Monday, April 13, 2009

T Dog's Groovy Grab Bag

- Among women 18-34, which talk show is second only behind Oprah Winfrey?

Tyra Banks? Nope. Ellen? Try Again. Come on. You've got to be talking about Jerry Springer... Um, no.

It's Maury Povich. Yes, 70-year old Maury Povich. Yes, the same guy who brought you A Current Affair back in the day.

NBC Universal's Maury (in its 11th season - not counting the seven he had beforehand with Paramount) is currently second in the women 18-34 demo among talk shows, with the median audience for Maury's show second only behind Tyra.

Topics on the show pretty much run the gamut from paternity tests to crazy home videos.

In Chicago, WGN-TV airs Maury weekdays at 10:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m, where in the latter time slot last Monday (4/6), the rabid talk show finished first among women 18-34. WPIX-TV in New York City won its 10 a.m. time slot among the same demo on the same day on in while its sister station in Los Angeles (KTLA) won the demo at noon and 2 p.m.

WPIX, KTLA, and WGN are all Tribune-owned CW affiliates - the network trying to make a name for itself among women 18-34 in prime-time. If it need a spokesperson to promote the lineup, maybe they should hire Mr. Povich...

- Usually, news crews cover crime and violence on the streets - but on their own news sets? Get this: A fight broke out on a news set at CBS affiliate WTOC-TV in Savannah, Ga. last Thursday night. Police were called in around 9 p.m. where two employees were literally fighting. One person was taken to the hospital.

- ESPN's new Chicago website launched today, titled ESPN Chicago. The site has sponsors (Hawthrone Race Course and StubHub, with MillerCoors coming aboard later) It's basically the same as ESPN's national site only with a Chicago theme. Click here to check it out.

- If you thought NBC's programming is bad now, then check this out: A Los Angeles-based blog named Franklin Ave. served up a post on what a typical Friday night was on the peacock network back in 1981. Back then, NBC was a distant third place behind CBS and ABC - a spot they held for nearly a decade before The Cosby Show helped them dig out of the cellar in 1984.

Hey, if you loved Parks & Recreation, then you'll love Harper Valley P.T.A. with Barbara Eden. And check out the "new hit series" The Brady Brides (yes, they were lying in promos back then too.)

To see the promo, click here and then click on the video.

Here's a local take: Despite NBC's lousy prime-time lineup, WMAQ-TV finished second in the overall ratings back in 1981 and 1982 behind CBS-owned WBBM-TV - who had the popular Bill Kurtis and Walter Jacobson fronting their newscasts. Believe it or not, the dog station in town was ABC-owned WLS-TV, who usually finished fourth or even fifth. But two people - one named Oprah Winfrey and another Vanna White - would soon change that.

Today, just like then, WMAQ is still second - this time behind only WLS, which is now a huge powerhouse.

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