Remember when I wrote a think tank on WFLD’s news ratings struggles earlier this year? Well, you’ll be happy to know that things haven’t changed – if fact, they’ve gotten worse: During a report on how the struggling economy was affecting gift-giving during this holiday season on Tuesday night’s 9 p.m. newscast, WFLD co-anchor Robin Robinson obviously blurted out there […]
Regis Philblin’s departure from Live with Regis & Kelly on Friday drew big ratings for Tribune-owned CW affiliate WGN-TV. According to numbers obtained from Marc Berman at TV Media Insights, WGN scored a 6.9 Nielsen household rating and a 22 share with Regis’ farewell, and coasted past ABC-owned WLS-TV’s local morning show Windy City Live, which replaced departing The Oprah […]
Jeremy Kyle renewed for a second season; Katie and Steve Harvey hit clearance highs Fox-owned WFLD has picked up Ricki Lake’s new talk show strip from Twentieth Television for next fall, finally notching a Chicago clearence days after the first deals were made as The Great Talk Show Rush of 2012 steam rolls on. Ricki Lake previously hosted a syndicated […]
Anderson renewed for a second season; Bill Cunningham is putting up solid numbers for WGN – but not in his home market of Cincinnati. It seems like syndicators are ready to party like its 1995 again, when a slew of Ricki Lake– talk show knockoffs flooded the market. Well, here we go again as already four talk shows have been […]
NBC to launch Non-Stop Network; Bounce expands to N.Y. and L.A. Significant developments regarding digital subchannels on Thursday: – Don’t you wish it would stop? NBC announced it was overhauling its strategy for its nine-station Non-Stop digital subchannels, which is on the .2 (Channel 4.2, Channel 5.2, etc.) of all-NBC-owned stations except the Hartford/New Haven market, where […]
I guess this is what happens when you use winning call letters without Charlie Sheen? The first full Arbitron PPM survey for September is out for Merlin Media all-news station WWWN shows the station is clearly not “winning”. In fact – it’s losing. Big. According to the PPM report, WWWN finished an astonishing low 48th place with […]
But you no longer can’t with Monique and soon, you won’t be able to with George Lopez, either. (Editor’s Note: This post was originally published on August 3, 2011. -T.H.) Late-night has become a rather bizarre place lately – outside of the usual nuttiness of course – with an insomniac sheep running around, […]
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 […]
After flopping out at CBS, Katie Couric is looking to shine at ABC. In a deal announced today, The Walt Disney Company has signed the former Today and CBS Evening News personality to a multi-year, multi-platform deal, which includes a daily syndicated talk show and beginning this summer, a regular contributor to ABC News. Ms. Couric departed as anchor of […]
WABC-TV in New York City reveals Oprah replacement – a newscast. ABC-owned WLS-TV has finally chosen its hosts for its new morning show to succeed The Oprah Winfrey Show at 9 a.m. – WLS weekend sports anchor Ryan Chiaverini and WGN-TV morning news reporter Valerie Warner. The series’ working title is Morning Rush and is expected to debut sometime around […]
WLS-AM and WLS-FM have new owners in the form of Atlanta-based Cumulus Broadcasting, Inc., which acquired the troubled Citadel radio group for $2.4 billion in cash and stock, with Cumulus paying $37 a share to Citadel. While Citadel wasn’t officially up for sale, it was being pursued by both Cumulus and Bala Cynwyd, Pa. –based Entercom Communications. Cumulus made several […]
Stick a fork in My Network TV? How about My Network TV sticking around for three more years? News Corp. announced Friday it has reached agreements with My Network TV affiliates to carry the programming service until 2014, and the pact include the ten Fox-owned My Network TV affiliates, including WPWR-TV in Chicago, and WWOR-TV New York and KCOP-TV in […]
Bonneville also sells Cincinnati, St. Louis, and Washington D.C. stations In the first major shocker move of 2011 involving local media, Salt Lake City-based Bonneville International has sold its Chicago cluster of radio stations to Minneapolis-St. Paul-based Hubbard Broadcasting for $505 million. The deal also includes thirteen others: six stations in Washington D.C., and four stations each in Cincinnati and […]
Santa’s been good to these guys: David Kaplan (left), with Chicago Blackhawk Johnathan Toews (Courtesy CSN) Ho! Ho! Ho! Merry Everyone! Santa Dog here with presents for those who were nice and coal and maybe some cyanide for those who were naughty (NaOnka, Pig Virus, and Randy “Court Jester” Michaels – I’m looking at you!) Ho! Ho! Ho! Time to […]
Another person has left Fox-owned WFLD’s news department: It’s Mark Saxenmeyer, who’s been with the station since 1993. The reporter’s contract with the station expires in a few weeks, and is not being renewed. Also likely on the way out is meteorologist Amy Freeze, whose contract expires in February. Sources say her replacement is Tammie Souza, whose was meteorologist at […]
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