Tribune signs on for new action hour

Station group plotting future without off-network fare in key time periods? Tribune Broadcasting announced last week it has cleared a new weekend scripted hour series from Trifecta Entertainment titled Rescue 3, created by former Baywatch showrunner Gregory J. Bonann. Clearances include WGN-TV Chicago, WPIX New York, KTLA Los Angeles, WPHL Philadelphia and KDAF Dallas. As first reported by Broadcasting & […]

GM Tom Langmyer exits WGN Radio

In what may be the first of many changes inside Tribune Tower in a post-bankruptcy world, Tribune Broadcasting’s WGN Radio announced the departure yesterday of General Manager Tom Langmyer after seven years at the station. The move comes as Tribune is expected to exit bankruptcy in the next few weeks as the company may be looking to sell many of […]

Judge approves Tribune bankruptcy plan

After three years, the Tribune bankruptcy saga is finally coming to end – but at a price. A federal judge approved the bankruptcy plan created by banks and creditors on Friday. Those entities – Angelo, Gordon, and Co., JP Morgan Chase, and Oaktree Capital Management – now take control of the media company, which means for the first time in […]

Let’s get busy…again. Arsenio Hall returns to late-night

Move over Frank Woolanski, here’s comes someone who packed a lot of bark in late-night back in the day – and is looking to woof again. CBS Television Distribution and Tribune Broadcasting announced today it will launch a new late-night talk show with Arsenio Hall beginning in September 2013, returning him to the daypart that made him famous and reuniting […]

T Dog’s Think Tank: Dan Harmon, “Community”, their fans, and you

As you know by now, Community creator and executive producer Dan Harmon was fired by the studio who produces the show (Sony Pictures Television) on the evening of Friday May 18. I’m sure you’ve read the reasons why he was fired, including from Harmon himself. Fans of Community took to social media and the Internet to express their outrage over […]

“21 Jump Street” goes to the movies

Friday marked the arrival of former 1987-91 Fox series 21 Jump Street’s adaption to the big screen. But my oh my, how things have changed at Jump Street Chapel. The film is actually a parody of the series – a standard police procedural with a twist: youthful undercover cops who investigate crimes in those institutions of learning: high schools, colleges, […]

Don Cornelius dies

  The television and music industries are mourning the death of Soul Train host and creator Don Cornelius. He was found dead in his home in Los Angeles Wednesday from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Cornelius’ health had been declining for the last few years and was reportedly showing signs of dementia. Cornelius also had brushes with the law; he was […]

WGN-TV, Tribune renew "Friends" through 2017

WCIU clears Rules of Engagement; show now in 75% of country  You can always count on your Friends – especially in syndication. Tribune Broadcasting announced a third-cycle syndication renewal for Friends, the Emmy-winning sitcom that was a mainstay on NBC’s “Must-See TV” from 1994-2004. The renewals cover the fifteen Tribune stations currently airing the series, including WGN-TV here in Chicago […]

“Live From Darryl’s House” to rock WGN

In a continuing bid to add to their programming slate, Trifecta Entertainment & Media announced Friday it was launching Live From Darryl’s House as a weekly half-hour syndicated series this fall after a successful New Year’s Eve airing on WGN-TV in Chicago and on WGN America. Trifecta has cleared Live From Darryl’s House on WGN and six other Tribune stations, […]

Two and a Half Times the second cycle

Want more Two and a Half Men in syndication? You got it. But if  you want more crazy Charlie Sheen going ape in a hotel room moments, you’ll have to wait – those come at random. In a story Broadcasting & Cable broke Wednesday, Tribune Broadcasting and Sinclair Broadcasting announced they has renewed Two and a Half Men for a […]

"Futurama" lands on WCIU and Tribune stations

Planet Express is now making weekend deliveries. In a deal that seemingly came together overnight, Twentieth Television has secured clearances to run Futurama on WCIU in Chicago and several Tribune-owned stations as an one-hour, all-barter block on weekends in the fall of 2011. While WCIU has acquired Futurama in Chicago to air, Tribune stations signing on include WPIX in New […]

Tribune to go ahead with "Big Willie"

CBS to launch The Talk to replace As The World Turns Despite anemic ratings, poor reviews, and Twitters unanimously dissing it, Tribune Broadcasting is apparently going ahead with Bill Cunningham’s new talk show, which is now targeted for a Fall 2011 launch. During the four-day test, the program averaged an 1.1 Nielsen household rating in seven markets, including Chicago. While […]

WGN-TV begins 4:30 a.m. newscast

Tribune-owned WGN-TV is adding yet another half-hour of news later this summer, this time at 4:30 a.m. Following a trend many local stations have been doing across the country for the past year, WGN is adding the 4:30 a.m. newscast to take advantage of commuters getting up earlier to go to work (or as we say in the trade, increasing […]

Tribune wants more of "This"

Chicago-based Tribune Co. actually likes something crosstown rival Weigel Broadcasting Co. has – This. Tribune announced today it has signed a long-term deal to add This TV in several markets (including WPIX in New York) and renewing existing deals in others (KTLA in Los Angeles.) This TV is a joint venture between Weigel Broadcasting (which owns WCIU here, and airs […]