Strong returns for opening night

Everyone’s a winner in the first night of the TV season!  Well, almost… The first night of the 2014-15 got underway Monday night and judging by the numbers, DVRs are going to be working overtime this week. Despite heavy competition, many shows were amply sampled, including heavily-hyped new entries Gotham and Scorpion. Meanwhile, The Big Bang Theory dominated its competition on […]

Win or lose, Jackie Robinson West scores big weekend numbers

The Emmys may have been Monday night (Breaking Bad and Modern Family – again – were the big winners), but the biggest winner this past weekend was a team of little leaguers from the South Side of Chicago. The Jackie Robinson West little league squad games on Saturday and Sunday were a huge ratings draw, with the weekend games on […]

T Dog’s Grab Bag: Back to the future for ABC 7’s daytime lineup

– Inside Edition/Jeopardy return to old time slot – WMAQ adds 11 a.m. newscast – Chicago Little Leaguers success on and off the field – Dan McNeil, Cheryl Scott exit while Dish Nation adds a Real Housewife  – Back to the future in early fringe: as expected, ABC-owned WLS-TV is returning syndicated first-run series Inside Edition and Jeopardy to its […]

Cubs, White Sox viewers continue to flee for exits

White Sox now dead last in TV ratings, with Cubs right behind them It’s been a tough summer for local Chicago television. First, Chicago viewers are turning off local news in greater numbers (and as a reward, we’re getting more news!) And now, they’re turning off local baseball – again – as both the Cubs and the White Sox continue […]

Chicago’s late newscasts continues to lose steam

              Maybe Chicago viewers are tired of hearing about all the shootings and murders. Maybe viewers are tired of the constant weather hype, even when its nice and only 75 degrees. Maybe viewers are tired of the Breaking News and Developing Story monikers every four goddamn minutes. Or maybe viewers are just tired (and […]

WGN-TV slots “Celebrity Name Game” at 10 p.m.

Also: Hollywood Daily Live, Daily Helpline debut to microscopic audiences In a rather unusual move, Tribune-owned WGN-TV has slotted Craig Ferguson’s new game show, Celebrity Name Game from Debmar-Mercury at 10 p.m., starting September 22. As first reported by Robert Feder, Name Game would replace the failed revival of The Arsenio Hall Show, which was canceled in May. While other […]

Viewers flee Chicago’s evening, late newscasts

Chicago’s news stations might want to rethink their news presentations. An analysis of May local news sweeps numbers in the adult 25-54 demographic in the nation’s ten largest DMAs from TVNewsCheck showed Chicago’s local newscasts losing ground faster than those in New York and Los Angeles. In fact, Chicago’s 21 percent drop overall was second only to Boston (down 23 percent.) […]

T Dog’s Grab Bag: WCIU expands “You and Me” to three hours

Also: Tyra Banks plans returns to daytime TV – Good news for fans of WCIU’s  You and Me in The Morning (and for local television overall): the two-hour morning strip hosted by former Chicago radio personalities Melissa Forman and Jeanne Sparrow is expanding to a third hour in September. Now airing from 6 to 8 a.m. weekdays, the show is extending […]

“Arsenio Hall” canceled

Once again, Arsenio’s “bark” has lost its “bite”. To the surprise of some since it was renewed for a second season (but not others), CBS Television Distribution canceled The Arsenio Hall Show Friday after nine months on the air, official ending his comeback attempt – twenty years after he departed his original show. This comes after several station groups belonging […]

“Chicagoland” strikes out with critics, viewers

  With horrible ratings, Chicagoland ranks among one of television’s biggest flops Did Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s administration manipulate scenes?   I guess Chicago would’ve been better off if we were attacked by a Sharknado. When the dust clears, CNN’s Chicagoland will go down as one of the biggest bombs in the history of television – and one of the worst […]

Grab Bag: “The Game” loses in its first PPM matchup

        Plus: Divorce Court to stick around; and a new first-run syndicated drama on tap – Nielsen Radio’s March PPM ratings period just concluded and it shows the new sports radio talker WGWG-FM, or The Game stalled at the starting gate. The station tied for 37th place overall with a measly 0.3 rating, far behind competitors WSCR […]

“How I Met Your Mother” ends on a high note (in ratings)

Long-running sitcom How I Met Your Mother ended its nine-year run on CBS on a high note, scoring its highest numbers ever in total viewers and in key demos. Monday night’s one-hour sendoff drew 12.9 viewers and a 5.3 rating in the adult 18-49 (HIMYM generally averages around a 3.) While these numbers would have Barney Stinson shouting “Awesome” and […]