ABC’s “Dancing With The Stars” was Chicago’s top entertainment (non-sports) program in November. November sweeps came and went and as usual, ABC- owned WLS-TV won the 10pm news race, and also dominated the market overall (thank you Oprah and Dancing With The Stars.) While household numbers were only available at this time, look for WLS to dominate in all key […]
For the second time in two days, an ABC affiliate announced plans to get into the local news business. Chicago-based Weigel Broadcasting announced on Tuesday the hiring of Aaron Ramey to launch a news operation at WBND-LP (low power) in South Bend, Ind., and plans to develop other programming for the station and sister outlets WCWW-LP (CW) and My Network […]
It look like Sean Compton has decided to make his legancy known before he is shown the door. In the huge upheaval that was happening last week at Tribune (which saw the exit of CEO Randy Michaels), one of Michaels’ hires cut a programing deal with NBC Universal to continue to carry its conflict talk shows on its station group […]
Weigel Broadcasting’s WCIU-TV announced yet another expansion of its programming options Tuesday with the planned December launch of U Too on WCUU-CA (analog low-power Channel 48) and WCIU-DT digital channel 26.5 and 26.6. Many were tipped when the call letters of WMEU-CA were changed to the WCUU calls last week. U Too is part of a duopoly – of sorts. […]
(Courtesy: Chicago Tribune) Bears-Packers, Dancing destroy competition in Chicago – and everywhere else It was a huge face-off on Monday night. Wait, you thought I was just talking the Bears and the Packers? Ratings in Chicago for the game were phenomenal – the Bears beat the Packers 20-17. But Dancing with the Stars was just as phenomenal (in its own […]
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 […]
Stations are hoping to strike it rich with “The Nate Berkus Show”. While the official start of the 2010-11 television season is only a week away, syndicators rolled out their new programs this week per tradition, with several new faces. One is interior designer Nate Berkus, who hosts his own talk show courtesy of Sony Pictures Television. A lot of […]
Well, we have our first blatant ripoff of Chicago’s MeTV and Retro Television Network. Tribune announced today it is launching a new classic TV digital network titled Antenna TV on January 3, 2011. The network plans to air classic series from the Sony library and from syndicator D.L. Taffner, Ltd., which (still!) holds the rights to sitcoms Three’s Company and […]
It’s no longer a rush to get into the 4:30 a.m. news business – it’s a stampede. Consider this – a recent search of TVNewsCheck of “4:30” turned up a whopping 115 items., with most of the stories featuring stations starting 4:30 a.m. newscasts in the past year, or so. This isn’t a rush – it’s a stampede. Get the […]
Planet Express is now making weekend deliveries. In a deal that seemingly came together overnight, Twentieth Television has secured clearances to run Futurama on WCIU in Chicago and several Tribune-owned stations as an one-hour, all-barter block on weekends in the fall of 2011. While WCIU has acquired Futurama in Chicago to air, Tribune stations signing on include WPIX in New […]
Here’s what going on: – WGN-AM’s Garry Meier is starring in his own TV special, set to air on WCIU July 11 at 10:30 p.m, titled The Garry Meier Special. Among the featured interviews: George Wendt (Cheers), Cubs broadcaster Len Kasper, Richard Lewis (Anything But Love), Tim Kazurinsky, and the lady who pick the lottery numbers. This sounds awfully like […]
ESPN have come to agreement with WCIU to air a Monday Night Football game featuring the Chicago Bears and the Green Bay Packers at Soldier Field on September 27, according to Phil Rosenthal’s Tower Ticker blog. This marks the sixth local outlet to carry a Bears game this upcoming season. Aside from the regular home of the Bears (WFLD, whose […]
Chicago-based Tribune Co. actually likes something crosstown rival Weigel Broadcasting Co. has – This. Tribune announced today it has signed a long-term deal to add This TV in several markets (including WPIX in New York) and renewing existing deals in others (KTLA in Los Angeles.) This TV is a joint venture between Weigel Broadcasting (which owns WCIU here, and airs […]
The sitcom about nothing is still apparently something in syndication. Weigel Broadcasting’s WCIU-TV acquired the fourth-cycle rights to off-network sitcom Seinfeld (sixth item), to begin airing in March. The move comes as a few (but not all) Fox-owned stations who currently carry the show have passed on the next cycle of the popular NBC sitcom, with syndicator Sony opting to […]
Station group signs Cincinnati radio host to do daily talk show There’s going to be a new Bozo taping at the Old Bozo studio (no, it’s not a new version of Bozo’s Circus, but there might be a circus nonetheless.) With an eye of getting back into the syndication business after a three-year hiatus, Tribune Broadcasting announced today it was […]
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