Year marked by scandals, futility, and other things 2018 wasn’t exactly a repeat of the last two horrendous years in the media world, but scandals and deceit still ruled the roost. Though not topping 2017’s Disney-Fox deal, 2018 had some mega transactions – though the second-biggest merger of 2017 went bust as Sinclair Broadcasting’s $4 billion deal to buy Tribune […]
Plus… big day for Bears as they beat rival; Channing Dungey heads to Netflix; Extra adds Fox stations in large markets With Steve Dahl set to depart Cumulus-owned WLS-AM this Friday, the station announced last week it was shifting Big John Howell to afternoons from mornings starting January 3, from 5 to 7 p.m. weekdays. In a statement, the thirty-year […]
Blockbuster deal includes 20th Century Fox film studio and programming library, cable and sports networks, and more In a history-making deal, The Walt Disney Company agreed to acquire much of 21st Century Fox for $52.4 billion. The deal was speculated about for the last few weeks on this blog and elsewhere, as 21st Century Fox owner Rupert Murdoch was looking […]
Renewal of low-rated ABC action drama would not be possible if the network’s parent company didn’t own the show – and it may be a harbinger for things to come regarding network television On the surface, the weak ratings for ABC’s Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD should have earned the series its cancellation stripes – but didn’t. Why? A few weeks ago, […]
The former south suburban University Park resident scores deal with SVOD service Talk about extracting quick revenge. Last week, Disney announced come 2019, it was pulling its movies off of Netflix to start its own streaming service. The news sent both stocks descending on Wall Street. On Sunday night, Netflix decided to raid the Mouse House and nab Shonda Rhimes […]
What we learned: – The sitcom is almost dead – Too much drama – Greg Berlanti is now the most powerful person on TV Now that the parties have been held, the red carpet has been rolled up, and the song and dance routines have been performed, it’s time to get to serious business: sell suckers… er… I mean advertisers on […]
Deadline article, Bernstein’s comments prove women and minorities still face a hostile environment in the media business It’s interesting we have a “communications” as a college major, and yet have a lot of people who don’t know how to communicate – especially when it comes to gender and race issues. And this week, the point was proven more than once. […]
The recent confrontation between WLS-AM host Bruce Wolf and African-American traffic reporter Kelli Walker just goes to show you what a complete embarrassment Chicago radio is, and the media industry is in general. In case you haven’t heard (and that’s most of you), Walker “threw some shade” at Wolf on the morning of November 18 over the issue of racism on the air […]
Another upfront is in the books as the five major TV networks released their 2014-15 campaign to win you, the viewer. And they are going to have a hard time doing so. This year’s upfronts have not been impressive, with a lot of programming missing original concepts, innovation, and creativity – all you have to do is point to the […]
For a network in fourth place, you’d think ABC would be making a boatload of changes. Instead, ABC is making only needed changes on four nights – some of them our relatively minor. And how about this: ABC is countering football on Thursdays with an all-drama lineup consisting of shows created and produced by University Park native Shonda Rhimes! This […]
As you know by now, Community creator and executive producer Dan Harmon was fired by the studio who produces the show (Sony Pictures Television) on the evening of Friday May 18. I’m sure you’ve read the reasons why he was fired, including from Harmon himself. Fans of Community took to social media and the Internet to express their outrage over […]
Tuesday and Wednesday saw Disney’s ABC and ABC Family take over the TCA Press with ABC Entertainment President Paul Lee addressing the media on Tuesday regarding numerous issues: – Lee said that despite low ratings AND the show being pulled off the schedule AND the episode order being cut, Pan Am actually has a shot of returning next season. In […]
For two of the broadcast networks, it was Friday Frenzy. With the upfronts set to begin Monday, the networks started cancelling bubble shows ahead of time, as evidenced by Fox’s decision to cancel five shows Tuesday night. On Friday, both NBC and ABC were running like hyenas on hamburger meat. Friday Frenzy began early in the afternoon, with NBC cancelling […]
The Winter Television Critics Association Press Tour continued on Monday with ABC as the first commercial network to present. – ABC right off the bat announced the early renewal of six shows for the 2011-12 season: Castle, Cougar Town, Grey’s Anatomy, The Middle, Modern Family, and Private Practice. Fans of Dancing With The Stars, Desperate Housewives, and 20/20 need not […]
Highlights from the second day of ABC’s portion of the TCA tour: ABC Showrunner fest ABC had the showrunners from its popular dramas on a panel, incluidng those from Lost, Grey’s Anatomy, Desperate Housewives, and Ugly Betty. University Park native Shonda Rhimes assured everyone there is no feud between her and Katherine Heigi, who critized the writing staff of the […]