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 […]
Disney/ABC’s weekly action-adventure hour Legend of the Seeker is going to have an adventure of its own – trying to find new outlets after a major station group carrying the show declined to renew it. In a memo obtained by TV By The Numbers, Tribune Broadcasting said it would not renew the sci-fi/fantasy action hour after two seasons. Tribune is […]
NBC-owned WMAQ-TV won the Gold when it came to Olympic ratings, but it was WLS-TV that grabbed the medal where it really counts: late news. And WCIU-TV came home with some Gold itself. The February “sweeps” period ended on Wednesday, but this ratings period won’t be as important because of the heavy skew of the Winter Olympics. Some stations (notably […]
Two Chicago television stations have made adjustments to their Sunday morning schedules effective this week – which brings more local programming into the mix: – NBC-owned WMAQ-TV is adding Weekend Connection, a new program co-produced by NBC News and hosted by Zoraida Sambolin. The program brings a local focus on national and international news (the devastating earthquake in Haiti this […]
The deals made by Tribune, Fox, and Weigel’s WCIU for Family Guy last week showed a return of cash into the syndication marketplace, something that has lacking for the past year or so. But hold the bubbly; in fact, you might have to take the bottle of champagne back to the store. It turns out Tribune paid less to renew […]
Soon, “Family Guy” will have TWO places to call home in Chicago. In a rather odd twist to a renewal deal, Tribune-owned WGN-TV has renewed syndicated repeats of Family Guy for a second cycle in a new four-year deal through 2015, which kicks in on September 12, 2011. But as a part of the deal, Weigel-owned independent station WCIU-TV […]
Leno hampering NBC affiliates’ late news; other November “sweeps” notes ABC-owned WLS-TV dominated the ratings in households and key demos in the just concluded November “sweeps” period (do we still have those in this LPM era?) but it was the two other network O&Os who made headlines. NBC-owned WMAQ-TV slipped to third place in households at 10 p.m., behind a […]
It’s a mid-week edition of T Dog’s Four Pack – the winners and losers of the past week: And to describe the contestants, they are split into two groups: Manny Pacquiao and Miguel Cotto. If you follow boxing, you already know which one is the winner.(if you don’t, click the link.) Floating like Pacquiao – WBBM-TV brings back Bill Kurtis […]
No decision on the future of Oprah’s show A report surfaced on Deadline Hollywood Thursday regarding the future of The Oprah Winfrey Show, which may or may not leave broadcast syndication for Oprah Winfrey’s new cable network, which is being launched by Discovery Networks. Oprah distributor CBS Television Distribution said the news caught them off guard. But a spokesperson from […]
In the latest of a slew of off-cable programs hitting the broadcast syndication marketplace, Twentieth Television has cleared FX sitcom It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia for Fall 2011 in 45 percent of the country. Clearing the show are a wide variety of stations, meaning no over-the-board group deals (which is good.) The clearences include WPSG-TV in Philadelphia, the CBS-owned CW […]
WGN-TV announced it has expanded its news and shuffled its weekday programming lineup, just two days into the new syndication television season. Beginning October 5, WGN expands its 5:30 p.m. newscast an hour, starting at 5 p.m. Its midday newscast expands to 11a.m. and now run two hours until 1 p.m. And to go along with the expansion are some […]
CBS Television Distribution and Tribune have agreed on a settlement to reduce the license fees the bankrupt television group has to pay to the syndicator. CBS agreed to an $1.2 million payment from Tribune – down from $2.4 million it owed, according to bankruptcy filing papers. The deal covers all CBS Television Distribution properties on the 26-station Tribune group, from […]
In a blockbuster deal, the NBC Thursday night comedy 30 Rock was sold in syndication to cable networks Comedy Central and WGN America and to Fox and Tribune stations on the broadcast side, each for Fall 2011 debuts. NBC Universal decided to sell the sitcom to Fox and Tribune station groups, splitting the difference. Locally, 30 Rock will air on […]
Rachael Ray is on the move. After three underperforming seasons at CBS-owned WBBM-TV, Rachael Ray’s talk show is shifting to Tribune-owned CW affiliate WGN-TV this fall. Rachael Ray has not fared well in its 2 p.m. time slot, with tougher competition coming from Chicago native Bonnie Hunt, whose talk show airs opposite it and has beat Rachael in the ratings. […]
Sinclair also picks up sitcom; double run could air in prime, displacing My Network TV shows WCIU-TV here in Chicago has picked up the off-network syndication rights to The Old Adventures of New Christine from Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution for airing beginning in the fall of 2010. The Weigel-owned station is expected to air the show twice a day […]
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