Super Bowl LVII Super for Fox

This year’s Super Bowl was the second most-watched of all time Super Bowl LVII was indeed super in the ratings department, although it fell short on the one-yard line toward the record books.  In the big game this this year were the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles, with each looking to win their second Super Bowl title in […]

The Media Notepad: Former TV personalities have rough election night

Also: NASCAR Chicago race lines up radio, TV outlets;  Chicago’s Thanksgiving Parade returns to TV  It was not a great election night if you were a former television personality. Republican challenger Dr. Memhet Oz, who quit his daytime talk show to run for the U.S. Senate last year, lost to Pennsylvania Democratic challenger John Fetterman in a race where four […]

Super Bowl ratings: One for the record books

Tribune Broadcasting came out as biggest winner of all – four of its stations placed in the top ten most-watched markets  If you thought the audience would dwindle due to the Seattle Seahawks’ blowout of the Denver Broncos in last Sunday’s Super Bowl, think again. To the surprise of many (and to the astonishment of others), Super Bowl XLVIII on […]

T Dog’s Grab Bag: WCIU to replace “This” with “Bounce”

Time to see what’s in this week edition of the Grab bag: – With This TV leaving for WGN-TV  November 1, Weigel Broadcasting is replacing it with Bounce, moving from its 23.2 subchannel position to the much stronger 26.5 position, according to an item on WCIU’s website. Bounce is an African-American-targeted subchannel targeted to adults 25-54. The move comes as […]

Tribune buys Local TV LLC for $2.7 billion

    Tribune adds stations from Cleveland, Milwaukee, and Memphis to its stable About a year or so ago, there was speculation on whether or not Tribune Broadcasting, planning to exit Chapter 11, would stay in the broadcast business. Consider this a definite answer. Chicago-based Tribune announced Monday it was acquiring Newport, Ky.-based Local TV LLC for $2.7 billion. The […]

Fallon to succeed Leno as host of “The Tonight Show”

Here we go again. After weeks of speculation, NBC made it official last week: it was handing the hosting duties of The Tonight Show to Jimmy Fallon, replacing Jay Leno in the role. In addition, NBC is moving production of The Tonight Show to New York City, returning to the Big Apple for the first time in 42 years. Excluding […]

WPWR picks up "Bones" for 2nd syndication cycle

Fox’s WPWR-TV and stations owned by Tribune, Sinclair, and Local TV have picked up the second syndicated cycle of Bones from Twentieth Television. The procedural drama has been a  solid ratings performer during its weekend runs in syndication and continues to perform solidly on Fox’s Thursday night schedule, beating FlashForward and NBC’s combo of Community and Parks and Recreation.  Bones […]

This just in: Local news trumps reruns

KRON-TV San Francisco to dump Dr. Phil? It looks like these days viewers prefer the corruption, depression, politics, and crime to escapist fare. It what could be yet another blow to the syndication business, a story by Bloomberg News suggests local stations are dumping entertainment fare to air more local news especially in major markets. This comes as the fight […]

WITI says no to "Osbournes"

Fox affiliate WITI-TV in Milwaukee decided not to air the abomination that is Osbournes: Reloaded, a variety special aired tonight on Fox, after American Idol. Instead, the program is airing at 1 a.m. WITI originally planned not to air the special, but decided to delay it until 1 a.m. Wednesday at the last minute. The station was a Fox O&O […]

"My Name is Earl" clears WPWR

More Twentieth Television news: The syndicator has cleared NBC sitcom My Name Is Earl in 47 percent of the country beginning this fall, including nine out of the top ten markets. Fox-owned My Network TV stations are part of the deal, including WPWR-TV in Chicago. The program is also expected to run on sister station WFLD-TV. Earl has also cleared […]

"Oprah" in trouble?

(Editor’s Note: A rough draft appeared earlier here by mistake, resulting in an error in the second paragraph which has since been corrected. In other words, the word “repeat” should have been where “new” was. – T.H.) Maybe yesterday’s White Sox-Royals brawl may serve as an indication people in Kansas City (and certainly Minnesota) may be sick of anything coming […]

Fox sells eight TV stations to Oak Hill

News Corp. had made good on its promise to sell eight of its Fox TV stations, and it did to the newly-formed Local TV group headed by private equity firm Oak Hill Partners for $1.1 billion. The proceeds from the sale gives News Corp. the cash it needs to purchase the Wall Street Journal. In a separate development, Tribune and […]

Local TV show gets canned in the K.C.

The new version of local TV – you know, the one in which advertisers pay money to have their product or service plugged on the show – has taken a hit with the dissolvement of Kansas City Live, KSHB-TV’s low-rated one-hour infotainment program. The Hour Magazine clone, which airs at 10 a.m. on the Scripps-owned NBC affiliate, is being replaced […]

Fox to sell nine stations

News Corp. has announced it will sell nine of its Fox owned-and-operated stations in these markets: Cleveland (WJW), Denver (KDVR), St. Louis (KTVI), Kansas City (WDAF), Milwaukee (WITI), Salt Lake City (KSTU), Birmingham (WBRC), Memphis (WHBQ), and Greensboro-Winston-Salem-High Point (WGHP). This is part of a trend in which major networks are selling their O&Os in smaller markets. CBS and NBC […]