Comic-Con Notepad: Vol. 1

– Line here, line there, everywhere a line. – The CW’s Originals to end – Zachary Levi passes test in greatly improved SyFy Comic-Con show – Halle Berry makes a memorable appearance The 48th annual Comic-Con got underway Thursday in San Diego and early on, it seems the only thing yours truly was getting in his Twitter feed was people […]

The state of syndication in 2017

Few first-run series being offered this year as veteran shows – even low-rated ones – continue to roll along As the National Association Of Programming Executives gathering began Tuesday in Miami, stations are firming up their schedules for next fall as first-run and off-network series are being rolled out onto the marketplace. But what has been the norm in previous years, […]

T Dog’s Media Notepad: “Light TV” to debut next month

Plus… Mundo Max is done; CW makes schedule schedules for mid-season; Marvel to debut new Inhumans; The end is near for FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler. It what could be the fastest launch ever for a diginet (digital subchannel), Fox Television Stations and MGM are launching Light TV, a new channel devoted to faith-based and family-oriented programming headed by MGM President […]

Media Notepad: Blackhawks renew pact with WGN Radio

Also: WGN Radio renews Chicago Blackhawks pact through 2024; Paternity Court renewed two more years -WGN Radio has extended its pact with the Chicago Blackhawks through the 2023-24 season, the team announced on Thursday. The deal keeps a sports presence on WGN, after the station lost Cubs telecasts in 2014. The news comes as the Blackhawks scored the highest local […]

T Dog’s Grab Bag: “Monopoly Millionaires'” heads to WGN

Sinclair realigns newscasts downstate; talent shows to hit syndication; No one is “asking America” – Remember back in  October when yours truly asked if new weekly hour-long game show Monopoly Millionaires’ Club would air in Chicago because Illinois was not participating in the related lottery game? Well, here’s your answer: WGN-TV picked up the new Monopoly game  hosted by Mike & Molly’s […]

Jay Leno, Russell Simmons take center stage at NATPE

The NATPE gathering continued into Wednesday as buyers came out to see panels featuring former Tonight Show host Jay Leno and hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons: – Leno appeared at a Q&A session Wednesday at NATPE and stated his thoughts on Bill Cosby, who is accused of sexually assaulting several women: “I don’t know why it’s so hard to believe women”, […]

NATPE: Day 2

The second day of NATPE: – It’s a Friends reunion… but only with the creators of the show. Friends co-creator Marta Kaufmann and David Crane reunited Tuesday for a NATPE panel, reflecting on their success and talked about the future of the network sitcom. The duo didn’t exactly wax praise on the current state of the genre, saying they wouldn’t […]

“Modern Family”, “Paternity Court” premiere in syndication

New first-run strip Paternity Court and off-network sitcom Modern Family finally made their long-awaited syndication debuts on Monday, with mixed ratings results. According to TV Media Insights, Modern Family premiered to a 1.5 Nielsen household rating on Monday, putting it behind The Big Bang Theory’s debut (1.8) of fare premiering in off-net syndication in the last five years. Modern also […]

T Dog’s Grab Bag: Rob Johnson re-ups with CBS 2

Plus: Meredith clears NBC 5 and other NBC O&Os; Heroes returns – in comic book form; the “Car Bomb” departs; and another old syndication name resurfaces – Rob Johnson is here to stay – the co-anchor of CBS-owned WBBM-TV’s 5 p.m., 6 p.m., and 10 p.m. newscasts has signed a contract renewal in news first reported by Robert Feder on […]

T Dog’s Grab Bag: Mag Mile media coverage under scrutiny

Also: CBS 2 dumps Susan Carlson; Right This Minute finally clears Chicago; Idol’s finale ratings tank as expected; special on Chicago violence doesn’t resonate in ratings While the TV and media world were focusing on the new lineups unveiled by the networks during the upfronts last week in New York, there were other headlines made as well: – The local […]