T Dog's Four Pack - We'll have a grand old time

It's been two weeks, so a T Dog Media Blog Four Pack is long overdue... with a little bit of a Flintstones twist...

Hanging out with Fred and Barney. Yabba Dabba Doo!

-V103. The most (and only) surprising item in the recently concluded Arbitron PPM November survey is the strong performance of Urban AC WVAZ-FM, who ranked second in 12+ and ranked at or near the top in every major demo, including a strong performance from Steve Harvey's morning show (who made not one, but TWO trips to Chicago recently, including an appearance a Kmart in the West Lawn neighborhood on Chicago's Southwest Side.) WVAZ even re-hired former midday personality Troi Tyler for Sunday nights and other fill-in work. V103 is making all the right moves - and yes, it's still owned by Clear Channel.

TNT cancels Raising The Bar. I've never seen a drama that couldn't live up to its title.

Turner Sports fires Chip Caray. More good news from Turner:  The cable network also severed ties with former Cubs broadcaster Chip Caray. Why? This is all you need to know..."Line drive. Base hit. Caught out there. The runner tags. Throw to the plate. On target. And in time. A double play!"

Fox. A first-ever November sweeps victory in adults 18-49 - with an assist from the 2009 World Series Champion New York Yankees - three World Series games aired during the sweeps.

Hanging out with Joe Rockhead

- The Loop.What's the opposite of the success of V103? Try The Loop, or Emmis-owned WLUP-FM (97.9). They fired morning personality Jonathan Brandmeier this past week after four years at the station (in addition to the first fifteen he spent there) and decided to focus more on playing music in morning drive. Like wow, this means they can play Pearl Jam, Aerosmith, and Def Lepperd ten more times per day. Yabba Dabba Don't.


- Monsters and Money In The Morning. So the management at The Church of Tisch think Mike North and Dan Jiggetts can replicate its "success" at Comcast SportsNet. This will be about a successful as the other"experiment" going on at NBC regarding Jay Leno in primetime - both will be gone by September. Hell, WBBM-TV would've been better off hiring Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble to front their morning show.

- Fall Finales. So fans of Glee, V, and FlashForward (um... are there even any FlashForward fans left?) have to wait three to four months to see new episodes? Do we have a second summer season now? And you wonder why network prime-time television is dying.


- Donny Osmond "wins" Dancing With The Stars. Let's see. Donny Osmond wins over a much more deserving Mya. Dancing usually does its best ratings in Chicago. We're know internationally for letting people "vote early and often", and even the dead can vote (which may account for a large amount of Osmond's fan base.) Coincidence? The "Chicago Way" strikes again, where the best candidate doesn't win, but the worst. To yours truly, Mya will always be the winner of the ninth season of Dancing With The Stars (and course, looking so fine doesn't hurt either...)