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 […]
The CW announced Monday it was launching a new half-hour strip this fall with Dr. Drew Pinsky from Telepictures productions called Dr. Drew’s Lifechangers, a spin-off of a segment of the syndicated magazine series Extra, which is also produced by Telepictures (and syndicated by Warner Bros.) The acquisition marks the first time a spin-off from a syndicated program landed on […]
It’s “Game” back on for the one-time CW sitcom. The Television Critics Association tour continued in Pasadena on Thursday with Oprah Winfrey and her new OWN network obviously the biggest attraction (more in the next post.) But there was other news from this day as well, with BET, Turner, and Discovery making presentations: BET The biggest projects BET has on […]
ABC’s “Dancing With The Stars” was Chicago’s top entertainment (non-sports) program in November. November sweeps came and went and as usual, ABC- owned WLS-TV won the 10pm news race, and also dominated the market overall (thank you Oprah and Dancing With The Stars.) While household numbers were only available at this time, look for WLS to dominate in all key […]
Randy Michaels has all but resigned as CEO of the Tribune Co. after a tumulus two-and-a-half years marred with allegations of sexual harassment, and comes a week after Chief “Innovation” Officer Lee Abrams resigned over an e-mail memo he sent containing profanity and racy videos. Reports of Michaels’ resignation first surfaced in the New York Times’ website Monday night – […]
CW has mixed results with Nikita, beaten in key demos by Jersey Shore Thursday night’s NFL opening kickoff game between the Minnesota Vikings and defending Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints scored a touchdown Thursday night for NBC, which became the most-watched regular season game in thirteen years. In households, the game averaged an overnight 17.7 rating and 28 share, […]
The CW was next up as part of CBS Corporation’s two days at the Television Critics Association Press Tour on Thursday (CW is part-owned by CBS.) CW chief Dawn Ostroff spoke at an executive session with the critics on Thursday. Among what was discussed: – Overnight ratings weren’t relative anymore. Maybe not, since their ratings aren’t that good to begin […]
The annual fanboy and fangirl fest wrapped up Day One in San Diego Thursday and here are some highlights – T Dog Media style!: – Flick fans had plenty of panels to attend and choose from at Comic-Con’s Opening Day on Thursday. One of the panels involved Angelina Jolie’s new movie Salt, who had the fans whooping it up. Jolie […]
Chicago-based Tribune Co. actually likes something crosstown rival Weigel Broadcasting Co. has – This. Tribune announced today it has signed a long-term deal to add This TV in several markets (including WPIX in New York) and renewing existing deals in others (KTLA in Los Angeles.) This TV is a joint venture between Weigel Broadcasting (which owns WCIU here, and airs […]
The CW celebrates its 5th season this fall with an eye popping nine dramas on its schedule, and one lone reality show, America’s Next Top Model. The network is also claiming it has an “all original lineup”, meaning no show will repeat itself on the schedule during the week (what, you thought they were running 52 weeks of original programming? […]
In a move which illustrates once again the declining clout of broadcasters – and the growingpower of cable, Vince McMahon and the WWE have announced the departure of Friday Night Smackdown from Fox’s My Network TV and is moving it to NBC Universal-owned cable channel SyFy effective October 1. SyFy smacked down Fox with a $30 million offer to WWE, […]
In a follow-up story on the Tribune story on Monday, the group’s trio of talk shows are having a resurgent year in daytime syndication. And Maury is one of those shows reaping the benefits. In this B&C article from last week, Maury Povich talked about how his program has reactivated itself since moving to new facilities in Stamford, Connecticut from […]
While the Tribune Co. is struggling with the antics of CEO Randy Michaels and Chapter 11 bankruptcy, its TV division is actually taking care of its own business – despite the struggles of The CW – the network which thirteen of its stations (including WPIX in New York, KTLA in Los Angeles and WGN-TV in Chicago) are aligned with, in […]
Last week, A memo Tribune CEO Randy Michaels sent through WGN-AM News Director Charlie Meyerson, had a list of 119 words and phrases his employees at WGN should not say on the air in order to “improve the product”. And if they say any of these “forbidden” words, other employees can “rat them out” by noting the precise date and […]
In honor of the month we all go basketball crazy, we salute the three-point buzzer beaters and the airballs of the last week-and-the-half: March Madness! The Bears spend like no tomorrow. Bears sign Julius Peppers and two other free agents last Friday (March 5.) The Bears had a good week last week, hoping to get the team back to Lakers-like […]
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