T Dog’s Four Pack

The list of winners and losers are back! Yes, they can! Conan. As Conan O’ Brien is settling down in his new Tonight Show role, he has more than proven himself as a successor to Jay Leno (or… maybe not.) Futurama returns. Six years later after Fox canceled this underrated show, Comedy Central comes to the rescue with 26 new […]

This just in: Local news trumps reruns

KRON-TV San Francisco to dump Dr. Phil? It looks like these days viewers prefer the corruption, depression, politics, and crime to escapist fare. It what could be yet another blow to the syndication business, a story by Bloomberg News suggests local stations are dumping entertainment fare to air more local news especially in major markets. This comes as the fight […]

Sweeping up

From the recently concluded March ratings period: Chicago: WLS-TV remained on top, as usual at 10 p.m., but CBS-owned WBBM-TV is up 50 percent in the same time period in households. At 9 p.m., WGN-TV’s newscast had a 43 percent advantage over an above-average WFLD-TV, despite popular Fox prime-time lead-ins. Milwaukee: And lead-ins didn’t matter here either, as NBC affiliate […]

"Guiding Light" extinguished

The light has gone out for Guiding Light. CBS has pulled the plug on the serial after 72 years on television and radio. The soap began on radio in 1937, went to television in 1952 (its radio run ended in 1956), and is the longest-running soap currently on the air. It marks the first CBS has canceled a soap in […]

"Simpsons", "Survivor" renewed

Enough doom and gloom! Time for some happy news (if you can call it that…) Two of television’s most durable franchises received pacts ensuring their future for some time to come. While this news actually became “official” when they started work on next season’s episodes last July, Fox announced Wednesday the renewal of The Simpsons for seasons 21 and 22, […]

More on McNeil’s departure

As you know by now, ESPN’s WMVP-AM cut Dan McNeil from the Mac, Jurko & Harry show, with only Jurko & Harry remaining, joined by Carmen DeFalco – for now. Ed Sherman (formerly of the Chicago Tribune) wrote in his sports blog for Crain’s Chicago Business with more on McNeil’s firing – one important factor was McNeil’s high salary, commanding […]

Report: Sony cancels "Judge David Young" and "Judge Karen"

Broadcasting & Cable is reporting that two Sony-distributed courtroom strips (Judge David Young and Judge Karen) are expected to be canceled soon. Young will exit after two seasons and Karen after only one. The possible moves come as the tough economy has taken a toll on the first-run syndication business, as ratings and revenue coming in are very low for […]

T Dog’s Groovy Grab Bag

– Station swap: Raycom and Local TV are trading stations with each other and maybe one to be named later… Raycom has traded CBS affiliate WTVR in Richmond, Va. to Local TV for Fox affiliate WBRC-TV in Birmingham. Raycom, which is based in Alabama, will now have a presence in most of the state. Earlier, the Justice Department rejected Raycom’s […]

And the number one show in African-American households is…

No surprise here, it’s Tyler Perry’s House of Payne. But there is a surprise when compared to other programs in the viewer’s landscape: When you take the rating from its’ syndication airings and its cable runs on TBS, Payne tops everything else among African-Americans in all of television among adults 18-34, 18-49, and 25-54, including network prime-time, beating Grey’s Anatomy […]

T Dog’s Think Tank: So what happens if "Oprah" exits?

With Oprah Winfrey scheduled to run her new cable network in a joint venture with Discovery beginning next year, there is increasing speculation she may discontinue her daily talk show strip when her contract with CBS Television Distribution expires in 2011. The speculation increased when Discovery Communications CEO David Zaslav revealed in an earnings report a few days ago that […]

Ahern out at Channel 2

One of the deacons at The Church of Tisch has been shown the door. WBBM-TV General Manger Joe Ahern was fired today after six years at the CBS-owned station, this after they moved into new digs on Washington Blvd. in the Loop and started broadcasting their news in HD. Replacing Ahern is Bruno Cohen, who is currently GM at CBS’ […]

"Dr. Oz" heads to WFLD

It’s a home run by the Wizard! Sony Pictures Television had the heart, the courage, and the brains – to clear Harpo Productions’ new syndicated Dr. Oz in fourteen markets, including Fox-owned WFLD-TV in Chicago. No word yet on a time period, but the program could wind up in a late morning time slot, possibly as a lead-out of The […]

Who’s in your four, Edition 4 (plus a tribute to Bill Melendez)

This is in my four for edition four of Who’s in Your Four this week. Fore! – 90210. Scored the highest ratings in the history of the two-year old network. – Raising the Bar, indeed. Now Turner’s cable networks can actually air a promo with a claim that’s actually true: Despite lukewarm reviews, TNT’s new legal drama Raising the Bar […]