"Fuego" is En Fuego

While The CW is out touting its latest numbers for Gossip Girl, here’s the real story: Univision’s new telenovela called Fuego En La Sangre (Burning For Revenge) trounced CW in every key demo on Monday night, save for teens. And in Adults 18-34, Fuego beat a number of shows on the major networks, while in Los Angeles, Dallas, Houston, and […]

Larry Wert promoted (updated)

WMAQ-TV general manager Larry Wert has been promoted to president, Central and Western region, of the NBC Local Media Division. Among the stations Wert will be overseeing include WMAQ (which he’ll continue in his role as GM) and fellow NBC O&Os KNBC-TV Los Angeles, KXAS-TV Dallas, KNTV San Francisco/Oakland/San Jose, and KNSD-TV San Diego. NBC also named a new GM […]

WCIU gets "Punk’d"

But it’s no trick: WCIU-TV acquired the rights to air MTV’s Punk’d with Ashton Kutcher to strip five nights a week beginning in September from Trifecta Entertainment. The proram cleared 80 percent of the U.S. with WNYW-TV in New York and KTLA in Los Angeles also on board. This comes as Trifecta and Litton Entertainment announced a strategic partnership last […]

‘XRT format lands in L.A.

Bonneville’s new acquistion, KRBV-FM (100.3) didn’t change its call letters, but the station once known for Scott Shannon’s “Pirate Radio” and “The Beat” is now known for “The Sound”. KRBV launched an Adult Album Alternative (a.k.a AAA, or Triple A) format on Tuesday, similiar to heritage outlet WXRT-FM in Chicago and Bonneville’s WDRV-FM, The Drive (listed on R&R as a Classic Rock […]

Spike gets "Married" (and mysteries, too)

More cable news: Male-oriented cable network Spike has acquired the rights to air all 259 episodes of the former Fox comedy Married… With Children beginning in September in a deal worth $12 million. Married… was Fox’s first-ever prime time series (premiering on April 5, 1987), and was the first Fox sitcom to be sold in syndication. The deal with Sony […]

Even more layoffs at CBS

This is really getting sad… – Chicago: This time, coming from the radio side: two female on-air personalities are out at WBBM-FM (B96) – overnighter Candi Gomez and midday jock Roxanne Steele, with their contracts not being renewed. A new personality from Miami is going to take Steele’s place, while the overnight position is not being filled. Anyone want to […]

Radio One bats out of L.A.

Radio One has sold its struggling Urban AC KRBV-FM to Bonneville for $138 million. The station, once known as Urban/Hip-Hop formatted The Beat (100.3, KKBT) has tumbled in the ratings over the years, flipping to a Urban AC format two years ago. With Bonneville taking over, a format change is all but certain, as Bonneville does not program urban formats. […]

AOL, CBS Radio team up

XM ends partnership with AOL, launches new online radio initiative CBS Radio and AOL struck a major deal Friday, which allows AOL to stream all CBS-owned radio stations on its Internet Radio service. The deal will mesh CBS-owned radio stations with AOL’s existing radio stations, and it also calls for CBS to create custom radio stations exclusively for the Internet. […]

Seacrest expands his business

He’s more than a smarky TV host and a Los Angeles radio personality, but a businessman as well. Ryan Seacrest’s KIIS-FM morning show in Los Angeles is getting syndicated in a three-hour program for midday and afternoon airings in other markets. Seacrest took over the KIIS morning gig from 22-year veteran Rick Dees in 2004. The American Idol host is […]

Malcolm is no longer in the middle at KTLA

Vinnie Malcolm is out as vice president and general manager of Tribune-owned KTLA in Los Angeles in the first series of changes expected under new Tribune station group head Ed Wilson. Like many other CW affiliates (with WGN in Chicago the notable exception),KTLA has struggled in the ratings, with its newscasts ranked behind Fox-owned rival KTTV, with some viewers moving […]

CW cancels "Smackdown"

The CW has pulled the plug on WWE Smackdown after nine seasons, after failing to come to an agreement on renewal. The program’s final CW airing is scheduled for September 12. The program began on April 29, 1999 as a one-shot special on UPN, and joined that network’s lineup on August 26, 1999. Smackdown originally aired on Thursday nights, but […]

Ask the T Dog Media Blog

Going back through some old posts, I discovered a question asked by an anonymous reader regarding the original version of American Gladiators. Instead of answering in the comments section of the post, I decided to answer in a new post here: Q: Anonymous said… Do you know what the ratings were for the original American Gladiator series? Also did it […]

"Montel" over and out

As expected, CBS Television Distribution has officially canceled the long-running The Montel Williams Show after a seventeen-season run. Montel Williams’ talk show was dropped by Fox-owned stations in the top three markets (including KCOP-TV in Los Angeles and WPWR-TV in Chicago.) In fact, KCOP was one of the founding stations of Montel Williams when Viacom and then owner of KCOP […]

Layoff lane

Cuts at Clear Channel Chicago and 65 layoffs at Oxygen, which was taken over by NBC Universal over the weekend. Among the cuts at CC Chicago: Armando Rivera, a mixer-turned-assistant program director and music director at WVAZ (V103); WGCI’s nighttime jock Victor “The Diz” Blackful; and overnighter Alexx Dupri at Top 40 WKSC-FM. The cuts at Clear Channel mirror those […]