Development swings into full gear as stations prepare for 2019 With the new fall syndication season beginning in less than a month, distributors are already lining up for fall 2019 – at least in daytime. Last week, two faces took in the lead in development: NBCUniversal has signed American Idol winner and The Voice judge Kelly Clarkson for a talk […]
Also: WLUP to return? While Arrested Development might not. Plus, WGN-TV’s newscasts does well in July sweeps It’s official: Robert Feder is reporting Chicago Tribune sports columnist David Haugh has joined Entercom’s The Score (WSCR) as Mike Mulligan’s new morning drive co-host. As speculated during the last few weeks, Haugh joined Mulligan on Monday morning’s show, replacing longtime Score veteran […]
Plus… My Network TV announces new 2018-19 lineup; Chicago Reader under new ownership; Cubs games to be streamed on Facebook As first reported by Robert Feder last week, WSCR-AM co-host Brian Hanley is being removed from his post as Mike Mulligan’s co-host and his overall role at the station reduced. There is no word on who would replace Hanley in […]
Also: Kathy Brock calls it a career; a Sinclair station’s May ratings survives controversy; CW 50 viewers to re-scan their sets It’s an end of an era for WGN Radio. The Tribune Media-owned radio station’s on-air operations moved out of its longtime Tribune Tower digs and into a building at 303 North Wacker Drive as its former home is being […]
Decision was made to protect their business interests after she became unhinged – but she never should have been rehired in the first place As one who refused to join the chorus of praise regarding the Roseanne reboot – and this person has had his fill of “reboots” already, ABC indeed “did the right thing” by cancelling the show after […]
Decision stuns industry – but it had to be done In a stunning and unprecedented move , ABC pulled the plug on the revival of the 1988-97 sitcom Roseanne – because of tweets sent by the namesake’s star, making racist and anti-Semitic statements. The series was to return this fall for its eleventh season. The tweet Roseanne Barr wrote Tuesday […]
Premiere is highest-rated of the season A few weeks ago, a writer from Mediapost said the return of American Idol on ABC “saved” the television industry. He might want to revise his article. In stunning news, the revival of Roseanne won big time in the ratings for ABC – averaging a 5.2 rating in the adults 18-49 demo for ABC […]
The flub is the third in three years – happened during Saturday morning newscast Yet again, another on-air graphics mix-up occurred at Chicago’s top-rated news operation. This time, it was a graphic slide put up during ABC 7’s Saturday morning newscast while anchor Mark Rivera was reporting on a story about the unification of North and South Korea’s Olympic teams […]
Renewals, renewals, and more renewals; Laff changes stations in Chicago; Spike TV is finally spiked While the fate of several syndicated shows remains unsolved, there were a few of renewals announced at the NATPE gathering in Miami: Twentieth Television renewed Page Six TV for a second season; and Disney-ABC renewed Pickler & Ben for a second season. The latter has […]
With NATPE arriving this week, it’s nothing but slim pickings as veteran shows continue to have shows locked up Looking for something new in syndication for 2018? You might want to stop. With buyers and sellers descending to Miami this week for the 56th National Association of Television Programming Executives gathering, the syndicated marketplace for new shows is lackluster in […]
NBC 5, other networks could not compete Like the New England Patriots bumrushing over everyone in the NFL, the competition was no match for the Mouse House with Ryan Seacrest, Jenny McCarthy, Janet Davies, and Cheryl Scott. ABC and its owned-and-operated station in Chicago on New Year’s Eve on Sunday night performed a ratings clinic – a complete total domination […]
The two rivals are discussing, but would not include some Fox properties, including Fox News and Chicago’s WFLD-TV Itchy and Scratchy joining forces with Mickey Mouse? It could happen. As first reported by CNBC Monday, 21st Century Fox is considering selling part of their assets to the Walt Disney Company. The proposed deal would not include Fox Broadcasting, Fox O&Os, […]
Also: Sinclair passes on O’Reilly; Grim reaper closing in on WYCC; World Series a ratings hit; The Twilight Zone to be rebooted. Again. Given the huge number of items making news this week, it’s time for another edition of The Media Notepad: Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan is among those calling for the Sinclair-Tribune deal to be rejected. According to […]
Anthem protests, weak record doesn’t deter fans Also news on a former Bears star; NBC 5; FCC (Editor’s Note: An earlier draft of this post mistakenly featured a picture of Drew Brees for the first item. Apologies. -T.H.) While ratings for the NFL have declined nationally – allegedly due to anthem protests, that is not the case in Chicago – […]
Also: Bears renew local deal with Fox; My Network TV also renews; “MeToo’s” odd connection to Chicago TV Despite defending their World Series title from last year, ratings for prime-time Cubs games declined last year, according to a report in Forbes. The Cubs earned a 4.4 Nielsen household rating, down 9 percent from last year. Forbes did not specify […]
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