It’s been a little while since yours truly has done a Grab Bag of news and notes – so here’s what’s going on in the world of media today: – Was yours truly wrong on Undercover Boss? People are still tuning in, and Ben Grossman of B&C offers up a great defense of the show and reality TV in general […]
Move likely ends Deal’s run ; Debmar-Mercury clears True Hollywood Story in 65 percent of the country; Nancy Grace’s format revealed Today is the first day of the NATPE convention, a three day extravagnza being held in Las Vegas where buyers and sellers meet up. Originally, this was a large syndication convention where shows were sold, but over time, it […]
Nancy Grace’s court show clears 90% ; “No Deal!” for a third season? Twentieth Television has renewed game show strip Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader for a second season in syndication with renewals from Fox and Tribune stations, including WPIX-TV in New York and WPWR-TV in Chicago, who airs the show at 4 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. 5th […]
Soon, “Family Guy” will have TWO places to call home in Chicago. In a rather odd twist to a renewal deal, Tribune-owned WGN-TV has renewed syndicated repeats of Family Guy for a second cycle in a new four-year deal through 2015, which kicks in on September 12, 2011. But as a part of the deal, Weigel-owned independent station WCIU-TV […]
In a move that comes as quite surprising, Tyra Banks announced today she is ending her talk show after five seasons on the air, despite doing respectable numbers in key demos. The Tyra Show was traded to The CW last September from first-run syndication, where it spent the last four years – for Judge Jeanne Pirro, which aired on the […]
NBC Universal’s Jerry Springer, the wild and willy daytime talk show that hasn’t met a taboo it can smash (or a chair), is moving in the Chicago market to WCIU-TV in September 2010. No time slot has been determined yet, but the program is expected to be paired up with The Steve Wilkos Show, a show spun-off from Springer in […]
No decision on the future of Oprah’s show A report surfaced on Deadline Hollywood Thursday regarding the future of The Oprah Winfrey Show, which may or may not leave broadcast syndication for Oprah Winfrey’s new cable network, which is being launched by Discovery Networks. Oprah distributor CBS Television Distribution said the news caught them off guard. But a spokesperson from […]
In the latest of a slew of off-cable programs hitting the broadcast syndication marketplace, Twentieth Television has cleared FX sitcom It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia for Fall 2011 in 45 percent of the country. Clearing the show are a wide variety of stations, meaning no over-the-board group deals (which is good.) The clearences include WPSG-TV in Philadelphia, the CBS-owned CW […]
For the first time in awhile, it’s time for T Dog’s Groovy Grab Bag: – Congratulations to legendary Chicago radio personality Herb Kent on a new world record he set: The Guinness Book Of World Records recently honored him for having the longest career by a deejay in radio history – which spans 65 years! His achievement will be celebrated […]
A post I wrote last Tuesday received some negative feedback, as yours truly painted a too-rosy picture of Comcast SportsNet’s ratings regarding the Cubs and White Sox – particularly the latter team. According to an article appearing in Sports Business Journal ranking Major League Baseball’s thirty teams in terms of television ratings on games aired by their regional sports networks […]
For the first time in twelve years, Chicago Wolves hockey has landed on a local broadcast outlet. Fox-owned WPWR-TV acquired the rights to air fifteen Wolves games starting this fall, with ten of those games on Saturday nights, starting with a game with the Milwaukee Admirals on October 3. Five other games are scheduled for Sunday afternoons later in the […]
The off-net sitcoms are back. After a year without any new major off-network sitcoms debuting (aside from Tyler Perry’s House of Payne), three of them debut today in broadcast syndication – NBC Universal’s The Office, CBS Television Distribution’s Everybody Hates Chris, and Twentieth’s My Name Is Earl. Of these three, The Office is certainly the most successful, given its solid […]
You’ve heard about this for the last nine months. And it arrives tomorrow night. For the first time in the history of television (and excluding special stunts, like Millionaire or Deal or No Deal), there is a five night a week strip in prime-time on a major broadcast network on a regular basis. The Jay Leno Show debuts Monday night […]
Another GM shake-up at Fox-owned WFLD-TV and WPWR-TV has led Pat Mullen out the door after three rather unproductive years at the duopoly, and was replaced by Michael Renda of sister station WTXF-TV in Philadelphia, which is also a Fox O&O. In turn, Patrick Paolini takes over the WTXF job after his stint as vice president and director of sales […]
Fox-owned WFLD-Channel 32 has dumped morning news anchor Mike Barz after just two years amid allegations he acted at a off-site party. The former WGN-TV morning sports anchor joined the station in 2007 from ABC’s Good Morning America, and fronted Good Day Chicago alongside Jan Jeffcoat. He was suspended from WFLD shortly after he joined the station, after allegations he […]
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