Kathy & Judy out at WGN-AM

On a morning when WNUA-FM flipped to a Spanish format, came another bombshell: WGN-AM canceled the long-running Kathy & Judy show after 20 years. While Kathy O’Malley’s and Judy Markey’s mid-to-late morning program drew a loyal audience, the show – like WNUA-FM’s format – may have become a casualty due to Arbitron’s new Portable People Meter system. The last hour […]

T Dog’s Grab Bag

A lot of items in The Grab Bag today: – Warner Bros. and HBO has sold the sitcoms Entourage and Curb Your Enthauism to the Tribune station group for late-fringe time periods begining in 2010 on all-barter basis (meaning stations don’t have to pay a dime – just surrender half of their ad inventory to the syndicator.) Locally, you can […]

Chicago TV news & notes

So many local TV items today, so we’ll just stick them here in one post: – Fox-owned WFLD-TV announced the elimination of six full-time jobs today as well as a dozen vacation relief positions. This comes as ad revenues for the station plunged thirty percent from a year ago, reflecting general weakness in the economy and the lack of ad […]

WFLD (and WPWR) grab "5th Grader" (updated)

Fox-owned WFLD-TV here in Chicago (and sis station KTTV in Los Angeles) have picked up the half-hour syndicated version of Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader from Twentieth Television for this fall. The game show, produced by Survivor creater Mark Burnett and hosted by Jeff Foxworthy, has aired on prime-time on Fox to respectable ratings. The program has cleared […]

Judge Jeanne Pirro sold to Fox O&Os

Warner Bros’ move of Judge Jeanne Pirro from The CW to syndication is now complete, with a group deal with the Fox Television Group. The all-barter deal, which includes Fox’s duopoly of WFLD and WPWR, gives Pirro a clearance rate of 75 percent of the United States. Pirro may have benefited from the cancellation of Cristina’s Court on Friday, which […]

WGN-TV, CLTV to intergrate operations

I’m surprised this didn’t happen sooner…. The Tribune Co. announced it was streamlining its two local news operations in Chicago – those of WGN-TV and cable channel CLTV. Beginning soon, CLTV’s news operations (currently based in west suburban Oak Brook) will move to WGN’s Bradley Place headquarters in Chicago. CLTV is Chicago’s first and only around-the-clock local news channel (aside […]

"Star Trek: The Next Generation" returns

Star Trek: The Next Generation is returning home to where it all began. Its mission: to boost ratings in a landscape of tawdry talk shows, crummy courtroom shows, and According to Jim-like off-network sitcoms. Reruns of the sequel to Star Trek, which practically put one-hour scripted action dramas on the map in syndication in the 1980s and 1990s, has been […]

This TV clears 60 percent of U.S.

    This TV, the new digital movie channel launched by MGM and Chicago-based Weigel Broadcasting on November 1, 2008, has now cleared 60 percent of the country on digital subchannels, including several major markets. This features movies mostly from MGM’s library (though not from the pre-1986 library, which Turner/Time Warner owns), as well as classic TV series such as […]

WFLD, WBBM-AM scores with Blago coverage

Score one for Chicago’s perennial news underdog: Fox-owned WFLD-TV’s coverage of the arrest of Governor Arrogant finished first in the ratings among adults 18-49 and second in adults 25-54 with its continuous coverage from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Moreover, they beat archrival WGN-TV at noon in adults 18-49. Also, all-news WBBM-AM’s website surged on Tuesday with page views jumping […]

John Willams to succede Spike O’Dell

It’s official: Radio-info is reporting on its front page right now of the promotion of afternoon host John Willams to mornings on WGN-AM after current host Spike O’Dell retires on December 12. Willams take over the following Monday (December 15.) No word yet on who will take over Willams’ spot in the afternoons. More from Phil Rosenthal in his Tower […]

"The Tyra Banks Show" moves to CW

In a move that comes as a bit of a surprise, Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution announced Thursday the move of The Tyra Banks Show to CW from first-run syndication – giving the network two hours to fill in its daytime lineup starting next September. CW, home already to Ms. Banks’ America’s Next Top Model, acquired the program to run […]

WLS-TV, ABC dominate Election Night

ABC and its O&O in Chicago (WLS-TV) took home the ratings crown on Election Night, a night where Barack Obama was elected the nation’s first African-American president. ABC led all networks on a national basis with 13.6 million viewers. Locally, ABC’s coverage led with WLS-TV leading the 10 p.m. hour (when Obama gave his victory speech) with a 17.6 household […]