Pictionary, Person Place Or Thing, and Dish Nation to end as Fox’s TV stations plan to make significant changes next season In a surprise shellacking, Fox First-Run canceled three syndicated half-hour shows Tuesday: Person Place Or Thing, Pictionary, and the long-running Dish Nation, according to TVNewsCheck as Fox’s owned stations – including Fox 32 (WFLD) and Fox Chicago Plus (WPWR), […]
A lot at stake for the sitcom, as a Young Sheldon sequel makes its debut Once the goldmine, the sitcom has fallen on hard times, like the rest of linear TV. For decades, the format pioneered by I Love Lucy would successfully run in primetime, then reruns would go to off-network syndication and earn unparalleled riches. Since entering syndication in […]
Legendary, pioneering talk show changed TV Phil Donahue, who put the issues-oriented daytime talk show on the map in the 1970s, died Sunday at the age of 88 in his New York City home after a long illness. Even though Donahue’s talk show wasn’t the first syndicated talk show to originate from Chicago, he was an innovator in discussing taboo […]
Local stations downgraded animated series to late-night, overnight time slots Family Guy reruns head to Comedy Central [Editor’s Note: This post was updated August 14.] If you’re watching reruns of Family Guy and Bob’s Burgers on your local TV station, you’ll need a new platform to watch them on as both are being removed from broadcast syndication due to expiring […]
…or not, as reruns, court shows dominate local schedules As linear TV viewership continues to tumble, fall schedules for local television stations across the country certainly reflect the trend. Unlike last year when Sherri Shepard and Jennifer Hudson debuted with new syndicated talk shows, there is no such new programming being offered – especially with an ongoing work stoppage in […]
After nine shows were wipe off the schedule, a quieter 2023 is ahead If there’s anything after the great syndication purge of 2022, 2023 is shaping up to be much different. An article on NextTV’s website Tuesday detailed how there are very few first-run syndicated programs in development as this year’s new entries are likely to stick around. Even though […]
Also: Jennifer Hudson, Sherri Sheppard start off well; Clippers return to broadcast TV in L.A. We won’t go into this as much as we did in previous years when the Bears and Packers play in primetime as what has been said about this…has already been said. The Chicago team’s 27-10 loss to Green Bay drew 20.8 million viewers across NBC, […]
On September 14, 1987, NBC’s owned-and-operated stations decided to launch a bold experiment, airing a different sitcom every weeknight leading in to prime-time. It was a disaster. Before streaming, where you can watch what you want when you want – or what day you want, there was a time where local stations did something called “checkerboarding”. As you know, prime-time […]
FCC’s equal-time rules takes show out of New York City, Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh markets [Editor’s Note: This post was updated at 8 p.m.] The future of Sony Pictures Television’s Dr. Oz is in serious question after the host of said show announced Tuesday he was running for a U.S. Senate seat in Pennsylvania. Mehmet Oz – who is a cardiac […]
Veteran animated series renewed for at least sixty more episodes over six years AND fourteen movies With South Park airing on another streaming service, there had to be some kind of way to get the show’s content on ViacomCBS’ Paramount Plus. After all, the show has been home to Comedy Central since 1997, also owned by ViacomCBS. Well, how about […]
New name reflects additional responsibilities in addition to selling to TV stations After fourteen years as CBS Television Distribution, ViacomCBS’ syndication arm announced Monday it was rebranding as CBS Media Ventures. The decision to rebrand comes as the company feels it’s more than just a syndicator serving traditional TV outlets but also to streamers and creating digital content and running […]
Wheel gets first prime-time exposure Another syndicated game show is taking a spin in primetime. Wheel of Fortune is heading to primetime with a first-ever celebrity edition where it’ll air on Thursday nights starting January 7 on ABC. Those celebrity contestants have a chance to win a million dollars for their favorite charity. Sony Pictures Television produces Wheel of Fortune […]
Pandemic, shifting audiences makes it challenging for stations and syndicators Generally, I write these state of syndication articles in January before the NATPE gathering in Miami. But as we know, there has been nothing normal about the current times we live in, the television business included (and of course, NATPE isn’t likely happening as a traditional gathering in 2021.) […]
But one syndicator is making an actual investment Back last July, this blog detailed how tough it is to launch a weekly show as the weekend landscape outside of sports programming has become dominated by reruns, paid religion, infomercials, and fourth-rate programming. The tough marketplace led to the demise of WGN’s Man Of The People with WGN morning sports anchor […]
With Tamron Hall and Kelly Clarkson hits, syndication’s doing well thank you very much If you’ve read this blog over the years, I usually write a “state of syndication” article around this time every year as NATPE approaches, and it often wasn’t rosy – especially this piece I wrote in 2016, Charlie Brown dozing off and all. But as we […]
ABC ABC-Owned Stations ABC 7 Chicago American Idol CBS CBS 2 Chicago CBS Media Ventures CBS News And Stations Chicago Bears Chicago Blackhawks Chicago Bulls Chicago Cubs Chicago White Sox ESPN Family Guy FCC Fox Fox 32 Fox Television Stations Los Angeles Milwaukee NBC NBC 5 NBC Owned Television Stations NBCUniversal Syndication Studios New York City Nexstar Media Group Radio Ratings Sinclair Inc. Syndication The Big Bang Theory The CW The Simpsons Tribune Media Warner Bros. WBBM-TV Chicago WCIU Chicago WFLD Chicago WGN-TV Chicago WGN Radio WLS-AM Chicago WLS-TV Chicago WMAQ Chicago WPWR Chicago