The president of Debmar-Mercury is calling out the first-run syndication business. In an interview with Broadcasting & Cable, Mort Marcus says we might be seeing more syndie cancellations coming in the next several months as the economy continues to become worse. Marcus, who runs the company responsible for syndicating South Park, Family Feud, Trivial Pursuit, and the upcoming Wendy Williams […]
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 […]
In what may be encouraging signs for Warner Bros. Two and a Half Men and Twentieth Television’s Family Guy, ratings for both off-network programs in syndication are up from the previous week in metered markets, ever so slightly. Both look like they’re keepers. Law & Order: Criminal Intent scored a 1.0/3 as a strip in off-network syndication in its first […]
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 […]
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. […]
Rob Owen of the Post-Gazette has Pittsburgh’s fall syndicated lineups. Notables: -Sinclair’s WPMY has Family Guy interspersed with The Simpsons, creating a two-sitcom block. Family Guy is slated to air at 6:30 and 7:30 each weeknight, leading out of Bart & Co. Law & Order: Criminal Intent airs at 11 p.m. on WPMY. – Sinclair’s other station, Fox affiliate WPGH, […]