Maureen Ryan of the Tribune slammed TBS' My Boys so badly in today's paper, the program might as well rename itself The New Leave It To Beaver.
Proof positive that not every based-in-Chicago series is good (proven a little over twenty years ago with Punky Brewster and continues today with According to Jim.)
Yours' truly complaint: The show pretends that Chicago's South Side is in the St. Louis area (and the fact that My Boys is too much like Seinfeld, only set in Chicago and a woman in the lead... and Seinfeld was funnier...)
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Tom Snyder tributes
There's more on the passing of Milwaukee native and television icon Tom Snyder today, with the Tribune's Phil Rosenthal and the Journal-Sentinel's Tim Cuprisin weighing in on the talk show host's career. Snyder died Sunday in his home in San Francisco at the age of 71 due to complications from leukemia (In an ironic twist, another person with S.F. ties - former 49ers coach Bill Walsh - also died from complications from leukemia on Monday.)
Among Snyder's career highlights:
- Got his start as a reporter at Milwaukee radio station WRIT-AM.
- Appeared as Pete in an episode of The Rifleman in 1961.
- Played himself on McCloud, Murphy Brown, Ink, The Larry Sanders Show, and Dave's World.
- Anchored newscasts on KYW-TV in Philadelphia, WNBC-TV and WABC-TV New York and KNBC-TV Los Angeles.
- Hosted the Tomorrow show, a late, late Monday-Thursday night show on NBC from 1975-81. Notable guests on that show included Charlie Manson, John Lennon, Chicago's own Steve Dahl, and the rock band U2.
- An attempt to broaden the show - renamed Tomorrow Coast to Coast - and adding gossip queen Rona Barnett - was introduced in 1981 and lasted until January 1982.
- Hosted an afternoon talk show for KABC-TV in Los Angeles in 1985 and 1986, pitted against Donahue on KNBC. Snyder's show was canceled on Sept. 5, 1986 - to make room for a new talk show hosted by Oprah Winfrey.
-Hosted a call-in talk show for cable's CNBC.
- David Letterman hired Snyder to host The Late Late Show at CBS, a program that ran from 1995-99.
Among Snyder's career highlights:
- Got his start as a reporter at Milwaukee radio station WRIT-AM.
- Appeared as Pete in an episode of The Rifleman in 1961.
- Played himself on McCloud, Murphy Brown, Ink, The Larry Sanders Show, and Dave's World.
- Anchored newscasts on KYW-TV in Philadelphia, WNBC-TV and WABC-TV New York and KNBC-TV Los Angeles.
- Hosted the Tomorrow show, a late, late Monday-Thursday night show on NBC from 1975-81. Notable guests on that show included Charlie Manson, John Lennon, Chicago's own Steve Dahl, and the rock band U2.
- An attempt to broaden the show - renamed Tomorrow Coast to Coast - and adding gossip queen Rona Barnett - was introduced in 1981 and lasted until January 1982.
- Hosted an afternoon talk show for KABC-TV in Los Angeles in 1985 and 1986, pitted against Donahue on KNBC. Snyder's show was canceled on Sept. 5, 1986 - to make room for a new talk show hosted by Oprah Winfrey.
-Hosted a call-in talk show for cable's CNBC.
- David Letterman hired Snyder to host The Late Late Show at CBS, a program that ran from 1995-99.
Are Detroit advertisers getting ripped off by TV?
A ratings decline of 24 percent for local newscasts over the last ten years on Detroit's television stations haven't stopped ad rates for those newscasts from escalating, according to Crain's Detroit Business.
Ratings are down for the early-fringe and 11 p.m. newscasts on the market's three stations that does late news: Fox owned-WJBK-TV, Post-Newsweek's NBC affiliate WDIV, and Scripps' ABC affiliate WXYZ-TV. WXYZ leads at 5 and 6 p.m., while WDIV, despite weak NBC lead-ins, leads at 11 p.m.
WJBK, which was a CBS affiliate until December 1994, traditionally lags both competitors. The station plans to launch an 11 p.m. newscast in September (According to historians, WJBK 's news as a CBS affiliate finished not only behind WDIV and WXYZ in the ratings, but also syndicated fare such as reruns of The Jetsons.)
The current CBS affiliate, O&O WWJ-TV, does not do news. The station ended its low-rated newscasts in 2002.
WDIV has experienced the greatest loss of all three 11p.m. newscast over the last decade, thanks partly to the decline of NBC's primetime schedule. In 1997, NBC was the top-rated broadcast network. Today, it's ranked fourth. (WDIV is still No. 1 at 11, though.)
Another factor is the explosion of cable channels, and a change of Nielsen's measuring of the ratings itself, according to Steve Wasserman, WDIV's general manager.
Detroit became a Local People Meter (LPM) market last year, which replaces diaries with more accurate electronic measuring equipment.
Despite the ratings decline, a loss of an competitor, and the continued splintering of the audience (with viewers heading for cable and the Internet for news), ad rates has risen for those news programs, thanks in part to advertisers' desire to be in local news and their willingness to pay a premium for certain demographics (i.e. the adult 25-54 audience) that is usually not available elsewhere.
Another reason some advertisers like local news is because it attracts viewers that normally don't watch the networks' younger-skewing primetime fare, which includes the upper end of the 18-49 demographic, and much of the 50+ crowd.
With political spending expected to hit a fever pitch next year, local news stations are in for a windfall, with spots going up thanks to a crunch in available slots. Politicians love local newscasts because the audience watching them are the ones that are most likely to vote.
But advertisers now have to spend more money to reach the same viewers they did ten years ago. That means advertising on cable and in other news dayparts.
So are advertisers getting ripped off? If the demand is there and they are willing to pay a premium, then the answer is no.
Ratings are down for the early-fringe and 11 p.m. newscasts on the market's three stations that does late news: Fox owned-WJBK-TV, Post-Newsweek's NBC affiliate WDIV, and Scripps' ABC affiliate WXYZ-TV. WXYZ leads at 5 and 6 p.m., while WDIV, despite weak NBC lead-ins, leads at 11 p.m.
WJBK, which was a CBS affiliate until December 1994, traditionally lags both competitors. The station plans to launch an 11 p.m. newscast in September (According to historians, WJBK 's news as a CBS affiliate finished not only behind WDIV and WXYZ in the ratings, but also syndicated fare such as reruns of The Jetsons.)
The current CBS affiliate, O&O WWJ-TV, does not do news. The station ended its low-rated newscasts in 2002.
WDIV has experienced the greatest loss of all three 11p.m. newscast over the last decade, thanks partly to the decline of NBC's primetime schedule. In 1997, NBC was the top-rated broadcast network. Today, it's ranked fourth. (WDIV is still No. 1 at 11, though.)
Another factor is the explosion of cable channels, and a change of Nielsen's measuring of the ratings itself, according to Steve Wasserman, WDIV's general manager.
Detroit became a Local People Meter (LPM) market last year, which replaces diaries with more accurate electronic measuring equipment.
Despite the ratings decline, a loss of an competitor, and the continued splintering of the audience (with viewers heading for cable and the Internet for news), ad rates has risen for those news programs, thanks in part to advertisers' desire to be in local news and their willingness to pay a premium for certain demographics (i.e. the adult 25-54 audience) that is usually not available elsewhere.
Another reason some advertisers like local news is because it attracts viewers that normally don't watch the networks' younger-skewing primetime fare, which includes the upper end of the 18-49 demographic, and much of the 50+ crowd.
With political spending expected to hit a fever pitch next year, local news stations are in for a windfall, with spots going up thanks to a crunch in available slots. Politicians love local newscasts because the audience watching them are the ones that are most likely to vote.
But advertisers now have to spend more money to reach the same viewers they did ten years ago. That means advertising on cable and in other news dayparts.
So are advertisers getting ripped off? If the demand is there and they are willing to pay a premium, then the answer is no.
Monday, July 30, 2007
Sun-Times stoop to new lows
The local Onion continues to stir up controversy in its paper rather than report the facts. Take a look at this article from Friday regarding a racially changing Southwest Side neighborhood. Then there's the continued loony antics of Jay Mariotti , who continues his assault on good journalism. And check this worthless blog where yours truly posted three times. (Apparently, some of them didn't read one of my think tanks...)
If this is news to you, perhaps you should read my think tank on the Sun-Times, which I wrote nearly four months ago (One change since that article came out: The Defender no longer has podcasts. I guess they're dumbing the paper down to the Sun-Times' level.)
At least Ebert gave The Simpsons Movie a good review. The only saving grace of this joke of a "newspaper", run by a bunch of assclowns.
If this is news to you, perhaps you should read my think tank on the Sun-Times, which I wrote nearly four months ago (One change since that article came out: The Defender no longer has podcasts. I guess they're dumbing the paper down to the Sun-Times' level.)
At least Ebert gave The Simpsons Movie a good review. The only saving grace of this joke of a "newspaper", run by a bunch of assclowns.
Local news no longer feel for the drive at five
There is a notable trend of big-market television stations on the East Coast dropping news at 5 p.m. for syndicated fare.
WPLG in Miami went to No.1 in the time period when it inserted Dr. Phil several years ago, and its 6 p.m. newscast got a boost, too.
WXIA-TV in Atlanta also scored ratings success with a similar move. That station also airs Dr. Phil at 5 p.m. and a local newscast at 7.
Now two NBC O&Os (as noted here last Friday) are hoping for the same magic as WNBC-TV in New York and WTVJ-TV in Miami are adding syndicated programming at 5 p.m. and news at 7 p.m.
WTVJ is adding Ellen at 5 while WNBC is moving Extra to the same time slot effective Sept. 10. WNBC's new early fringe newscast, News 4 You, airs at 5:30 p.m. The move means an end of the line for Live at Five, which has been the station signature newscast in early fringe for 30 years.
This comes as stations on the East Coast are dealing with more and more viewers coming home later from work, thus decreasing the available numbers of viewers in the 5 p.m. hour. In other words, if your station doesn't have Oprah, Dr. Phil, or Jeopardy! as a news lead-in, you're screwed.
WPLG in Miami went to No.1 in the time period when it inserted Dr. Phil several years ago, and its 6 p.m. newscast got a boost, too.
WXIA-TV in Atlanta also scored ratings success with a similar move. That station also airs Dr. Phil at 5 p.m. and a local newscast at 7.
Now two NBC O&Os (as noted here last Friday) are hoping for the same magic as WNBC-TV in New York and WTVJ-TV in Miami are adding syndicated programming at 5 p.m. and news at 7 p.m.
WTVJ is adding Ellen at 5 while WNBC is moving Extra to the same time slot effective Sept. 10. WNBC's new early fringe newscast, News 4 You, airs at 5:30 p.m. The move means an end of the line for Live at Five, which has been the station signature newscast in early fringe for 30 years.
This comes as stations on the East Coast are dealing with more and more viewers coming home later from work, thus decreasing the available numbers of viewers in the 5 p.m. hour. In other words, if your station doesn't have Oprah, Dr. Phil, or Jeopardy! as a news lead-in, you're screwed.
Homer hits a homer
No D'ohing here: The Simpsons Movie was a big box-office success this weekend, opening at the top with an amazing $72 million, which is the fifth best opening of the year. The movie, based on the long-running sitcom on Fox, succeeded thanks to a strong marketing campaign (from longtime partners 7-Eleven and Burger King) and turnout from die-hard fans and casual fans alike. The movie also received good reviews from critics, with Sun-Times critic Roger Ebert giving it three stars (or a thumbs up.)
(Yours truly attended a showing last night, and let me tell you.... What a show! Laughed my butt off and was very impressed, though was a tad disappointed after I found out they cut some scenes. But the cuts will show up on DVD, so it's no loss. The Simpsons Movie was much better than the Aqua Teen one.)
Local stations are benefiting, too
Meanwhile, local stations that are airing the syndicated repeats of the show are benefiting from the extra exposure, tying in the program to the movie's marketing efforts. Among the stories:
-WFLD-TV here in Chicago had a couch at its stage at the recent Taste of Chicago, where fans sit on the Simpson couch and have their picture taken with life-size replicas of Homer Simpson and family. After some 15,000 sit-downs, the couch wore out and a new one had to be built.
-Meanwhile, Meredith's KPDX-TV in Portland, Ore. had The Simpsons Movie Experience, where the same couch was and over 1,000 people turned out at the Pioneer Courthouse Square to sit with Homer. The couch then made an appearance the next night at a minor-league baseball game, where Simpsons cards was handed out and plugs for the movie as well as the airings of the show on KPDX and sister station Fox affiliate KPTV in that market, which runs first-run episodes. Simpsons creator Matt Groening is also from the Portland area.
- Sinclair stations that air the show, including KDNL-TV in St. Louis and WCGV-TV in Milwaukee, aired a Hooray For Hollywood promotion, showing Simpsons episodes with celebrity guests.
- The thirteen Fox O&O stations that carry the show also had major promotional efforts tying in to the movie, including on-air back plates (that show up for a few seconds after commercial breaks) , ticket giveaways, and one O&O in Austin, Tex. (KTBC) featured an InD'Ohpendence Day celebration, which viewers voted on what episodes they wanted to see from each season.
This fall, The Simpsons will be entering its fourteenth season in syndication and its nineteenth season on Fox, with the season premiere airing on September 23.
Tom Snyder dies
Host of NBC's Tomorrow show, a local KABC-TV(Los Angeles) talk show, and a late night show for CBS, dies at the age of 71.
Friday, July 27, 2007
Tragedy in Phoenix
Two news helicopters - one belonging to Belo-owned independent KTVK - the other belonging to Scripps' ABC affiliate KNXV - collided in mid-air while covering a police chase in Phoenix, killing four people, two each in both choppers.
NBC O&Os to start 7 p.m. newscasts
(Editor's Note: The links in this story are provided by TV Newsday. Registration may be required.)
The news expansion continues: Two NBC owned-and-operated stations in New York (WNBC-TV) and Miami (WTVJ) will be launching 7 p.m. weeknight newscasts, beginning on September 10.
WNBC had a 7 p.m. network newscast until several years ago, when it moved NBC Nightly News to 6:30 p.m. to make room for syndicated fare like Extra and Inside Edition.
WNBC will also air hourly newsbreaks between 11 a.m. to 5 p.m, on its analog, digital, and online channels.
Meanwhile, WTVJ is also adding a 7 p.m. time slot, but is eliminating news at 5 p.m. Ellen will take over that time slot, while Extra, the former 7 p.m. occupant, is getting bumped to 4:30 p.m., paired with new game show Let's Play Crosswords, which airs at 4 p.m.
The move back to single-access (one syndicated show in the hour before primetime) on both stations means that they are trying to reach people who are coming home from work later. Plus, the stations get to keep all the inventory in the time period. Syndicated shows in prime access usually take 2 minutes of barter time (fee spots included) to sell to national advertisers.
The move is also bad news for syndicators, especially Warner Bros., who is losing prime access time slots for Extra in two key markets. Those moves could throw the program's future into question, as the newsmagazine/celebrity genre is very crowded at the moment, with Warner launching yet another new show in that vain with TMZ this fall. Extra is entering its 14th season this fall.
-In other syndication news, small syndicator Connection III has renewed weekend entertainment magazine series Made in Hollywood for a third season, cleared in 75 percent of the nation, with WCIU-TV in Chicago among the stations taking the show.
The news expansion continues: Two NBC owned-and-operated stations in New York (WNBC-TV) and Miami (WTVJ) will be launching 7 p.m. weeknight newscasts, beginning on September 10.
WNBC had a 7 p.m. network newscast until several years ago, when it moved NBC Nightly News to 6:30 p.m. to make room for syndicated fare like Extra and Inside Edition.
WNBC will also air hourly newsbreaks between 11 a.m. to 5 p.m, on its analog, digital, and online channels.
Meanwhile, WTVJ is also adding a 7 p.m. time slot, but is eliminating news at 5 p.m. Ellen will take over that time slot, while Extra, the former 7 p.m. occupant, is getting bumped to 4:30 p.m., paired with new game show Let's Play Crosswords, which airs at 4 p.m.
The move back to single-access (one syndicated show in the hour before primetime) on both stations means that they are trying to reach people who are coming home from work later. Plus, the stations get to keep all the inventory in the time period. Syndicated shows in prime access usually take 2 minutes of barter time (fee spots included) to sell to national advertisers.
The move is also bad news for syndicators, especially Warner Bros., who is losing prime access time slots for Extra in two key markets. Those moves could throw the program's future into question, as the newsmagazine/celebrity genre is very crowded at the moment, with Warner launching yet another new show in that vain with TMZ this fall. Extra is entering its 14th season this fall.
-In other syndication news, small syndicator Connection III has renewed weekend entertainment magazine series Made in Hollywood for a third season, cleared in 75 percent of the nation, with WCIU-TV in Chicago among the stations taking the show.
Thursday, July 26, 2007
ABC at TCA
ABC's session gets very testy
ABC entertainment chief Steve McPherson was forced to reveal the big news that he was holding for fans of Comic-Con down the road in San Diego on Thursday (thanks to prodding by a lot of pissed-off TV critics:) that Harold Perrineau was reviving his role as Michael on Lost.
Meanwhile, the ABC television executive took shots at NBC's new entertainment chief Ben Silverman, for blowing off the firing of his successor, Kevin Reilly. Among the hardballs lobbed at Silverman: “Kevin Reilly stood up for the The Office … made Reveille [a production company] money … then to stand up [at TCA] and say ‘I just got here ...“Be a man.”
And McPherson wasn't done. Then he said, "If [Silverman] was talking to him before he was available … he’s either clueless or stupid." “You guys let [Silverman] off the hook … that’s your prerogative,” he said.
Who does he think he is, a Chicago television executive?
Meanwhile, in other tidbits:
-ABC will launch its fall schedule over two months, from September to after Thanksgiving.
- St. Pete Times critic Eric Deggans wonders if the real reason ABC is making Cavemen is because the network is too scared to make a show with black people in it. (Wasn't ABC the home of Family Matters and My Wife and Kids?) ABC concedes that it has no idea what Cavemen is.
- While he was taking heat for withholding the Lost announcement, McPherson joked to the critics that Don Imus was cast for Lost, almost to no laughs. Critics noted that McPherson is about as funny as the network's sitcoms.
ABC entertainment chief Steve McPherson was forced to reveal the big news that he was holding for fans of Comic-Con down the road in San Diego on Thursday (thanks to prodding by a lot of pissed-off TV critics:) that Harold Perrineau was reviving his role as Michael on Lost.
Meanwhile, the ABC television executive took shots at NBC's new entertainment chief Ben Silverman, for blowing off the firing of his successor, Kevin Reilly. Among the hardballs lobbed at Silverman: “Kevin Reilly stood up for the The Office … made Reveille [a production company] money … then to stand up [at TCA] and say ‘I just got here ...“Be a man.”
And McPherson wasn't done. Then he said, "If [Silverman] was talking to him before he was available … he’s either clueless or stupid." “You guys let [Silverman] off the hook … that’s your prerogative,” he said.
Who does he think he is, a Chicago television executive?
Meanwhile, in other tidbits:
-ABC will launch its fall schedule over two months, from September to after Thanksgiving.
- St. Pete Times critic Eric Deggans wonders if the real reason ABC is making Cavemen is because the network is too scared to make a show with black people in it. (Wasn't ABC the home of Family Matters and My Wife and Kids?) ABC concedes that it has no idea what Cavemen is.
- While he was taking heat for withholding the Lost announcement, McPherson joked to the critics that Don Imus was cast for Lost, almost to no laughs. Critics noted that McPherson is about as funny as the network's sitcoms.
Comic-Con: not just for comic book fans anymore
Television producers and studios are finding that the annual comic book convention held in San Diego called Comic-Con is a great marketing tool for launching their new fall television shows (take that, Promax), especially if the shows are a sci-fi or fan frenzy nature (i.e. Lost, Heroes, Battlestar Galactica...)
This year's convention has more than 100 TV-related projects that will be screened, including an extended version of the Bionic Woman pilot to panels for all of Fox's prime-time animated comedies.
Meanwhile, if you can't get to Comic-Con (and unfortunately, yours truly is one of those), then G4 will bring it to you - the Comcast-owned male-targeted network is providing coverage of the event starting today, with interviews featuring celebrities and other pop-culture icons.
G4 is covering the event online with exclusive interviews, photos, and cool interactive elements, including video voice mail (though no word if it will be provided by Comcast.)
This year's convention has more than 100 TV-related projects that will be screened, including an extended version of the Bionic Woman pilot to panels for all of Fox's prime-time animated comedies.
Meanwhile, if you can't get to Comic-Con (and unfortunately, yours truly is one of those), then G4 will bring it to you - the Comcast-owned male-targeted network is providing coverage of the event starting today, with interviews featuring celebrities and other pop-culture icons.
G4 is covering the event online with exclusive interviews, photos, and cool interactive elements, including video voice mail (though no word if it will be provided by Comcast.)
TV sell-a-thon days in Wichita
New Vision has acquired NBC affiliate KSN-TV in Wichita from Montecito Broadcast Group, making it the third TV station to be sold in that market this year.
Earlier, Schurz Communications purchased Banks Broadcasting's KSCW-TV to pair with its KWCH-TV in a duopoly, and Fox affiliate KSAS-TV was sold by Clear Channel (as is the rest of its TV group) to Providence Equity Partners.
New Vision purchased three other stations in the deal - CBS affiliate KOIN-TV in Portland, Ore.; top-rated Fox affiliate KHON-TV in Honolulu (and its CW sister station) and KSNT-TV, the NBC affiliate in Topeka. The deal also includes KSN's five satellite stations.
So come down and buy a TV station in Kansas! Hurry, offer ends soon.
Earlier, Schurz Communications purchased Banks Broadcasting's KSCW-TV to pair with its KWCH-TV in a duopoly, and Fox affiliate KSAS-TV was sold by Clear Channel (as is the rest of its TV group) to Providence Equity Partners.
New Vision purchased three other stations in the deal - CBS affiliate KOIN-TV in Portland, Ore.; top-rated Fox affiliate KHON-TV in Honolulu (and its CW sister station) and KSNT-TV, the NBC affiliate in Topeka. The deal also includes KSN's five satellite stations.
So come down and buy a TV station in Kansas! Hurry, offer ends soon.
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Spanish broadcaster charges racism in Arbitron numbers
Plus other demo ratings news of note
Spanish-language broadcaster WLEY-FM is charging that the station's numbers -as well as those of other Hispanic broadcasters - are down become Arbitron did not send out enough diaries to Spanish-speaking households in the Chicago area.
"I question the statistical reliability of this survey," he said. "They did not have a sufficient number of diaries to represent the Hispanic marketplace." according to Jeff Shrinsky, who is vice president and general manager of WLEY, speaking to the Chicago Tribune.
Arbitron denied the charges, noting that while the diaries represented only 12 percent of the Chicago's population, the results were weighted to the Hispanic population, which is 17.7 percent.
And things will get more controversial when Arbitron's new Portable People Meter -an electronic device to accurately measure ratings meant to replace diaries - will roll out next year in Chicago. The PPMs are already being used in Philadelphia and Houston.
Meanwhile, WTMX's Eric & Kathy continue to dominate with young listeners, finishing first among women 18-34 (they gained national publicity for the Love At First Sight stunt, which was featured on 20/20), while WLUP's Jonathan Brandmeier and WCKG's Steve Dahl continue to do what they do best - finishing number one in the key male 25-54 demos in the morning and afternoons, respectively.
WDRV ranked first among rock stations in the 25-54 demo and among male demos, and Mike North's morning show on WSCR-AM also did quite well, thanks to his on-air argument with White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen.
Spanish-language broadcaster WLEY-FM is charging that the station's numbers -as well as those of other Hispanic broadcasters - are down become Arbitron did not send out enough diaries to Spanish-speaking households in the Chicago area.
"I question the statistical reliability of this survey," he said. "They did not have a sufficient number of diaries to represent the Hispanic marketplace." according to Jeff Shrinsky, who is vice president and general manager of WLEY, speaking to the Chicago Tribune.
Arbitron denied the charges, noting that while the diaries represented only 12 percent of the Chicago's population, the results were weighted to the Hispanic population, which is 17.7 percent.
And things will get more controversial when Arbitron's new Portable People Meter -an electronic device to accurately measure ratings meant to replace diaries - will roll out next year in Chicago. The PPMs are already being used in Philadelphia and Houston.
Meanwhile, WTMX's Eric & Kathy continue to dominate with young listeners, finishing first among women 18-34 (they gained national publicity for the Love At First Sight stunt, which was featured on 20/20), while WLUP's Jonathan Brandmeier and WCKG's Steve Dahl continue to do what they do best - finishing number one in the key male 25-54 demos in the morning and afternoons, respectively.
WDRV ranked first among rock stations in the 25-54 demo and among male demos, and Mike North's morning show on WSCR-AM also did quite well, thanks to his on-air argument with White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen.
TMZ is in the zone
Aaron Barnhart of TV Barn takes a look at the new Warner Bros.- syndicated show spun off from the popular website premiering in the fall (It airs in Chicago on WPWR-TV at 6:30 weeknights and late nights on sister station WFLD-TV beginning in September.) And that website has scored another coup - it was the first to break news of Lindsey Lohan's latest missteps.
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Chicago Reader sold
The free weekly alternative was sold to Creative Loafing of Tampa after 36 years of local ownership, and employees of the Reader aren't too thrilled about it.
Presenting the Spring 2007 Arbitron book
For Chicago and Milwaukee. Random thoughts:
-WGCI-FM, WVAZ, and WPWX all are down from last book. The Howard McGee debacle at WGCI certainly won't help them as they might not see No.1 for a very long time.
- WBBM-FM got pummeled by WKSC-FM (Kiss), falling out of the top 10 and recording their worst numbers since 1982. Time for some changes at B96 (Hint: start with the awful morning show.)
- Urban/Hip-Hop/Rhythmic stations down as a whole in Chicago. Don Imus backlash? Might not get better with PPMs coming.
- Hot AC WTMX-FM is getting hot indeed with their highest ratings in over a year.
- Oldies WZZN is tied with B96 for 13th place. When WZZN was WYTZ, or Z95, they got hammered by the Killer Bee. Revenge is sweet.
- WLIT is up a tad, but the station's focus is still a mess.
- Jack is gone in NYC, but now has posted its highest ratings in Chicago since the switch from Oldies.
- WKQX-FM and WCKG-FM both trended up. Not as dead as we thought they were.
- CBS' WSCR-AM defeats ESPN's WMVP in sports supremacy.
-WVON, the new all-black talk station, is still trying to find an audience.
- WRZA-FM in Park Forest (formerly WBUS-FM) - part of the Nine FM triplecast - made it onto the survey for the first time in over a year. I guess we Southlanders love our variety hits.
- As far as Milwaukee is concerned, WTMJ-AM remains at the top, but Urban WKKV-FM soared to third place with CHR WXSS-FM in fourth and rocker WHQG-FM (The Hog) in sixth. Is Milwaukee radio doing something right that Chicago isn't?
-WGCI-FM, WVAZ, and WPWX all are down from last book. The Howard McGee debacle at WGCI certainly won't help them as they might not see No.1 for a very long time.
- WBBM-FM got pummeled by WKSC-FM (Kiss), falling out of the top 10 and recording their worst numbers since 1982. Time for some changes at B96 (Hint: start with the awful morning show.)
- Urban/Hip-Hop/Rhythmic stations down as a whole in Chicago. Don Imus backlash? Might not get better with PPMs coming.
- Hot AC WTMX-FM is getting hot indeed with their highest ratings in over a year.
- Oldies WZZN is tied with B96 for 13th place. When WZZN was WYTZ, or Z95, they got hammered by the Killer Bee. Revenge is sweet.
- WLIT is up a tad, but the station's focus is still a mess.
- Jack is gone in NYC, but now has posted its highest ratings in Chicago since the switch from Oldies.
- WKQX-FM and WCKG-FM both trended up. Not as dead as we thought they were.
- CBS' WSCR-AM defeats ESPN's WMVP in sports supremacy.
-WVON, the new all-black talk station, is still trying to find an audience.
- WRZA-FM in Park Forest (formerly WBUS-FM) - part of the Nine FM triplecast - made it onto the survey for the first time in over a year. I guess we Southlanders love our variety hits.
- As far as Milwaukee is concerned, WTMJ-AM remains at the top, but Urban WKKV-FM soared to third place with CHR WXSS-FM in fourth and rocker WHQG-FM (The Hog) in sixth. Is Milwaukee radio doing something right that Chicago isn't?
Bob Sirott's take on Howard McGee
At the end of the 4:30 p.m. newscast on WMAQ-TV yesterday, Bob Sirott (a former DJ himself) addressed the firing of Howard McGee at WGCI during his One More Thing segment and talked about radio's problems in Chicago, especially when it comes to replacing local talent with out-of-town syndicated programming.
Though he missed two items (Harvey's show is based in New York and Tom Joyner's show is actually owned by Radio One but airs on a Clear Channel station here), Sirott hit the nail right on the head. It's a troubling trend, and terrestrial radio is starting to fade itself out of existence.
Not only that, another D.J. at a Chicago Clear Channel station was axed yesterday - WKSC-FM (Kiss) canceled the Mack at Night show, according to All Access.
There is no such thing as job security in radio anymore.
(I know what you all are going to say in the comments section about what I just said. "Well, Duh?")
You can watch Bob Sirott's excellent One More Thing piece by clicking here.
Though he missed two items (Harvey's show is based in New York and Tom Joyner's show is actually owned by Radio One but airs on a Clear Channel station here), Sirott hit the nail right on the head. It's a troubling trend, and terrestrial radio is starting to fade itself out of existence.
Not only that, another D.J. at a Chicago Clear Channel station was axed yesterday - WKSC-FM (Kiss) canceled the Mack at Night show, according to All Access.
There is no such thing as job security in radio anymore.
(I know what you all are going to say in the comments section about what I just said. "Well, Duh?")
You can watch Bob Sirott's excellent One More Thing piece by clicking here.
Fox at TCA
It's Fox's turn at the mic at TCA press tour. Among the nuggets:
- The first of Fox's new fall lineup to roll out will be on August 30 with the season premiere of Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader? with Cops and America's Most Wanted following on Sept. 8 and Kitchen Nightmares on Sept. 13.
- Fox has renewed the show everyone over 40 and loves rock music seems to hate, So You Think You Can Dance and also Hell's Kitchen, for next summer. Why not put these on as midseason replacements?
-Tony Award winner Cherry Jones joins the cast of 24 next season, so she too can get bashed by critics.
- MADtv hits episode 300 this season on November 17 with new cast members Johnny Sanchez III, Dan Osten, and Anjelah Johnson. MADtv debuted all the way back during the Golden Era of Television, 1995.
- Cops, the show that practically invented reality TV, will celebrate its 700th episode and its 20th anniversary this season. The program's syndicated repeats air on every basic cable channel in the world.
- A new show from the producer of Cops, aptly called Jail, follows prisoners from their arrest to their booking to their first moments in the slammer. It premieres Sept. 4. on MyNetworkTV.
- Guest voices lined up on The Simpsons next season: Jon Stewart, Jack Black, Lionel Richie, Stephen Colbert, Matt Dillon, Kelsey Grammer (in the role of Sideshow Bob), David Hyde Pierce, John Mahoney and Beverly D’Angelo (likely in the role of Lureen Lumpkin. Remember her? I think she was a hip-hop artist or something....)
- The first of Fox's new fall lineup to roll out will be on August 30 with the season premiere of Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader? with Cops and America's Most Wanted following on Sept. 8 and Kitchen Nightmares on Sept. 13.
- Fox has renewed the show everyone over 40 and loves rock music seems to hate, So You Think You Can Dance and also Hell's Kitchen, for next summer. Why not put these on as midseason replacements?
-Tony Award winner Cherry Jones joins the cast of 24 next season, so she too can get bashed by critics.
- MADtv hits episode 300 this season on November 17 with new cast members Johnny Sanchez III, Dan Osten, and Anjelah Johnson. MADtv debuted all the way back during the Golden Era of Television, 1995.
- Cops, the show that practically invented reality TV, will celebrate its 700th episode and its 20th anniversary this season. The program's syndicated repeats air on every basic cable channel in the world.
- A new show from the producer of Cops, aptly called Jail, follows prisoners from their arrest to their booking to their first moments in the slammer. It premieres Sept. 4. on MyNetworkTV.
- Guest voices lined up on The Simpsons next season: Jon Stewart, Jack Black, Lionel Richie, Stephen Colbert, Matt Dillon, Kelsey Grammer (in the role of Sideshow Bob), David Hyde Pierce, John Mahoney and Beverly D’Angelo (likely in the role of Lureen Lumpkin. Remember her? I think she was a hip-hop artist or something....)
So, this is where CBS got the idea for "Kid Nation"
Yesterday's episode of South Park that aired in syndication: "The Wacky Molestation Adventure", which originally aired on Comedy Central on December 13, 2000, where the kids in South Park got the parents arrested for molestation, and they ran the town.
Doesn't this make a great reality show, minus the molestation? Wait a minute...
(BTW, this is our 500th post! Yay!)
Doesn't this make a great reality show, minus the molestation? Wait a minute...
(BTW, this is our 500th post! Yay!)
Monday, July 23, 2007
"Pirate Master" walks the plank
This is not a repost of an earlier item, but CBS finally got rid of Goober and the Ghost Chasers, err... I mean, Pirate Master, dumping it with five episodes to go... And no, it's not going to Saturday mornings (where ABC's disposed sitcom Ailens in the Family once ended up...)
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