The “biggest Oscar flub in history” made history of another kind – one on the wrong side of the ratings ledger Cubs’ World Series victory drew more viewers locally and nationally The 89th Academy Awards wouldn’t be best known for boffo ratings – but for an epic screw up at the end. Many expected La La Land – a musical […]
Michael Strahan’s unexpected departure from Live stuns industry insiders – and Kelly Ripa The announcement of Michael Strahan’s departure from Disney-ABC Domestic Television’s Live With Kelly and Michael stunned the entertainment world Tuesday – perhaps none other than co-host Kelly Ripa herself, who reportedly wasn’t happy about the news. The NFL Hall Of Famer and former New York Giants defensive back accepted an […]
The 2015-16 season begins today in syndication – but in keeping with theme in recent years, there are only a handful of new first-run syndicated programs coming to market. This is mainly due to the continued success of existing syndicated fare such as Ellen, Dr. Phil, Jerry Springer, and Jeopardy! Also, many time periods are being gobbled up by expansion […]
The 2015 Oscars telecast declines from last season Mirroring the film industry, The 87th Academy Awards saw some major ratings declines from a year ago. According to Nielsen, the Neil Patrick Harris-hosted extravaganza drew 36.6 million viewers and a 10.8 rating among adults 18-49. While any network or TV station would kill for those numbers, the Oscars were down considerably from […]
ABC, Scripps stations clear new diginet; ABC to keep LiveWell after all ABC and Scripps Broadcasting announced this weekend they are launching a brand new digital subchannel called LAFF, injunction with Katz Communications beginning on April 15, “tax day”. Details on what the planned comedy network would carry (hint: you can’t go wrong with Mystery Science Theater 3000 reruns) were […]
Rachael Ray is once again getting a new address in Chicago. The famous cook and television personality’s talk show strip from CBS Television Distribution has been acquired by WLS-TV in an ABC owned-and-operated deal which goes into effect this September. This story was first reported by TVNewscheck. In addition to WLS, Rachael was acquired by three other ABC O&Os: KABC-TV […]
Welcome to the second edition of Quick Hits and Bits! – Oh God, here we go again… another radio legend has turned down Bruce DuMont’s invite to the Radio Hall Of Fame ceremony – this time its Steve Dahl, who he and Garry Meier who are being inducted November 9. Like Howard Stern last year, Dahl reportedly was not happy […]
Cows, bears, and sharks – oh my! If one were to turn on the TV last week, you saw a lot of weird. And Comic-Con hadn’t even begun yet. Here’s the rundown…Rhode Island residents were given tips… on what to do when you come in contact with a bear; cows invaded a Tallahassee, Fla. news set; while computer-generated sharks invaded […]
It’s a done deal: after a successful six-week test run at a few Fox-owned stations this summer, Bethenny Frankel’s new talk show from Warner Bros. has been cleared on the rest of the group in seventeen markets, including WFLD-TV in Chicago and is now going forward with a national launch in 2013. The former Real Housewives star was tested in […]
Dish Nation bombs in debut Thanks to prized time slots on ABC-owned and ABC affiliates, Katie blew out her two freshmen rivals who premiered Monday. In info obtained from B&C, Katie Couric’s new show from Disney-ABC Domestic Television debuted with a 2.8 hosuehold rating and an 8 household share – the highest rated-debut for a show since Rachael Ray’s debut […]
Here we go again: yet another broadcaster-MSO dispute – only this time, Chicago baseball and Vampire Diaries fans (wow, there’s an odd combo) may be left in the lurch. Tribune Broadcasting and DirecTV are in a retrans dispute and if a deal isn’t reached by March 31, Tribune’s 24 stations across eighteen markets – including WGN-TV […]
Want a winner? Bet on seven every time – NY, LA, Chicago ABC O&Os dominate February sweeps No Oprah? No All My Children? No One Life to Live? No problem. Even without three of their long-time stalwarts of their schedule (and threats from soap opera fans never to watch ABC again), ABC owned-and-operated stations continue their ratings domination in the […]
Regis Philblin’s departure from Live with Regis & Kelly on Friday drew big ratings for Tribune-owned CW affiliate WGN-TV. According to numbers obtained from Marc Berman at TV Media Insights, WGN scored a 6.9 Nielsen household rating and a 22 share with Regis’ farewell, and coasted past ABC-owned WLS-TV’s local morning show Windy City Live, which replaced departing The Oprah […]
After flopping out at CBS, Katie Couric is looking to shine at ABC. In a deal announced today, The Walt Disney Company has signed the former Today and CBS Evening News personality to a multi-year, multi-platform deal, which includes a daily syndicated talk show and beginning this summer, a regular contributor to ABC News. Ms. Couric departed as anchor of […]
Local stations nationwide are wasting little time when The Oprah Winfrey Show signs off on Wednesday. And ABC-owned WLS-TV isn’t the only Chicago station making changes Beginning this Thursday (yes, this Thursday), WLS is replacing Oprah at 9 a.m.with a local effort, Windy City Live. Oprah reruns will air on WLS at 11:05 p.m. until September 9. But WCIU (26.1) […]
ABC ABC-Owned Stations ABC 7 Chicago American Idol CBS CBS Chicago CBS Media Ventures CBS News And Stations Chicago Bears Chicago Blackhawks Chicago Bulls Chicago Cubs Chicago White Sox ESPN Family Guy FCC Fox Fox 32 Fox Television Stations Los Angeles Milwaukee NBC NBC 5 NBC Owned Television Stations NBCUniversal Syndication Studios New York City Nexstar Media Group Radio Ratings Sinclair Inc. Syndication The Big Bang Theory The CW The Simpsons Tribune Media Warner Bros. WBBM-TV Chicago WCIU Chicago WFLD Chicago WGN-TV Chicago WGN Radio WLS-AM Chicago WLS-TV Chicago WMAQ Chicago WPWR Chicago