa edition

Ho! Ho! Ho! Merry Everyone! Terry Claus is here to deliver some goodies to the good little children… and coal to those who are not-so-good! Who won and who lost… Gifts under the tree – The Doctors. Christmas came early for the one hour medical talk show strip with seasons three and four cleared in 85 percent of the country.  […]

T Dog’s Four Pack

Haven’t done it for awhile, so let’s bring it back! It’s another edition of T Dog’s Four Pack: Winners. – Diane Sawyer to World News Tonight. She replaces the retiring Charles Gibson, and she certainly has the ability to anchor a major network evening newscast – unlike a certain former Today co-host (and the ratings more than tells that story.) […]

Ladies and Gentlemen – the 1,000th post.

The T Dog Media Blog has reached its 1,000th post. And in those one thousand posts, what has we learned? Well… – Jim Belushi still has no talent whatsoever. – Chicago celebrities in Hollywood can be just as much as a jerk as anyone else – except the one who won the Oscar last year. – If you a guy, […]

You Be ‘Iiiin’

Urban Contemporary WGCI-FM is launching a new show featuring local hip-hop and R&B artists called Go Ill.The program premieres this Saturday night at 9 p.m. and run in that time slot every week. It will also feature interviews with the artists behind the music. WGCI has often been criticized for not featuring enough local artists on its station (other than […]