– Among women 18-34, which talk show is second only behind Oprah Winfrey? Tyra Banks? Nope. Ellen? Try Again. Come on. You’ve got to be talking about Jerry Springer… Um, no. It’s Maury Povich. Yes, 70-year old Maury Povich. Yes, the same guy who brought you A Current Affair back in the day. NBC Universal’s Maury (in its 11th season […]
What’s worked the last two weeks – and what didn’t – in the world of media with a basketball theme: Four slam dunks – March Madness. Ratings for the annual NCAA tourney have been pretty good, outperforming the rest of the competition on the boards with year-to-year increases. And tonight’s title game should do well with Michigan St. and North […]
I know this story is over a week old, but it is significant. Has Chicago’s media and political freak shows become too much for even the king of dysfunctional TV, Jerry Springer? According to news that became public a week and a half ago, NBC Universal – the syndicator behind raunchy talkers Maury, Jerry Springer, and The Steve Wilkos Show, […]
NBC Universal’s The Steve Wilkos Show has been renewed for a third season according to officials at the syndicator, with 70 percent of the country on board. According to this article in TV Week, Wilkos has cleared Tribune stations in New York, Los Angeles, and Philadelphia – but in Chicago, the article cites a renewal for the “Weigel’s station in […]
The ongoing saga of Tribune bankruptcy will have a big effect on the syndication business. Tribune owes four major syndicators money: Warner Bros., NBC Universal, Disney-ABC, and Twentieth. As a result of the Chapter 11 filing (with Tribune restructuring debt), the studios aren’t going to see a dime of the cash anytime soon. This puts some stress on the studios’ […]
In a move that comes as a bit of a surprise, Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution announced Thursday the move of The Tyra Banks Show to CW from first-run syndication – giving the network two hours to fill in its daytime lineup starting next September. CW, home already to Ms. Banks’ America’s Next Top Model, acquired the program to run […]
With Oprah Winfrey scheduled to run her new cable network in a joint venture with Discovery beginning next year, there is increasing speculation she may discontinue her daily talk show strip when her contract with CBS Television Distribution expires in 2011. The speculation increased when Discovery Communications CEO David Zaslav revealed in an earnings report a few days ago that […]
– CBS X’s out The Ex List – Yeah, the lead in this show is hot. And I mean very hot. But that alone won’t bring the viewers to the set. CBS dropped The Ex List from its Friday after four episodes, and is being replaced by NCIS repeats. But man, I wish I was on her “Ex List”… Somebody, […]
Warner Saunders, a veteran of NBC-owned WMAQ-TV’s news team for 28 years, is expected to retire in May 2009. Saunders currently anchors the 5, 6, and 10 p.m. newscasts with Allison Rosati, and they’ve been anchoring at 10 p.m. since 1997, when both Ron Magers and Carol Marin exited WMAQ after the Jerry Springer debacle (Marin has since returned.) Saunders […]
The Chicago Tribune redesigned its paper yesterday, and it brought about as much excitement as another Oakland Raiders coaching change.According to ChicagoBusiness.com, 72 percent of those polled by the site did not like the new look of the Tribune, while 81 percent said the new redesign made it no easier to find stories. (The comments section of the linked story […]
This is in my four for edition four of Who’s in Your Four this week. Fore! – 90210. Scored the highest ratings in the history of the two-year old network. – Raising the Bar, indeed. Now Turner’s cable networks can actually air a promo with a claim that’s actually true: Despite lukewarm reviews, TNT’s new legal drama Raising the Bar […]
Richard Dominick, the executive producer of Jerry Springer and The Steve Wilkos Show has been axed as executive producer of both shows by NBC Universal.Dominick was named executive producer of Springer in the spring of 1994 and was instrumental in turning around Jerry Springer from a talk show near death to a ratings bonanza (at least during the late ’90’s) […]
Now the Favre watch never ends. Journal Communications’ WTMJ-TV in Milwaukee is adding a 3 p.m. newscast to its lineup beginning Sept. 8, as well as adding a 6:30 p.m. newscast at the end of August, which displaces the Warner Bros.-syndicated Extra from the time slot. The move brings the total number of local news hours at the NBC affiliate […]
NBC Universal’s The Jerry Springer Show is dispensing with the circus freak-like sideshow and now just featuring the freak-like show. The rabid talk show enters its eighteenth season this fall with a return to a format which features only a single story and more emphasis on the conflicts of the guests, which defined the program in the height of its […]
This is the 1,200th post. Hurray for the blog! Three syndicated freshman strips from Warner – Two and a Half Men, TMZ, and George Lopez scored gains in the just-concluded May sweeps, according to Nielsen. Men ranked as the top off-network sitcom in syndication last month, while Lopez surprised everyone by finishing fifth among all off-net sitcoms, jumping up 41 […]
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