Going for the ratings gold

Chicago ranks 25th in Olympic ratings When it comes to the Summer Olympics, Chicagoans haven’t really been too excited about the games (perhaps we still have a hangover from losing the 2016 Olympics bid to Rio?) The games of the XXX Olympiad from across the pond in London has drawn an average of 32.8 million viewers in primetime for the […]

Bears, Bulls pack ’em in on Christmas

Chicago sports fans had good reasons to cheer on Christmas Day as they received gifts from two of their teams – even though one of those gifts should be sent back. According to Nielsen ratings information obtained by Fang’s Bites and Sports Media Watch, Chicagoans and the rest of the country tuned in for the return of the NBA and […]

Wisconsin budget fracas draws viewers to Milwaukee’s newscasts

In just a matter of days, Cheesehead nation has transformed from a state celebrating a Green Bay Packers Super Bowl victory to looking like the new “Beirut On The Lake”. With the Wisconsin legislature producing a new 21st century version of Council Wars, the fracas over unions is drawing viewers to Milwaukee’s local newscasts, according to a article in the […]

WISN expands 10 p.m. newscast

In a first for a Midwest Big Three (ABC, CBS, NBC) affiliate, Hearst’s WISN-TV in Milwaukee is expanding its 10 p.m. newscast from 35 minutes to an hour beginning January 24. The move sends NBC Universal’s Access: Hollywood (the current 10:35 p.m. occupant) to 12:30 a.m., after Jimmy Kimmel Live. Nightline retains the 11:05 p.m. slot, but now gets to […]

WLS-TV dominates households in November

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 […]

Return of the big pay day in syndication? Not so fast.

With the second cycle sale of Two and a Half Men to the Tribune and Sinclair station groups for seven – count ‘em – seven years, and mega deals by Fox O&Os for The Big Bang Theory and Modern Family,  you think syndicators would celebrate the return of the big pay day they reaped back in the day. Right? Think […]

Blackhawks continue to roll in the ratings

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 […]

Nine O’Clock news numbers not so nice

Jeff Goldbatt out at WFLD; WISN, WTMJ tie in 10 p.m. news race in Milwaukee The recent trends in local news is somewhat puzzling to figure out sometimes – while two stations scored rating increases at 10 p.m. with their local newscasts, the two local 9 p.m. newscasts were down from year-ago averages. Both CW affiliate WGN-TV and Fox-owned WFLD-TV […]

WMAQ cleans up on Olympics

NBC-owned WMAQ-TV is having a blast this month, thanks to the Vancouver Winter Olympics. Ratings for the games have more than tripled its nearest competitors in prime-time – none of which have come even close, proving the games are a big draw in Chicagoland. For example on Saturday, the Olympics drew a 15.2 rating (share not available) on Saturday night […]

NBC, CTV score big with Winter Olympics Opener

A week ago, a 27- year record fell when Super Bowl XLIV between the New Orleans Saints and Indianapolis Colts drew more than 106 million viewers, marking it as the most-watched television event ever in the United States. Now its Canada’s turn. Friday’s Opening Ceremonies for the Winter Olympics drew the largest audience ever for a television event in Canada. […]

WBBM-TV 10 p.m. news soars in the ratings

Leno hampering NBC affiliates’ late news; other November “sweeps” notes ABC-owned WLS-TV dominated the ratings in households and key demos in the just concluded November “sweeps” period (do we still have those in this LPM era?) but it was the two other network O&Os who made headlines. NBC-owned WMAQ-TV slipped to third place in households at 10 p.m., behind a […]

Ben Silverman out at NBC

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 […]

Post No. 1700: Grab a bag.

To celebrate 1700 posts at The T Dog Media Blog (corrupting your mind since 2006), here’s the Super Groovy Grab Bag of items! (sorry, no party… the budget’s real tight this year…) – Book ’em, Danno!: David Hernandez, the co-owner of the now-defunct Chicago Sports Webio.com, was arrested today in Normal, IL today a week after he skipped town. He […]

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 […]