Syndication update: MGM pulls plug on court shows’ original production

Court genre thins out, but still viable After being one of the most reliable genres in first-run syndication during the last decade, the courtroom show pack is thinning the herd a little bit.  According to Broadcasting & Cable, MGM (through production company Orion, the former film studio acquired by MGM) has halted production on three court shows – Couples Court […]

Coronavirus update: Local shows shut down production

CW 26’s The Jam, ABC 7’s Windy City Live enter production hiatus The coronavirus epidemic has not only crippled the economy and changed the way we live, but it’s now affected television production in Chicago and nationwide. The latest scheduling changes took place last week when CW 26’s (WCIU) morning show The Jam and ABC 7’s (WLS-TV) Windy City Live […]

“Family Feud” returns to Hollywood

Game show returns to Los Angeles. If Los Angeles is seeing a boost in production recently, city leaders ought to send a thank you note to Steve Harvey. As first reported by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Rodney Ho, Family Feud is leaving Atlanta to return to Los Angeles, where it left eight years ago when Steve Harvey became host of the […]

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 […]

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 […]

“Jeremy Kyle” canceled

And other syndication news of note With NATPE looming around the corner, activity in the first-run syndication business for 2013 has certainly picked up. Here’s the latest: -As reported by Broadcasting & Cable Tuesday, Debmar-Mercury pulled the plug on first-run syndicated talker “conflict” talker The Jeremy Kyle Show after two low-rated seasons. Kyle, a British personality who does a similar […]