T Dog's Four Pack

The past week's winners and losers... Kool-Aid Man style.

Oh, yeah.

Roe Conn. Roe Conn? Yes, you read right. Despite less-than-stellar numbers, Roe Conn is expected to sign a contract renewal with WLS-AM for a lower salary, despite parent company Citadel becoming the latest media company to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader. In an item in Marc Berman's Programming Insider last week, the syndicated version of this former Fox prime-time show has averaged an eye-popping 2.1 HH rating season-to-date, easily topping the fading Family Feud and Deal or No Deal. The program ranked fourth among all syndicated game shows in HH, and third in Women 18-49 and Women 25-54, again ahead of Feud and Deal- and Who Wants To Be A Millionaire.

The Closer. The season premiere of the TNT drama drew 6.1 million viewers on December 7, leading in to the premiere of new drama Men of a Certain Age, which drew 5.4 million in its first outing.

Real Housewives of Atlanta may shred two cast members. The bitchy Nene Leakes and overbearing Kim Zolciak may be headed out the door. Obscurity, here they come!


Oh, no. (a round of Wyler's punch for everybody)

Prime-time TV in Chicago. The December 6 Bears-Rams game outdrew most prime-time shows in Chicago? Bulls' ratings are up from last year? Yes, we'll watch bad sports teams, but draw the line at Parks and Recreation, Heroes, Jay Leno, and just about any reality show.


Daytime Soaps. With the cancellation of As The World Turns, this genre may finally be on its way out.

Over-the-air broadcast TV. On both sides of the 49th parallel, there's talk of doing away with free, over-the-air TV - in Canada because the broadcasters want retrans fees and may cease to exist if they don't get it;  and in the United States, broadcasters need more of it - plus, a looming threat to reclaim the spectrum for wireless and broadband use. This sucks, but will anyone miss it? It looks like the greed of these companies who own these outlets has finally caught up with them.

The word "shout-out".  You hear it on Pardon The Interrution every day, and I've read it in stories on Broadcasting & Cable's website. Enough with the urban slang. If Tom Joyner doesn't do shout-outs, why should you guys?