Hoffin’ around in TV Hell. Notes and notables from the past week: – One of Chicago’s best media columnists has a new home: Robert Feder has joined Time Out Chicago as the magazine’s media blogger. Beginning next month, Feder will have a blog (just like the one he had at WBEZ under the Vocalo name) on the Time Out website. […]
In a two-station deal with Sony Pictures Television, Scripps has acquired The Dr. Oz Show to replace The Oprah Winfrey Show on its ABC stations in Detroit and Cleveland. In Cleveland, WEWS simply upgrades the show from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., while sister station WXYZ-TV snatches the show away from NBC affiliate WDIV in Detroit. In the Motor City, […]
Conn Smythe winner Jonathan Toews hoists the Cup, the Blackhawks’ first since 1961. (Photo courtesy of Chicago Tribune) For the first time in 49 years, the Chicago Blackhawks hoisted Lord Stanley’s Cup. And viewers fled into the entrances to see the history making event. Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals between the Blackhawks and the Philadelphia Flyers drew a […]
The ultimate showdown in marquee events took place Sunday when the Game 2 of the NBA Finals took on ABC and Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Finals between the Chicago Blackhawks and the Philadelphia Flyers took place on NBC. While it was no surprise the NBA finals rolled over the Stanley Cup by the wide margin, in Chicago the […]
In good news for the syndication business, two of the platform’s highest-rated shows are going to be around for at least a few more years. CBS Television Distribution’s game-show duo of Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy! has been renewed on the seven ABC-owned and operated stations who carry the programs through 2014. The news broke a week ago on TheWrap.com. […]
Believe it or not, there are places where NBC affiliates actually won late news despite having The Jay Leno Show as its lead-in. What’s notable is these two NBC affiliates – WRC-TV in Washington, D.C. and WDIV in Detroit, rose in the ratings ranks as recently as ten years ago, when NBC was enjoying ratings dominance – surpassing former market […]
Remember back last December when yours truly wrote how stripping The Jay Leno Show was a creative counter-programming idea? I think I might want to retract that statement. Since it debuted September 14, The Jay Leno Show has been a hot topic of debate in television circles across the country – especially in newsrooms, where Leno leads in to late […]
The long national nightmare is over – the Bulls Ballboy is moving on. NBC Entertainment Co-Chairman Ben Silverman resigned today after two years to start a new company with Barry Diller’s IAC. He’s essentially returning to his entrepreneurial roots: he founded production company Reville, producers of The Office and Ugly Betty. His replacement is Jeff Gaspin, who will now add […]
Remember a few days ago when I said Chicago media is one big freak show? Well, I think Detroit may have us beat… WDIV in Detroit ran a crawl during NBC’s Super Bowl pre-game coverage when former Detroit Lions GM Matt Millen appeared on-screen and the station ran a crawl ripping into him stating: “Matt Millen was president of the […]
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 […]
The third annual NHL Winter Classic which featured an outdoor game played at Wrigley Field between the Chicago Blackhawks and Detroit Red Wings drew an 2.9 Nielsen overnight household rating for NBC on New Year’s Day, up 12 percent from the 2007 Classic between Buffalo and Pittsburgh. Here in Chicago, WMAQ-TV notched an 11.8 household rating and 21 share – […]
Detroit’s two main newspapers (The Free Press and News) are scaling back their delivery due to the worsening economic conditions. Beginning in March, both papers will be delivering to homes only three days a week, while being exclusively on newsstands and retail outlets the other four in a slimmed-down version. Both papers are refocusing on their respective online sites, with […]
The new digitial subchannel from MGM and Weigel Broadcasting titled This TV – a channel featuring movies and television shows from MGM’s library, has gotten off to a good start, and has now lined up 40+ stations across the country. Station groups signing affiliation agreements include Fisher Broadcasting, Sinclair Broadcasting, Hearst-Argyle Television, and Post-Newsweek stations. According to Wikipedia, stations cleared […]
With Oprah Winfrey scheduled to run her new cable network in a joint venture with Discovery beginning next year, there is increasing speculation she may discontinue her daily talk show strip when her contract with CBS Television Distribution expires in 2011. The speculation increased when Discovery Communications CEO David Zaslav revealed in an earnings report a few days ago that […]
NBC Universal recently unveiled details of its new Deal or No Deal strip hosted by Howie Mandel (who continues hosting the prime-time version.) The daily half hour is being assembled along the lines of the version that airs in the United Kingdom. Among the changes: – The top prize won in the syndicated version is $500,000. – There are only […]
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