“TMZ Live” heads to Fox Chicago

Ricki Lake changes EPs on her newly relaunched show WFLD and four other Fox-owned stations announced they were slotting Warner Bros.’ TMZ Live, a spin-off of the popular half-hour strip beginning Monday. TMZ Live features TMZ creator and executive producer Harvey Levin talking to his staff about the day’s entertainment stories in an expanded, hour-long format. Launched in 2007 as […]

CBS, “Grey’s Anatomy” run ripshod over competition

Remember when Thursday night belonged to NBC? Seems so long ago, doesn’t it? The Tiffany network won the first Thursday night of the 2012-13 season in households, total viewers, and in adults 18-49 (Fox won in adults 18-34) thanks to the season premieres of The Big Bang Theory, Two And A Half Men, and the series premiere of Elementary. All […]

“Modern Family” rocks, “Animal Practice” flops

When yours truly watched Animal Practice, I was looking to see if Randy Michaels’ name was anywhere in the credits… The results for the first Wednesday night of the 2012-13 season are in the books and it was a huge night for recent Emmy winner Modern Family, a so-so debut for new sitcom The Neighbors, and as expected, DOA numbers […]

T Dog’s Grab Bag: “Bethenny” heads to Fox Chicago

It’s a done deal: after a successful six-week test run at a few Fox-owned stations this summer, Bethenny Frankel’s new talk show from Warner Bros. has been cleared on the rest of the group in seventeen markets, including WFLD-TV in Chicago and is now going forward with a national launch in 2013. The former Real Housewives star was tested in […]

Tuesday ratings: CBS returns to the top

CBS returned to the top spot in night two of the new television strength on the strength of NCIS, NCIS: Los Angeles, and the premiere of 1960’s-set drama Vegas, without Robert Urich or James Caan, of course. Meanwhile, Fox’s new single-camera comedy block had mixed results. All ratings results are among the 18-49 demo, unless otherwise noted. NBC’s The Voice […]

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 […]

Despite loss, Bears still dominate Chicago ratings

While the Chicago Bears (and Jay Cutler in particular) disappointed in their hugely anticipated matchup against the archrival Green Bay Packers, they certainly didn’t disappoint in the ratings department (and for a change, it was Cutler who was nastier than Simon Cowell was.) Last Thursday night’s game locally drew a 31.3/48 household rating/share according to Nielsen. The game aired over […]

“Revolution” off to good start; “Mob Doctor” tanks

Trisha also debuts in daytime; Bill Cunningham rolls out nationally Even though the “official” start of the new season doesn’t begin until next week, two new primetime series made their debut Monday night: J.J. Abrams’ Revolution and Fox’s Mob Doctor. Revolution got off to a good start, drawing a 4.1 Nielsen adult demo (18-49) rating and 11.7 million viewers, retaining […]

Oops, they did it again: “The X Flop”

Over the summer, Fox signed Britney Spears and Demi Lovato (who?) to be judges on The X Factor to boost the show’s disappointing ratings from season one. Well, it didn’t exactly get off to a good start now, didn’t it? Ratings for X Factor’s second season premiere drew a 3.4/10 in adults 18-49, with only 8.73 million viewers, according to […]

T Dog’s Grab Bag: “Ellen”, “Dr. Oz” return strong

Hey Katie, the old school’s got a message for you: we can draw an audience, too. That was the vibe sent Monday while Katie Couric posted strong numbers of her debut Monday – but returning talkers also posted good numbers for their season premieres, despite pre-emptions from tennis on some CBS stations. Warner Bros.’ Ellen tenth season premiere drew a […]

T Dog’s Grab Bag: CBS, AT&T sign retransmission deal

Reach out and touch someone…. No, not there. Or there. The Grab Bag: – CBS AT&T . CBS Corp. and AT & T have signed a brand new retransmission consent deal, covering all CBS-owned stations (which includes CBS, CW, and independent stations), Showtime, The Smithsonian Channel, and CBS Sports Network. Locally, the deal covers CBS-owned WBBM-TV over all AT&T U-Verse […]

WBBM-TV restores weekend morning newscasts

WBBM-TV (CBS 2) announced the return of weekend morning newscasts to the station after a three-year hiatus. The announcement was made during a meeting in the CBS-owned station’s newsroom with General Manager Bruno Cohen and News Director Jeff Kierman. Beginning on September 22, WBBM plans to air an hour of local news on Saturdays from 8-9 a.m. and from Sundays […]