WWOR in New York also drops 10 p.m. newscast, but moves it to 11 p.m.
Time's up for The Ten.
Fox-owned WFLD is dropping its 10 p.m. newscast titled The Ten after two uneventful years and will remove it from its schedule on September 18 (this blog's birthday.) On September 21, WFLD will air off-network repeats of The Office in the time slot.
In addition to its 10 p.m. airing, The Office will also air in prime access, at 6:30 p.m. replacing Seinfeld, which has aired in the time period on te same station for fourteen years. On September 21st, the classic sitcom shifts to sister station WPWR-TV in the same time period.
Premiering on April 9, 2007, The Ten was an attempt to compete with the three network O&Os for the news audience and those lucrative ad dollars that come with it. Instead, WFLD-TV's newscast didn't even come close to competing and was beaten in the ratings by reruns of Family Guy on WGN-Channel 9 and The King of Queens reruns on WCIU. For years, WFLD has had huge success at 10 p.m. with syndicated reruns of The Simpsons, and before that, M*A*S*H.
Recently, WFLD averaged only a 1.4 household rating for its newscast.
Fox had been aggressively expanding its news offerings in many of its markets, including going head-to-head with established network affiliates.
Meanwhile, Fox's My Network TV in New York (WWOR-TV) has also dropped its longtime 10 p.m. hour-long newscast and is moving it to 11 p.m. and cutting it to a half-hour. WWOR's newscast had been finishing behind rivals WPIX and sister station WNYW-TV. WWOR is also dropping all weekend newscasts.
Other news cutbacks include CBS-owned WBBM-TV and NBC-owned WTVJ in Miami dropping their weekend morning newscasts.
No other 10 or 11 p.m. newscasts cancellations are planned in other Fox O&O markets.
All of moves are related to the weak advertising marketplace and plummeting revenues due to the recession, which has affected news operations nationwide.
This announcement is among the first of many changes taking place at WFLD. Beginning Monday, the station premieres the new Wendy Williams Show from Debmar-Mercury at 3 p.m. and 12:05 a.m. The show features the outspoken WBLS-FM personality from New York and tested well in four Fox O&O markets last year. Williams is also replacing the WWOR newscast at 10 p.m. beginning Monday, where it will go head-to-head with Jay Leno on WNBC this fall.
WFLD acquired Dr. Oz from Sony Pictures Television to air at 4 p.m. this fall, featuring the doctor whose made appearances on The Oprah Winfrey Show. There were inklings the station was planning to launch a 5 p.m. newscast in September, but no official word has came from the station regarding it.
While Fox stations appear to be cutting back on news, a few are actually adding newscasts: Tribune's WPIX in New York is on the verge of launching a nightly 6:30 p.m. show to compete with the network newscasts, similar to what sister stations KTLA in Los Angeles and WGN in Chicago (at 5:30 p.m.) have done, while independent KSTC in Minneapolis-St. Paul is adding a 7-to-9 a.m. morning newscast and a 9 p.m. newscast. The newscasts are being produced by ABC affiliate KSTP. Both KSTP and KSTC are owned by Hubbard Broadcasting.
Earlier this week, WCIU announced they were adding news segments to its morning programming block.
Analysis: Initially, WFLD's 10 p.m. newscast drew some viewers away from WBBM in the 18-49 demo and beat the CBS O&O a few times. But it wasn't able to sustain itself in the demo in the long-term - especially when WGN started airing Family Guy in the time period. More embrassing, WFLD's newscasts were being outdrawn by those on Univision's WGBO-TV, a Spanish-language station.
And for those of you wondering, yes, The Simpsons drew higher ratings at 10 p.m, even though ratings for the show were declining in the time period before it was replaced. It's not that hard to figure out.
Friday, July 10, 2009
Wednesday, July 08, 2009
Jackson memorial draws 31 million viewers
The King of Pop's final act drew a huge crowd to the tube.
The Michael Jackson memorial service drew an estimated 31 million viewers between noon and 3 p.m. (CT) on Tuesday, according to Nielsen. The service was televisied on all broadcast networks (except The CW) and carried on cable networks BET, MTV, E!, CNN, and Fox News, among others.
Meanwhile, crowds of people gathered at public viewing places to see the memorial service including Adam Clayton Powell Park in Harlem (New York City) and the Harold Washington Cultural Center in Chicago's Bronzeville (Grand Boulevard) neighborhood. Crowds also gathered at Daley Plaza to watch the service on WBBM-TV's Jumbotron screen.
The three-hour presentation was thoughtful and respectful in tone. A wonderful way to send off one of music's most successful superstars.
The Michael Jackson memorial service drew an estimated 31 million viewers between noon and 3 p.m. (CT) on Tuesday, according to Nielsen. The service was televisied on all broadcast networks (except The CW) and carried on cable networks BET, MTV, E!, CNN, and Fox News, among others.
Meanwhile, crowds of people gathered at public viewing places to see the memorial service including Adam Clayton Powell Park in Harlem (New York City) and the Harold Washington Cultural Center in Chicago's Bronzeville (Grand Boulevard) neighborhood. Crowds also gathered at Daley Plaza to watch the service on WBBM-TV's Jumbotron screen.
The three-hour presentation was thoughtful and respectful in tone. A wonderful way to send off one of music's most successful superstars.
"30 Rock" sold to WGN-TV, WGN America, and Comedy Central
In a blockbuster deal, the NBC Thursday night comedy 30 Rock was sold in syndication to cable networks Comedy Central and WGN America and to Fox and Tribune stations on the broadcast side, each for Fall 2011 debuts.
NBC Universal decided to sell the sitcom to Fox and Tribune station groups, splitting the difference. Locally, 30 Rock will air on Tribune's WGN-TV, while Fox's WNYW in New York and KTTV in Los Angeles will strip the sitcom.
Other sales include... on the Tribune side, WPHL in Philadelphia; WDCW in Washington, D.C.; KCPQ in Seattle, KRCW in Portland, Ore., and WXMI in Grand Rapids, Mich. Fox bought the show for KDFW in Dallas, KRIV in Houston, KMSP in Minneapolis-St. Paul, and WOFL in Orlando. Even though Fox owns My Network TV stations in those markets, 30 Rock will not air on them.
30 Rock is sold on a barter basis in broadcast with four minutes retained for local stations and three minutes for NBC Universal to keep to sell to national advertisers.
Usually, stations pony up cash license fees for off-net sitcoms. But with the economy tight as it is, the station community wasn't anteing up to pay the big bucks for 30 Rock or any other off-network sitcom.
Major sitcoms offered for all-barter isn't new. Warner Bros. offered Family Matters on a barter basis for a two-year term after stations rejected Warner's cash license offers and became a surprise smash hit in off-net syndication when it debuted in 1993. Like Rock, Matters was sold during tough economic times in the industry (1991-92). Unlike Matters, 30 Rock scored a cable deal in its first cycle (Matters was sold to TBS and local stations for a second all-cash cycle in 1995.)
As for the cable deals, Comedy Central and WGN America paid $800,000 an episode combined for the series, fighting off suitors TBS and E! It's easy to understand why NBC Universal went to the cablers first: They had the money to pay, while cash-strapped local station groups did not.
30 Rock stars Saturday Night Live alumnus Tina Fey, who also created the series and serves as executive producer. The show also stars Alec Baldwin and Tracy Morgan. Despite a so-so ratings performance, the program is one of the most-watched online (think Hulu) and creates plenty of buzz on the Internet and the blogosphere. It's an Emmy winner too, with nine awards - including two for Outstanding Comedy Series.
NBC Universal decided to sell the sitcom to Fox and Tribune station groups, splitting the difference. Locally, 30 Rock will air on Tribune's WGN-TV, while Fox's WNYW in New York and KTTV in Los Angeles will strip the sitcom.
Other sales include... on the Tribune side, WPHL in Philadelphia; WDCW in Washington, D.C.; KCPQ in Seattle, KRCW in Portland, Ore., and WXMI in Grand Rapids, Mich. Fox bought the show for KDFW in Dallas, KRIV in Houston, KMSP in Minneapolis-St. Paul, and WOFL in Orlando. Even though Fox owns My Network TV stations in those markets, 30 Rock will not air on them.
30 Rock is sold on a barter basis in broadcast with four minutes retained for local stations and three minutes for NBC Universal to keep to sell to national advertisers.
Usually, stations pony up cash license fees for off-net sitcoms. But with the economy tight as it is, the station community wasn't anteing up to pay the big bucks for 30 Rock or any other off-network sitcom.
Major sitcoms offered for all-barter isn't new. Warner Bros. offered Family Matters on a barter basis for a two-year term after stations rejected Warner's cash license offers and became a surprise smash hit in off-net syndication when it debuted in 1993. Like Rock, Matters was sold during tough economic times in the industry (1991-92). Unlike Matters, 30 Rock scored a cable deal in its first cycle (Matters was sold to TBS and local stations for a second all-cash cycle in 1995.)
As for the cable deals, Comedy Central and WGN America paid $800,000 an episode combined for the series, fighting off suitors TBS and E! It's easy to understand why NBC Universal went to the cablers first: They had the money to pay, while cash-strapped local station groups did not.
30 Rock stars Saturday Night Live alumnus Tina Fey, who also created the series and serves as executive producer. The show also stars Alec Baldwin and Tracy Morgan. Despite a so-so ratings performance, the program is one of the most-watched online (think Hulu) and creates plenty of buzz on the Internet and the blogosphere. It's an Emmy winner too, with nine awards - including two for Outstanding Comedy Series.
Sam Sylk heads to Power 92
Former WGCI-FM afternoon personality Sam Sylk is headed back to Chicago to fill the same capacity at WPWX-FM (Power 92).
Sylk kept WGCI at or near the top of the ratings during his tenure there, but left in 2006 to join WUSL-FM in Philadelphia to become the morning personality. Subpar ratings forced him out, and wound up at Cleveland's WENZ-FM, where he started his career.
Despite leaving Chicago, Sylk continued his TV show on Chicago Cable Channel 25, a half-hour weekly series featuring music videos and interviews with those connected with the urban music scene.
Sylk replaces Donnie Devoe, who was dropped by Power 92 on June 29th.
With Sylk coming to Power 92 and Soul 106.3's (WSRB) acqusition of The Tom Joyner Show, owner Crawford Broadcasting has made an agressive bid to compete with Clear Channel's urban duo of WGCI and WVAZ. In recent PPM surveys, Power 92 has inched closer to WGCI (though in the last survey, Power suffered a major ratings drop.)
Sylk kept WGCI at or near the top of the ratings during his tenure there, but left in 2006 to join WUSL-FM in Philadelphia to become the morning personality. Subpar ratings forced him out, and wound up at Cleveland's WENZ-FM, where he started his career.
Despite leaving Chicago, Sylk continued his TV show on Chicago Cable Channel 25, a half-hour weekly series featuring music videos and interviews with those connected with the urban music scene.
Sylk replaces Donnie Devoe, who was dropped by Power 92 on June 29th.
With Sylk coming to Power 92 and Soul 106.3's (WSRB) acqusition of The Tom Joyner Show, owner Crawford Broadcasting has made an agressive bid to compete with Clear Channel's urban duo of WGCI and WVAZ. In recent PPM surveys, Power 92 has inched closer to WGCI (though in the last survey, Power suffered a major ratings drop.)
Tuesday, July 07, 2009
"Soul Train" heads to DVD
The legendary music series Soul Train is back - on DVD.
Time-Life has acquired the DVD rights to the Soul Train Library, which it plans to release on home video. The material features artists such as The O'Jays, The Temptations, Al Green, and The Jacksons.
Material featuring The Jacksons and specifically Michael Jackson is hot right now, on the heels of Mr. Jackson's untimely death on June 25. A memorial service was held today for Mr. Jackson at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Michael Jackson received a Humanitarian Award during The Soul Train Music Awards in 1993 and performed Dangerous (while sitting in a chair because of an injury.)
Soul Train started as a local show on WCIU-TV in 1970 and went on to national syndication, becoming one of the longest-running syndicated shows in history. The program ran 35 years, ending its run in 2006 (reruns aired until September 2008.) A book detailing Soul Train's Chicago origins was released last fall titled A Critical History of Soul Train on Television, written by Chris Lehman.
T Dog Media Blog's Soul Train archives
Time-Life has acquired the DVD rights to the Soul Train Library, which it plans to release on home video. The material features artists such as The O'Jays, The Temptations, Al Green, and The Jacksons.
Material featuring The Jacksons and specifically Michael Jackson is hot right now, on the heels of Mr. Jackson's untimely death on June 25. A memorial service was held today for Mr. Jackson at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Michael Jackson received a Humanitarian Award during The Soul Train Music Awards in 1993 and performed Dangerous (while sitting in a chair because of an injury.)
Soul Train started as a local show on WCIU-TV in 1970 and went on to national syndication, becoming one of the longest-running syndicated shows in history. The program ran 35 years, ending its run in 2006 (reruns aired until September 2008.) A book detailing Soul Train's Chicago origins was released last fall titled A Critical History of Soul Train on Television, written by Chris Lehman.
T Dog Media Blog's Soul Train archives
New Internet radio royalty rate reached
The long standing battle between the RIAA and SoundExchange, and Internet radio webcasters is finally over after a long two-year battle.
The parties reached an agreement today on a royalty rate to 2015 (2014 for small webcasters) and retroactive back to 2006 - which includes a discount of rates for large webcasters and percentage-based payment options for small webcasters set by the Copyright Royalty Board.
The agreement splits "pureplay" webcasters into three distinct categories: large, small, and paid subscription. The deal also requires stations to keep records of songs played.
Many webcasters feared a large surge in royalty payments would put them out of business.
Pandora has opted to make its Internet streams a pay service, so it will fall under the paid subcription category.
The parties reached an agreement today on a royalty rate to 2015 (2014 for small webcasters) and retroactive back to 2006 - which includes a discount of rates for large webcasters and percentage-based payment options for small webcasters set by the Copyright Royalty Board.
The agreement splits "pureplay" webcasters into three distinct categories: large, small, and paid subscription. The deal also requires stations to keep records of songs played.
Many webcasters feared a large surge in royalty payments would put them out of business.
Pandora has opted to make its Internet streams a pay service, so it will fall under the paid subcription category.
Monday, July 06, 2009
WCIU gets into A.M. news business - sort of
Weigel's WCIU-DT and its sister station ME-TV (WCIU-DT, 26.2) are getting into the morning news business - sort of.
Scheduled to kick off in August, titled "U and Me In the Morning", the news segments run for as little as 30 seconds and as long as 10 minutes. Former WGCI-FM personality and WMAQ-TV reporter Jeanne Sparrow will be live-in-the studio to host the segments beginning in the fall. The segments will be local in nature, and focus on lifestyle stories rather than hard news.
The move is being made to attract more news-oriented advertising to the station and differniate itself from its image of carrying first-run syndicated and off-network programming and Svengoolie.
While the segments will air during both station's morning block, it is not known what programs will air there in the fall. Current shows airing between 6 and 9 a.m. on WCIU include off-network sitcoms One On One and Half & Half; and the previous day's Insider.
Any paid sponsor placements will be idenified on-air, according to WCIU GM Neal Sabin.
Scheduled to kick off in August, titled "U and Me In the Morning", the news segments run for as little as 30 seconds and as long as 10 minutes. Former WGCI-FM personality and WMAQ-TV reporter Jeanne Sparrow will be live-in-the studio to host the segments beginning in the fall. The segments will be local in nature, and focus on lifestyle stories rather than hard news.
The move is being made to attract more news-oriented advertising to the station and differniate itself from its image of carrying first-run syndicated and off-network programming and Svengoolie.
While the segments will air during both station's morning block, it is not known what programs will air there in the fall. Current shows airing between 6 and 9 a.m. on WCIU include off-network sitcoms One On One and Half & Half; and the previous day's Insider.
Any paid sponsor placements will be idenified on-air, according to WCIU GM Neal Sabin.
Wednesday, July 01, 2009
BET to revive "The Game"?
Could canceled CW comedy The Game make a return?
According to TV Guide, CBS Television Studios (formerly CBS Paramount Television) and Black Entertainment Television (BET) are negotiating a lower license fee so CBS can produce the series for cable.
If negotiations are successful, The Game would become the first former live-action network sitcom to be revived on basic cable since The Disney Channel produced a sequel to the classic sitcom Leave It To Beaver titled Still The Beaver in 1985 (the show moved to TBS in 1986 and was retitled The New Leave It To Beaver.)
During the mid-1980's, a few canceled network sitcoms went on to be revived for first-run syndication, including Too Close For Comfort, Charles In Charge, and Mama's Family. And during the same time period, many original sitcoms popped up on cable, including Check It Out!, Brothers, and Down to Earth. But the quality of those cable shows were sub-par at best.
One thing working in The Game's favor is today's cable shows are better produced than they were in the 1980's and the 1990's with programs like Sex in the City, Entourage, and Hannah Montana leading the way. However, not working in its advantage is a reduced budget than the program is accustomed to, which could show up on-screen.
This was the result when Airwolf - which ran on CBS from 1984-86- moved to the USA Network in 1987 after two and a half seasons, becoming the first canceled network drama to move to basic cable with new episodes. However, the budget was cut and the cast was replaced. Viewers didn't like what they saw and fled for the exits.
The idea for The Game to move the cable actually came from the cast, which includes Tia Mowry Hardrict and Wendy Raquel Robinson. 64 episodes currently exist. A new season would make the series more strippable for a possible syndication run. BET currently holds the rights to the existing episodes and airs them on their weekday schedule.
The Game was spun-off from Girlfriends, a sitcom which ran on UPN for six seasons and CW for two. Both shows were created by Mara Brock Akil.
Last month, Comedy Central and Twentieth Television agreed to produce new Futurama episodes beginning in 2010 - seven years after Fox canceled the series, becoming the first animated sitcom ever to be revived for basic cable after its network run ended.
Thought: If The Game returns and the budget is cut, let's hope the following doesn't happen:
- Having the cast change clothes behind bushes outside instead of an actual dressing room.
- Boom mikes making "cameo" appearances.
- Sets made of lots and lots of Styrofoam.
- Making the move to shoot the show on crappy videotape.
- Moving production of the series from Los Angeles to Toronto or Vancouver - or worse, Winnipeg.
This was typical of the early "syndie quickie" first-run scripted syndicated series of the early 1970's (Dr. Simon Locke, The Starlost - shows practically created by PTAR) and early first-run cable sitcoms. With the economy the way it is, are studios this droll to try production techniques like this again?
Well, the syndicated Deal or No Deal is moving to Connecticut...
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
New Links Alert
Here are some recent additions to T Dog's Media Friends sidebar:
- Company Town. From the Los Angeles Times, a blog on the business of Hollywood.
- Hero Complex. For you geeks out there (including yours truly), a new blog from the L.A. Times covering our world, from science fiction to comic books. And from the L.A. Times!
- Doug Quick Online. Down in the Museum section of The Sidebar, you'll find this wonderful site on the history of Central Illinois TV and radio by Doug Quick, who is Chief Weather Anchor at ABC affiliate WICD-TV in Champaign, IL. Here, you'll find photos, videos, and other good stuff -plus information on the 2005 affiliate switch involving WICD and WICS-TV in Springfield switching from NBC to ABC and WAND-TV in Decatur switching from ABC to NBC. Click here and check it out!
- Sports Media Watch. A great blog following the business of covering sports on television.
And some subtractions:
- Marianne Paswowski's blog at TV Week. Unfortunately, it looks like she left Crain Communications again, as her blog hasn't been updated since March 30 (but Josef Adlian gets one? Yeesh.)
- Inside Music Media. I tried... I really tried to like this Del Colliano guy, but when he revamped his blog (and the new look sucks by the way), he removed the comments section - not allowing any interaction from his readers - cementing the fact that this guy is a pompous ass. Reminds you of a certain somebody who asked the paper he used to work for to remove the comments section from his columns?
- Company Town. From the Los Angeles Times, a blog on the business of Hollywood.
- Hero Complex. For you geeks out there (including yours truly), a new blog from the L.A. Times covering our world, from science fiction to comic books. And from the L.A. Times!
- Doug Quick Online. Down in the Museum section of The Sidebar, you'll find this wonderful site on the history of Central Illinois TV and radio by Doug Quick, who is Chief Weather Anchor at ABC affiliate WICD-TV in Champaign, IL. Here, you'll find photos, videos, and other good stuff -plus information on the 2005 affiliate switch involving WICD and WICS-TV in Springfield switching from NBC to ABC and WAND-TV in Decatur switching from ABC to NBC. Click here and check it out!
- Sports Media Watch. A great blog following the business of covering sports on television.
And some subtractions:
- Marianne Paswowski's blog at TV Week. Unfortunately, it looks like she left Crain Communications again, as her blog hasn't been updated since March 30 (but Josef Adlian gets one? Yeesh.)
- Inside Music Media. I tried... I really tried to like this Del Colliano guy, but when he revamped his blog (and the new look sucks by the way), he removed the comments section - not allowing any interaction from his readers - cementing the fact that this guy is a pompous ass. Reminds you of a certain somebody who asked the paper he used to work for to remove the comments section from his columns?
Slow week - so come on over to Twitter
Aside from Death Watch '09, there isn't much going on in the business this week due to the big 4th of July holiday. So, for the latest items (and snide comments on media stories and other stories from yours truly), come on over to Twitter and follow The T Dog Media Blog at http://twitter.com/tdogmediablog. Yours truly will keep you entertained (and if you fall out of your chair laughing, I assume no liability...)
This place should be hopping again soon due to Comic-Con and the critics' tour, so keep it here!
This place should be hopping again soon due to Comic-Con and the critics' tour, so keep it here!
Sunday, June 28, 2009
T Dog's Four Pack - In Memoriam
A special edition of T Dog's Four Pack this week, in honor of four individuals who passed away this week - two of these I have already written obituaries for.
- Ed McMahon. Click here for the obit on the legendary pitchman and second banana.
- John Callaway. Click here for the obit on the legendary interviewer.
- Farrah Fawcett. One of the stars of Charlie's Angels and numerous other projects, died Thursday morning at the age of 62 after a three-year battle with cancer. Her fight with the deadly disease was chronicled on numerous newsmagazines and a two-hour special titled Farrah Fawcett: My Story, with drew 9 million viewers last month on NBC.
Ms. Fawcett launched her TV career in the 1970's with appearances on Harry O and The Six Million Dollar Man (with then-husband Lee Majors.) In 1976, she starred in Charlie's Angels as Jill Munroe, which rocketed into the top 10 in its first season (finishing #5 for the 1976-77 season.) But she left the show in 1977 to focus more on movies. When her film career went bust, she returned to Angels to make sporadic appearances.
In 1984, she appeared in the ground-breaking TV movie The Burning Bed, as a spouse who was battered and abused by her husband and decides to take revenge. The movie was a huge smash for NBC and drew attention to the issue of domestic violence. Fawcett earned an Emmy nomination for the role. Fawcett also appeared another made-for (Small Sacrifices), which she also earned critical acclaim.
In 1991, she appeared opposite boyfriend Ryan O'Neal in the short-lived sitcom Good Sports. She returned to the big screen in Apostle; her more recent TV appearances included stints on Ally McBeal and Spin City; she also had a reality series on TV Land four years ago titled Chasing Farrah.
And of course, there's always that poster...
Michael Jackson. And while we were mourning the death of Ms. Fawcett on Thursday, another shocker emerged: The king of pop was rushed to a hospital in Los Angeles due to cardiac arrest. He died at 4:26 p.m. Chicago time.
If there was anyone who changed the face of the music and radio industries, it was the gloved one. Mr. Jackson sung with his brothers and were known as The Jackson 5 and hailed from nearby Gary, Ind. They hit the charts with I Want Your Back, Dancin' Machine, and ABC. Mr. Jackson had his first Number One single as a solo artist in 1972 with Ben. ABC (the network, not the song) cashed in with a Saturday Morning cartoon featuring the Jackson Five (but not their voices.)
In 1976, The Jacksons left Motown for Epic, but the hits kept on rolling. In 1979, Michael Jackson released Off The Wall and spawned several Number One singles, including Rock With You, and Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough.
But Mr. Jackson wasn't through. His next album (Thriller) was a commercial and critical success. It spawned two Number One singles, and became the first album in history to land seven singles in the Top 40 of Billboard's Pop Chart - all of them reaching the top ten. Michael Jackson's videos were not just music videos - they were presentations. The success of Billie Jean and Beat It helped make MTV a household name - though the network would not play videos from black artists for the most part before Billie Jean hit.
Then came Thriller, the title track from Mr. Jackson's album. The video was fourteen minutes long and premiered on MTV three weeks before Christmas, and on NBC's Friday Night Videos on December 23, 1983. At the time, it was the most expensive music video ever made, and was directed by John Landis. The video won two Grammy Awards and four MTV Music Video Awards.
As for Beat It, Mr. Jackson's song was not only played by Pop and R&B stations - but also AOR rock stations - one of the first times a black artist (other than Jimi Hendrix) was played on those type of stations. Beat It also helped launch the career of Weird Al Yankovic in a way - his parody of the song - and the video - titled Eat It, reached #14 on Billboard Pop Chart in 1984.
And Thriller's success helped contemporary hit radio in a huge way. The format's future was up in the air after disco imploded in 1979 and many stations were shunning away from any type of dance music, especially songs from from black artists (unless you were Diana Ross, Kool & The Gang, or Stevie Wonder.) Jackson's success at radio re-opened the door for other black artists at mainstream radio - including Prince, Lionel Richie, Whitney Houston, and Morris Day and The Time.
Believe it or not, Michael Jackson's next release (Bad) had greater success on the singles charts, with five Number One singles and became the third album in history to land seven singles in the Top 40 (Bruce Springsteen's Born in the U.S.A. was the second.) However, Bad lived up to is name as the album was not as well-received by critics as Thriller and Off the Wall had; and despite five chart-toppers, Bad's sales were lower compared to Thriller and did not spend as much time at Number One on the album chart as its predecessor did.
Jackson's next album (Dangerous) was a major success, spawning hit singles such as Black or White, Remember the Time, and Who Is It, but produced only one chart-topper (Black or White.)
By this time, Michael Jackson's personal and private life came out in the open. He was accused of molesting children and his marriages to Lisa Marie Presley and Debbie Rowe made for fodder in the tabloids. Jackson's child molestation acquisitions hurt his career as releases of subsequent albums were commercial flops, notably Invincible. Jackson's miscues (such as dangling his baby off of a balcony in Berlin in 2002) made things even worse.
Jackson legal and financial troubles continued to mount, and even though he was acquitted of another child molestation charge (in 2005), legal fees from his defense mounted and left him in worse financial shape. As a result, Jackson decided this year to tour again for the final time - though only in the London area (for the record, Jackson has not toured in the U.S. for many years.)
Despite his bizarre personal life - and whether you loved the guy or hated him (and there's a lot of people in either camp), you can't deny he changed the face of the music industry and pop culture forever. For generations of music lovers, he will always be The King Of Pop.
- Ed McMahon. Click here for the obit on the legendary pitchman and second banana.
- John Callaway. Click here for the obit on the legendary interviewer.
- Farrah Fawcett. One of the stars of Charlie's Angels and numerous other projects, died Thursday morning at the age of 62 after a three-year battle with cancer. Her fight with the deadly disease was chronicled on numerous newsmagazines and a two-hour special titled Farrah Fawcett: My Story, with drew 9 million viewers last month on NBC.
Ms. Fawcett launched her TV career in the 1970's with appearances on Harry O and The Six Million Dollar Man (with then-husband Lee Majors.) In 1976, she starred in Charlie's Angels as Jill Munroe, which rocketed into the top 10 in its first season (finishing #5 for the 1976-77 season.) But she left the show in 1977 to focus more on movies. When her film career went bust, she returned to Angels to make sporadic appearances.
In 1984, she appeared in the ground-breaking TV movie The Burning Bed, as a spouse who was battered and abused by her husband and decides to take revenge. The movie was a huge smash for NBC and drew attention to the issue of domestic violence. Fawcett earned an Emmy nomination for the role. Fawcett also appeared another made-for (Small Sacrifices), which she also earned critical acclaim.
In 1991, she appeared opposite boyfriend Ryan O'Neal in the short-lived sitcom Good Sports. She returned to the big screen in Apostle; her more recent TV appearances included stints on Ally McBeal and Spin City; she also had a reality series on TV Land four years ago titled Chasing Farrah.
And of course, there's always that poster...
Michael Jackson. And while we were mourning the death of Ms. Fawcett on Thursday, another shocker emerged: The king of pop was rushed to a hospital in Los Angeles due to cardiac arrest. He died at 4:26 p.m. Chicago time.
If there was anyone who changed the face of the music and radio industries, it was the gloved one. Mr. Jackson sung with his brothers and were known as The Jackson 5 and hailed from nearby Gary, Ind. They hit the charts with I Want Your Back, Dancin' Machine, and ABC. Mr. Jackson had his first Number One single as a solo artist in 1972 with Ben. ABC (the network, not the song) cashed in with a Saturday Morning cartoon featuring the Jackson Five (but not their voices.)
In 1976, The Jacksons left Motown for Epic, but the hits kept on rolling. In 1979, Michael Jackson released Off The Wall and spawned several Number One singles, including Rock With You, and Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough.
But Mr. Jackson wasn't through. His next album (Thriller) was a commercial and critical success. It spawned two Number One singles, and became the first album in history to land seven singles in the Top 40 of Billboard's Pop Chart - all of them reaching the top ten. Michael Jackson's videos were not just music videos - they were presentations. The success of Billie Jean and Beat It helped make MTV a household name - though the network would not play videos from black artists for the most part before Billie Jean hit.
Then came Thriller, the title track from Mr. Jackson's album. The video was fourteen minutes long and premiered on MTV three weeks before Christmas, and on NBC's Friday Night Videos on December 23, 1983. At the time, it was the most expensive music video ever made, and was directed by John Landis. The video won two Grammy Awards and four MTV Music Video Awards.
As for Beat It, Mr. Jackson's song was not only played by Pop and R&B stations - but also AOR rock stations - one of the first times a black artist (other than Jimi Hendrix) was played on those type of stations. Beat It also helped launch the career of Weird Al Yankovic in a way - his parody of the song - and the video - titled Eat It, reached #14 on Billboard Pop Chart in 1984.
And Thriller's success helped contemporary hit radio in a huge way. The format's future was up in the air after disco imploded in 1979 and many stations were shunning away from any type of dance music, especially songs from from black artists (unless you were Diana Ross, Kool & The Gang, or Stevie Wonder.) Jackson's success at radio re-opened the door for other black artists at mainstream radio - including Prince, Lionel Richie, Whitney Houston, and Morris Day and The Time.
Believe it or not, Michael Jackson's next release (Bad) had greater success on the singles charts, with five Number One singles and became the third album in history to land seven singles in the Top 40 (Bruce Springsteen's Born in the U.S.A. was the second.) However, Bad lived up to is name as the album was not as well-received by critics as Thriller and Off the Wall had; and despite five chart-toppers, Bad's sales were lower compared to Thriller and did not spend as much time at Number One on the album chart as its predecessor did.
Jackson's next album (Dangerous) was a major success, spawning hit singles such as Black or White, Remember the Time, and Who Is It, but produced only one chart-topper (Black or White.)
By this time, Michael Jackson's personal and private life came out in the open. He was accused of molesting children and his marriages to Lisa Marie Presley and Debbie Rowe made for fodder in the tabloids. Jackson's child molestation acquisitions hurt his career as releases of subsequent albums were commercial flops, notably Invincible. Jackson's miscues (such as dangling his baby off of a balcony in Berlin in 2002) made things even worse.
Jackson legal and financial troubles continued to mount, and even though he was acquitted of another child molestation charge (in 2005), legal fees from his defense mounted and left him in worse financial shape. As a result, Jackson decided this year to tour again for the final time - though only in the London area (for the record, Jackson has not toured in the U.S. for many years.)
Despite his bizarre personal life - and whether you loved the guy or hated him (and there's a lot of people in either camp), you can't deny he changed the face of the music industry and pop culture forever. For generations of music lovers, he will always be The King Of Pop.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
