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 […]

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 […]

“South Park” creators strike deal with Hulu

Three year deal gives Hulu exclusive streaming rights. Good news for fans who can’t get enough of South Park. Hulu and Hulu Plus have acquired exclusive streaming rights of the entire library of 293 episodes, effective immediately. The free and subscription versions of Hulu will carry the library until September 24, when South Park’s eighteenth season begins. Afterward, only Hulu […]

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 […]

More Grab Bag: Jim Richards exits WLUP, WKQX

Cedric also leaves Millionaire, but new host already lined up Fox cancels Almost Human – On Wednesday, Gallup released a poll showing half of Illinois’ residents would move out of the state if they could. Well, one lucky resident just hit the jackpot. Jim Richards, who was the operations manager for classic rock WLUP-FM and alternative WKQX, is being transferred […]

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 […]

FX networks unveils “Simpsons” plans

                  FX Networks, the group who purchased the exclusive rerun cable rights to The Simpsons for new channel FXX for close to a billion dollars last fall,  has made public their plans on how to best run 552 episodes of the Fox animated classic, which was reported by Broadcasting & Cable in […]

“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 […]

T Dog’s Grab Bag: Sports-talk war escalates with Finfer defection

* The first shot has been fired in the Chicago’s new sports-talk wars: Robert Feder reports that Tribune’s new Game has stolen Ben Finfer away from CBS’ The Score (WSCR), where he’ll serve as producer – but also as show host, being paired with David Kaplan at Noon and then joins Alex Quigley and Howard Griffith from 1-3 p.m. Finfer […]

Why “Bethenny” failed

Lack of experience, awkwardness, and arrogance kept viewers away from former Real Housewives star’s daytime talker In a project that never should have seen the light of day, Warner Bros. (or Telepictures, or Lorimar, or whomever) decided last week to put former Real Housewives star Bethenny Frankel’s talk show out of its misery after just five months on the air. […]

NATPE: Day 3

It’s the third and final day of the 2014 NATPE gathering from the Fountainbleu Hotel in Miami, which took place on January 29. – Fresh off receiving the Brandon Tartikoff Legacy Award, Groupo Televisa president Emilo Azcarranga Jean gave a Global Keynote Wednesday morning (January 29) about his company’s success. In a conversation with Anna Carugati of World Screen, Azcarranga […]

NATPE: Day 2

The second day of NATPE: – It’s a Friends reunion… but only with the creators of the show. Friends co-creator Marta Kaufmann and David Crane reunited Tuesday for a NATPE panel, reflecting on their success and talked about the future of the network sitcom. The duo didn’t exactly wax praise on the current state of the genre, saying they wouldn’t […]