Bears win on the field – and in the ratings

After a few lackluster matchups on ESPN’s Monday Night Football, the franchise got back on track with the Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers meeting up at Lambeau Field – another meeting in the long, storied rivalry between these two popular teams. According to Broadcasting & Cable, ESPN drew 16.1 million viewers, making it the second most-watched MNF telecast this […]

Fox, “Queen Latifah” score in ratings

Sleepy Hollow, Dads, and Brooklyn get ample sampling; Queen Latifah scores well in her premiere With the new fall season only a few days away, a few shows jumped the gun with premieres this week, while summer series wrap up their runs: – Despite going up against Monday Night Football and Dancing With The Stars, Fox’s Sleepy Hollow debuted nicely […]

More Grab Bag: RIP Alex Karras; CBS cancels “Made in Jersey”

– Alex Karras, the Detroit Lions defensive lineman-turned-actor, died Wednesday at his Southern California home  at the age of 77 due to complications from kidney failure. The Gary, Ind. native played his entire NFL career with the Lions from 1958-70, then went into television and film, including a stint with WLS-TV for a local Monday Night Football pregame show and […]

NBC beats broadcast competition in first night of new season

ESPN tops all broadcast and cable networks with Monday Night Football – and a unbelievable bad call to end the game The first night of the 2012-13 season got underway Monday night, but someone forgot to tell the viewers. Looking at the results, a lot of returning programs were down from year-ago time periods, notably Dancing With The Stars and […]

NFL agrees to new deals with CBS, NBC, and Fox

The National Football League has secured deals with three of its network partners to keep football on over-the-air broadcast TV for the next decade. The deals keeps everything status quo – Fox continues to broadcast the NFC package it has held since 1994; CBS retains the AFC package it has held since 1998; and NBC keeps the Sunday night package […]

Bears-Lions tackles competitors onto turf

ESPN’s Monday Night Football tilt between the Chicago Bears and Detroit Lions was a success for ESPN and the city of Detroit – but not for the Bears. The game on WCIU earned a 13.4 household rating and a 20 share while ESPN pulled a 18.8/27, combining for an overall 32.2/47, easily outdrawing other series in the Chicago market, including […]

New “Two And A Half Men” wallops competiton

  Uncle Kelso has arrived in the Harper household – and he’s already winning – and so is the former occupant. The ninth season premiere of Two And A Half Men – the first one without Charlie Sheen after his well-publicized departure from the series last March, and the first for new series regular and former That ’70’s Show star […]

WCIU gets Sept. 27 Packers-Bears game

ESPN have come to agreement with WCIU to air a Monday Night Football game featuring the Chicago Bears and the Green Bay Packers at Soldier Field on September 27, according to Phil Rosenthal’s Tower Ticker blog. This marks the sixth local outlet to carry a Bears game this upcoming season. Aside from the regular home of the Bears (WFLD, whose […]

T Dog’s Four Pack

Here’s the recent list of winners and losers of the last week-in-a-half  – plus an extra-long rant at the end… What worked for yours truly… Winners Conan O’Brien. His final “Tonight Show” drew 10.3 million viewers, with one of the classiest send-offs I’ve ever seen from a host. The result: new found respect from the public, including yours truly. Chicago […]

John Madden retires

Boom! The big guy is riding his bus into the sunset with his telestrator. Football color commentator John Madden retired today from the booth after 30 years of service. He was the only broadcaster to work for all four networks – CBS, Fox, ABC, and NBC. Madden was the longtime coach of the Oakland Raiders and led them to victory […]

Who’s in your four, Edition V

There’s going to be a new name for this, I swear… T Dog’s Fab Four – America Ferrera slams The Hills, 90210, and Gossip Girl. The Ugly Betty star says the shows are mean: ” Like, if you’re watching The Hills or 90210, all the backstabbing shapes the way we act – you go to school, and you think you’re […]

Patriots-Ravens set cable record

Monday night’s football game between the undefeated New England Patriots and the Baltimore Ravens set a cable ratings record – 17.5 million viewers for the ESPN, slightly more than the previous record – the 17.2 High School Musical 2 earned in August.The last half-hour of the game notched a whopping 23.9 million viewers – higher than any program on the […]

WARNING: Moron Alert!

I know it’s unusual for me to post on a Sunday… but I had to alert everyone on this…Tomorrow night’s guest in the booth on ESPN’s Monday Night Football game between the Bears-Rams is talent-free Chicago actor Jim Belushi of According To Jim. Why him? Why not other famous Chicagoans? What about Bernie Mac? Jenny McCarthy? Kanye? Even anyone from […]