With corruption, high taxes, and gang violence, Chicago has become an international embarrassment and may never recover If you’ve read this blog for the last ten years, then you know yours truly doesn’t just write about the media business. I’ve also written about Chicago and its image problems. The latest international embarrassment came last week when a nine-year old was […]
Oh, when are the upfronts? It’s been slow here at the T Dog Media newsdesk. So here are some random thoughts: – Dr. Oz said, for some reason “We will not be silenced” in response to some Columbia University doctors questioning his credentials. But would silence him is low TV ratings. – Instead of reporting the news, CNN and Fox try […]
– Emmy and Peabody winner Bill Kurtis has a new gig: he’ll host a show on the new Decades network called Though the Decades, a weekday strip recalling the events of historical significance between the 1950s and 1990s, beginning in May. The series plans to draw from the vast resources of CBS News and Entertainment Tonight libraries for material. A […]
Twin Cities’ KSTP makes gaffe, but has nothing on CBS 2’s history of making them If there’s any doubt local news is sometimes a joke, this item should cement the fact. Hubbard-owned Minneapolis-St.Paul ABC affiliate KSTP, a once-proud beacon of journalism, is involved in “pointergate”: a photo of Minneapolis mayor Betsy Hodges was shown in a photo joyfully exchanging pointing fingers […]
Also: WLS-TV dominates November ratings With the NATPE gathering just weeks away, syndicators are gearing up their sales teams to pitch new projects for the fall of 2014, including Celebrity Name Game (see below) and The Real – both recently receiving “firm gos”. Several freshman and sophomore series are on the bubble including Queen Latifah, The Arsenio Hall Show, Katie, […]
The Tribune Co. Unofficially puts its papers on the block; Oscar viewership is up over a year ago; and more Mancow is headed to your TV: – It looks like the Chicago Tribune is up for sale. As first reported by CNBC on Monday, the 166-year old paper and others in the chain are on the block by creditors who […]
The Six Pack is back, but this edition is straight out of bizarro world: perennial loser NBC in the winner’s circle while top-ranked WLS-TV is in loserland? As Vince Lombardi would say, “What’s going on here?” Well, WIQI is the loser’s circle again, so it’s all not that unusual… the week’s winners and losers: Winners – NBC. Belated congrats to […]
(Editor’s Note: The original version of this post stated that the Chicago White Sox had a nine-game LOSING streak when in fact, they had a nine-game WINNING streak. T Dog Media regrets the error and apologizes. This also makes yours truly qualified to work in the Los Angeles news media, where I can botch up names of Los Angeles Kings’ […]
It’s an special edition of T Dog’s Six Pack – a supersized one with nine items related to last week’s upfronts in New York as advertisers, media buyers, and the networks now have the hardest job ahead of them – negotiations. Here are the hits and misses from last week’s presentations: Epic successes:The return of the sitcom. Just when you’ve […]
Walter E. Smithe Furniture recently released a two-minute commercial honoring the 22-year legacy of Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley. Among those who appeared in the ad were local celebrities like George Wendt, Eric Ferguson from WTMX’s Eric & Kathy, fictional Alderman Ed Bus (from the 53rd Ward), and a few other Chicago dignitaries. Oh, and there were some local news […]
Ah, lucky Providence, R.I. They get to see women in bras in the prime access hour. We Chicagoans get Bill Kurtis and Walter Jacobson. You know, it’s hard to be a bra salesman these days in Providence when you have the Internet… and now you have infomercials running as early as 7 p.m.! Is it no surprise that 25% of […]
Glee is off to a hot start – 5.5 adults 18-49 rating for its second season premiere. – The new fall season is underway, and here’s the storylines so far… Dancing With The Stars and Glee are in peak form; Hawaii Five-O had a successful debut; Mike & Molly was amply sampled; and all of Fox’s new shows (Lonestar, Raising […]
The boys are back in town. The duo who are synonymous with serious, professional journalism are back for another run. CBS-owned WBBM-TV announced today it was reuniting the anchor duo of Bill Kurtis and Walter Jacobson for its 6 p.m. newscast, effective Sept. 1. The reunification of Kurtis and Jacobson has been rumored for several months. Kurtis and Jacobson were […]
The T Dog Media Blog is “asking the questions”… why is Fox-owned WFLD squandering prime-time lead-ins from its parent network? Maybe they should find some answers. According to Nielsen and from Lewis Lazare’s column today, WFLD continues to lag behind its competitors in the month of January. Despite changes to the 9 p.m. newscast – notably adding Anna Davlantes as […]
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 […]