My Network TV no longer a network (updated)

Instead, call it a “programming service.” My Network TV is revamping its programming model, with the service airing ten hours of material a week instead of twelve this fall with Saturday nights handed back to affiliates. My Net is also cutting back on original programming, adding a movie night, and instead airing a two-hour block of Law & Order: Criminal […]

T Dog’s Groovy Grab Bag

Back to the future with KOFY Granite Broadcasting has decided to bring back the KOFY calls to Channel 20 in the Bay Area. The call letters were in use on the frequency between 1986 and 1998. The independent station, which serves the San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose market, was previously known as KBWB-TV, a holdover of when it was a WB affiliate. […]

T Dog’s Groovy Grab Bag

– WWE’s move of Friday Night Smackdown to My Network TV drew 3.2 million in its first airing Friday night, finishing first in the time period among males 18-34 and 18-49, and giving the small net its largest audience ever. However, the premiere of Star Wars: The Clone Wars on Cartoon Network drew 4 million viewers, setting a record as […]

CW picks up six shows

If you’re a fan of America’s Next Top Model, Everybody Hates Chris, Gossip Girl, One Tree Hill, Smallville, and Supernatural – good news – your show has been picked up for next season, though Top Model and Chris were renewed ahead of time. Left off the list (for now) are Reaper, The Game, and Aliens in America. Gone are WWE […]

"WWE Smackdown" bodyslams its way to My Network TV

It’s My Smackdown now. The WWE and News Corp.’s My Network TV have entered into an exclusive agreement to carry the two-hour WWE Smackdown, beginning in September. The program will enter season 10 on the mini-net. Many former UPN affiliates (including WPWR in Chicago and WCGV in Milwaukee) aired Smackdown but when UPN merged with the WB to form CW […]

WWE Smackdown to… WGN ?

Yes, that’s one of two options the WWE under consideration with the other outlet being My Network TV. If the WWE goes with with WGN Superstation, most Chicagoans would not have access to the show, since the cable version of WGN is only carried on satellite (Direct TV and Dish Network) and not on any cable systems, unless the WWE […]

Will the viewers come back?

All right, the strike is finally over. Now comes the toughest task of all: trying to win the viewers back. When Major League Baseball went on strike in 1994 and when the NHL players were locked out twice in the last fifteen years, it hurt both sports tremendously, and some teams are still feeling the effects. Locally, the Chicago White […]

"Girlfriends" to end long run

As CW prepares its post-strike future, many of its popular shows (and I’m stretching “popular” quite a bit here) are returning with new episodes this spring, including Smallville, Supernatural, One Tree Hill, and Reaper, while others including Gossip Girl and Everybody Hates Chris will return with new episodes in the fall. But two shows won’t return at all: The ultra […]

CW cancels "Smackdown"

The CW has pulled the plug on WWE Smackdown after nine seasons, after failing to come to an agreement on renewal. The program’s final CW airing is scheduled for September 12. The program began on April 29, 1999 as a one-shot special on UPN, and joined that network’s lineup on August 26, 1999. Smackdown originally aired on Thursday nights, but […]

Propaganda alley

It’s too bad I already decided on who gets the WPIMTW award this week, but there’s always next week: – The Prick Tofu Crud (a.k.a the Parents Television Council) is at it again, this time complaining about an episode of NBC’s Las Vegas that aired at 9 p.m. (Central) on Nov. 30 regarding a scene involving a stripper. They are […]

NBC cutting originals on Fridays?

Is NBC getting ready to dump original programming on Fridays? NBC entertainment co-chairman Marc Graboff says in an interview with Fortune that declining ratings and increasing costs may force the network to dump original programming on Fridays, where HUT levels on that night have been declining for years. Friday nights are the second-least watched of the week, behind Saturday, which […]

McMahon to address Benoit tribute

WWE chairman Vince McMahon will address viewers tonight on Sci-Fi Channel’s ECW show about the three-hour tribute show given to Chris Benoit last night on USA Network’s WWE Raw, which have received an ample amount of criticism. ECW and Smackdown tapings will resume as of tonight. USA and Sci-Fi are cable networks owned by NBC Universal. The WWE is also […]

Utah’s version of "Jerry Springer"

Interesting how Fox O&O KSTU labeled a debate between Fox News’ Sean Hannity and Salt Lake City Mayor Democrat Rocky Anderson “Smackdown” – a debate on the Iraq War that turned into a debacle while a similarly-titled show, WWE Friday Night Smackdown, was airing at the same time on the CW on local affiliate KUCW-TV). (Wait a minute. A Democrat […]