London Olympics is the most watched event of all time For seventeen days, we shared a moment with the world. Unfortunately, Chicagoans for the most part, chose not to. Average household ratings are out for the entire 2012 London Summer Olympics, and it showed Chicago tied for 26th place with four other markets: New York, Phoenix, Knoxville, and Tulsa with […]
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 […]
Here’s what going on: – WGN-AM’s Garry Meier is starring in his own TV special, set to air on WCIU July 11 at 10:30 p.m, titled The Garry Meier Special. Among the featured interviews: George Wendt (Cheers), Cubs broadcaster Len Kasper, Richard Lewis (Anything But Love), Tim Kazurinsky, and the lady who pick the lottery numbers. This sounds awfully like […]
A lot of television news and notes for a Monday: – Fox’s duopoly in Chicago (WFLD and WPWR) has acquired Meredith’s Better for airing this fall. The acquisition of the lifestlyle magazine show was a part of a deal that also included Fox duopolies in Orlando (WOFL/WRBW) and Houston (KRIV/KTXH). The program was also renewed at NBC affiliate WTMJ-TV in […]
Soon, “Family Guy” will have TWO places to call home in Chicago. In a rather odd twist to a renewal deal, Tribune-owned WGN-TV has renewed syndicated repeats of Family Guy for a second cycle in a new four-year deal through 2015, which kicks in on September 12, 2011. But as a part of the deal, Weigel-owned independent station WCIU-TV […]
NBC Universal’s Jerry Springer, the wild and willy daytime talk show that hasn’t met a taboo it can smash (or a chair), is moving in the Chicago market to WCIU-TV in September 2010. No time slot has been determined yet, but the program is expected to be paired up with The Steve Wilkos Show, a show spun-off from Springer in […]
In the latest of a slew of off-cable programs hitting the broadcast syndication marketplace, Twentieth Television has cleared FX sitcom It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia for Fall 2011 in 45 percent of the country. Clearing the show are a wide variety of stations, meaning no over-the-board group deals (which is good.) The clearences include WPSG-TV in Philadelphia, the CBS-owned CW […]
Lots of items of note in today’s Grab Bag: – WCFS-FM (Fresh 105.9) has dumped morning man Mark LeBaron. Rick Hall will take over until a replacement is found. Is this a signal something big is coming? Or is the cancellation clock ticking for Fresh FM? – Speaking of which, the clock is up for The Beautiful Life, which CW […]
In a move that could put its fourteen-year NBC affiliation at risk, WHDH-TV in Boston has told NBC it plans not to run Jay Leno’s new weeknight show at 10 p.m. (ET) but instead run a prime-time newscast. Leno got the 10 p.m. time slot after losing his longtime 11:35 p.m. Tonight Show slot to Conan O’Brien. Leno leaves Tonight […]
The Super Bowl XLIII matchup between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Arizona Cardinals drew 95.4 million viewers, making it the third most-watched TV show of all time, trailing the 1983 series finale of M*A*S*H and Super Bowl XLII between the New England Patriots and the New York Giants. Here’s the breakdown: – In the 56 markets metered for overnight and/or […]
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 […]
The latest from the convention: WCIU picks up Judge Penny: Independent WCIU-TV in Chicago picks up its first-ever syndicated program from Program Partners by acquiring the company’s new first-run courtroom strip Family Court with Judge Penny. The program has cleared 70 percent of the country, including Fox-owned stations in New York and Los Angeles. Additional clearances include CBS/CW stations in […]
A month after acquiring the syndication rights to air American Idol Rewind from now-defunct Tribune Entertainment, Trifecta has sold the series’ third season to thirteen Fox O&O markets. That means Idol Rewind in Chicago will switch this October from Tribune-owned WGN-TV to Fox-owned WFLD-TV and WPWR-TV. The program will also shift from Tribune to Fox stations in New York, Los […]
New weekend off-network hours that are making the rounds for syndication in 2008 have cleared Chicago stations. Boston Legal, the Emmy-award series from Twentieth Television, has cleared WLS-TV in Chicago for weekend runs next fall, as well as fellow ABC O&O’s in Los Angeles (KABC), San Francisco (KGO), and Houston (KTRK). Other stations clearing the hour include Scripps’ WXYZ-TV in […]
Two news helicopters – one belonging to Belo-owned independent KTVK – the other belonging to Scripps’ ABC affiliate KNXV – collided in mid-air while covering a police chase in Phoenix, killing four people, two each in both choppers.
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