Jay Leno to stay with NBC - at 9 p.m. Central

And that's 9 p.m. every weeknight.

In a stunning and historic announcement, NBC is keeping Jay Leno by giving him a hour a night - in primetime.

Leno is expected to take over the 9 p.m. time slot (that's 10 p.m. Eastern and Pacific) every weeknight as a strip beginning next fall. Excluding special events (and My Network TV's short-lived telenovela attempt), this marks the first time in television history a single television program has been stripped five nights a week in the same time slot in primetime on a major television network.

The format of the show is expected to retain some the elements of the program Jay Leno is currently hosting.

Leno became Tonight Show host in 1993, succeeding the late Johnny Carson. Leno agreed to step down in May 2009 so Conan O'Brien - who took over late night from David Letterman in 1993 when he left for CBS - can become host of the Tonight Show (the saga of NBC choosing Leno over Letterman for Carson's throne was wonderfully documented in Bill Carter's The Late Shift book.)

The move is being greeted as a way to cut down on expenses and become less reliant on the network's entertainment division, as parent NBC Universal is grappling with layoffs and a company-wide restructuring. Plus, NBC is considering giving

Leno's move to prime-time is seen as a victory for NBC, who was being wooed by ABC, Sony, and Fox.

Thought: Yours truly is a hard-core writer, and you are probably thinking, "Oh, Terence must be against this deal because it takes food out of writers' mouths by eliminating five-nights of scripted programming."

Um, no. And besides, the five hours of scripted fare would have sucked anyway, if more fare like My Own Worst Enemy were being churned out.

I actually think it's a good idea - not from an expense and bean-counter standpoint, but from a creative and counter-programming one. Think about this: at 9 p.m. Central - or 10 p.m. for those of you who don't live in the middle part of the country - the networks put on either crime dramas, female-targeted dramas, or some newsmagazine.

But don't forget - the 9 p.m. hour is also where cable networks bring out their best programming - Comedy Central airs South Park, SciFi airs Battlestar Galactica, Bravo with Project Runway, and so on. The good news for Leno is, these shows air once a week and their seasons are rather short.

Plus Fox, CW, and My Network TV affiliates and independents air either syndicated programming or local news at 9. WGN-TV and WFLD-TV have local newscasts, while WCIU airs syndicated repeats of Fraiser and WPWR airs Malcolm in the Middle and Scrubs in the hour (no Raymond? What gives?).

In New York, WNYW (Fox), WPIX (CW), and WWOR-TV (My) all air news at 10 p.m.

Their are plenty of options to choose from in the last hour of prime-time. So why not air a talk show? There is precendent: In the 1990's Montel Williams' issues-oriented daytime talk show had a successful run at 9 p.m. on WPWR - though Vibe - an urban-oriented nighttime talk show featuring the awful Chris Spencer (in the first few weeks before he was mercifully replaced by Sinbad) which replaced Montel in 1997 - faltered in the time period.

The one concern I have is what kind of effect this will have on NBC affiliates' local late news. While Leno does well in the 25-54 demo, will he attract news viewers to newscasts? Since local news also attracts large numbers of 25-54 viewers, the flow is not a given. On the other hand, Leno could give NBC affils struggling in news - notably KSHB-TV in Kansas City and WLWT in Cincinnati - a boost, given both stations' ratings are about as bad as their pro sports teams.

While Leno averages 5 million for NBC late night, he could actually attract more viewers, who aren't interested in news, crime dramas, or anything cable has to offer. Leno adds to the wide variety of genres in the time period available to viewers. Aaron Barnhart of the Kansas City Star points out higher HUT levels may also benefit Leno.

And perhaps the best news of all - it gives NBC exec Ben Silverman five hours less to screw up in primetime.

Tribune files bankruptcy

In a move that comes as surprising and shocking, The Tribune Co. - home to the Chicago Tribune, WGN-TV and WGN-AM and the Chicago Cubs, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

It's no secret Tribune has been under heavy debt load since the company was taken over by Sam Zell for $8.2 billion and was taken private last year. Under Zell, Tribune assumed more than $13 billion in debt.

But with the economy continuing to go south and the worsening credit crisis, Tribune had no choice but to file for Chapter 11, as the prognosis for its newspapers, television businesses, and WGN-AM are growing worse by the day.

It is possible some television stations in markets outside of the ten largest and WGN America could be sold. But with the ongoing credit crisis, it would be impossible to make such deals.

But despite that, Tribune continues to operate its businesses normally. The Chicago Cubs and Wrigley Field are not part of the bankruptcy filing.

Zell purchased Tribune, but had to get waivers from the FCC to keep in television stations in markets where it also owns newspapers, which were New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago (Newsday in New York has since been sold to Cablevision owner James Dolan.) Despite objections from media activists, the FCC approved the waivers in a 3-2 partisan vote.

Thought: Well, this what happens when Big Media gets - well, too big. We knew the sharks were circulating the water when Tribune bought the Los Angeles Times a few years ago. And Tribune, which 18 years ago had just six television stations, now has 23 (at one time, they had 26.)

And so what happens when you expand and buy, buy, buy? You go deeper and deeper into debt. Then when the economy goes south like it just did recently, your ass is up the creek without a paddle. It's as simple as that.

Too bad the Federal Communication Commission didn't get the message. The three Republicans on the board, including Kevin Martin, voted to approve the deal in a very partisan vote. He and his ilk thought bigger was better. While Chicago Democrats and Illinois politicians initially supported the deal, they didn't say a word when the sale became final - though fellow Dems Michael Copps and Jonathan Adelstein had plenty to say.

Interestingly enough, Martin - who is more concerned about protecting children from dirty words on television rather than keeping a competitive balance in the marketplace - had nothing to say about Tribune's bankruptcy.

And now, look at the media business. Along with the rest of corporate America - which sold out to Wall Street instead of Main Street - you have firings, mass layoffs, downsizings, and now bankruptcies. In fact, another station group owner filed for bankruptcy today (Equity Media Holdings.)

How many layoffs and firings have their been the last two years in Chicago? Too many to count. Though some deserved it (Joe Ahern and Carol Fowler of WBBM-TV come to mind), others did not. And a few others (Eddie & JoBo, Steve Dahl, and "Crazy" Howard McGee) were highly paid radio stars whose large contracts and declining ratings were no longer justified in keeping them on the air, at least as far as their employers is concerned - though you don't need declining ratings to get canned. Ask Mr. McGee, who was fired from WGCI last year - despite being in the top five in morning drive.

While yours truly admittedly supported the deal at first, I thought the sale would keep jobs in Chicago, keep the media conglomerate together, and serve all of Chicagoland better. Boy, was I wrong on the first (Tribune has made numerous layoffs since) likely wrong on the second, and definitely wrong on the third (the "Breaking News" section full of mostly crime blotter stories on the Trib's website is not what I call serving Chicagoland better.) It's more proof Zell took us for a bunch of saps and dips (maybe Tim Kring has a point...)

And look at WGN-AM. The station has gone from a top dog to just a dog, as the new Portable People Meter surveys show the station falling to seventh place overall and failing to show up in key demos - especially the all-important 25-54 age bracket in November.

Zell thought he could take a mountain load of debt and make it work, taking a huge gamble in the process - a gamble he now has clearly lost.

And now, Tribune may be facing even more layoffs and firings. May I suggest they start - and end - with the editorial board, who endorsed media consolidation - and Zell himself. But that's wishful thinking, right?

Report: Tribune may consider bankruptcy

And the media heartbreak continues... It is possible Tribune Co. may file for bankruptcy as soon as this week. The move could come after a huge third-quarter loss this year.

Media's Black Friday - or week

Believe it or not, there were even more layoffs and firings outside of Steve Dahl this week alone:

- Fred Huebner, 16-year veteran of WSCR-AM as the sports news reporter

- Overnight jock "Wild" Bill Garcia, US99 (WSCR-AM) veteran

- Chicago Public Radio lays off eleven

- ABC affiliate KSTP-TV in Minneapolis cut eighteen people from its newsroom

- Real Networks lays off 150

- NBC Universal slashes 500 jobs

- Viacom, a.k.a "The V of Doom" lowers the boom and axes 850 people

The media business is stating to resemble a MASH unit!

Steve Dahl out at Jack FM

(Editor's note: I apologize for the lateness of this post, as I had Internet connection problems that knocked me offline for awhile this evening. - T.H.)

The ax swung again at CBS Radio at a highly-paid radio personality - and this time - and to no one's surprise - it was Steve Dahl.

The venerable and legendary personality left WJMK-FM (Jack FM) after his show ended at 9 a.m. this morning, ending speculation about his future at the CBS-owned station. Dahl had two and a half years left on his contract.

Dahl anchored afternoons at the old WCKG-FM, where he did very well in the male 25-54 demo. But the station did not draw an audience outside of his show, and Dahl agreed to move to the morning drive at the struggling WJMK on November 5, 2007 after CBS decided to flip WCKG to adult contemporary.

Dahl's new morning show actually got off to a good start in late 2007, when his morning show finished did well among key demos under the old diary system. But when the new Portable People Meters became active in this market, the new measurement showed Dahl's ratings plummeting among those same key demos.

The move was disastrous, as his audience didn't follow him to his new time slot - similar to what Larry Lujack went through- only in reverse, as he moved to afternoon drive in 1986 after years of being in morning drive at WLS-AM (he retired from the station a year later.) The conversion to PPMs and Dahl's show being shortned by a hour last August were apparently the final nail in the coffin.

Rumors have circulated about Dahl's future at the station ever since Ed Volkman and Joe Bohannon were fired from sister station WBBM-FM two weeks ago. All three personalities made huge salaries, which were clearly being cut from the company. The evidence of his possible departure was piling up more and more during the last 48 hours, as message boards were buzzing.

At the end of today's show, Dahl said he was "being pulled from the air" and management asked him at least to finish out the year. Dahl declined and left, mentioning that he wasn't retiring. He said "Aloha" and the last song he played was "If You See Me Getting Smaller, I'm Leaving." by Jimmy Webb.

Also out was Dahl's entire staff, including Buzz Killman and producer Mary Van Deele.

Thought: Personally, I can't really comment about the quality of Dahl's program in recent years since I've never really listened to it. But I'll say this: the way Dahl's bosses handled this - from the WCKG format flip to his move to the mornings - was quite poor. Dahl clearly was not the perfect fit for the WJMK-FM's music format, as he could not connect with the music they played, especially if he didn't want to talk about Huey Lewis, Rick Astley, or Def Leppard (and who here really does?)

With Dahl gone from Jack FM, the future of the station is up the air. With WJMK in sixteenth place in the core adult 25-54 demo and sinking, the axe is getting ready to swing. Despite his poor ratings, Dahl was basically the only attraction to the station. And because of those ratings, he was being pulled off the air - with nobody going in. Without Dahl, the station is back to being a terrestrial MP3 player, playing anything it wants. We saw how that worked out for Nine-FM here and WCBS-FM in New York, which dumped "Jack" last year to return to an oldies format.

CBS clearly wasn't getting a ROI with Dahl, so they cut him loose. And now they're stuck paying the man for the next two and a half years, with a buyout unlikely for the cash-strapped radio conglomerate. But the bad news for Dahl is, his active contract keeps him off the air for the next 36 months, or so.

And of course, the recent axings at the network's radio division locally shed some light on the business practices at The Church of Tisch, a place more known for cost-cutting than for hiring and nurturing talent. It's been that way since 1986, when el cheapo Larry Tisch bought CBS and has had the stigma ever since. I was surprised Steve Dahl wasn't hit up for a "mandatory donation" to pay for former WBBM-TV boss Joe Ahern's lavish lunches and marble showers.

With the ghost of Larry Tisch showing up more often, it's little wonder we never see the ghost of legendary CBS founder William Paley. It's probably because Tisch has Paley locked in a Public Storage locker somewhere in heaven.

As for Dahl, his career in radio was indeed a great one - and quite interesting. From Disco Demolition to his often turbulent relationship with Garry Meier, if he ever writes an autobiography about his career, his readers would never get bored. It's too bad this chapter of his story turned out to have a very bad ending. But at least he has time now to work on that book.

"Doctors" ties "Deal" in frosh syndie race

CBS Television's new Doctors has tied NBC Universal's Deal or No Deal in the first-run syndication race among new series, with both shows tying each other at 1.9. GAA rating.

Doctors was up 12 percent from last week; Deal was flat.

But Disney-ABC's new weekly hour Legend of the Seeker beat them both, with a 2.1 rating, up 5 percent.

Meanwhile, another weekly Disney-ABC syndicated program is having a tougher go at it.

At the Movies with new co-hosts Ben Lyons and Ben Mackiewicz are having a rough time since replacing longtime hosts Roger Ebert and Richard Roeper. Ratings have dropped 23 percent from last year to just 1.7 million viewers this season so far. Ratings are also down 25 percent in the adults 25-54 demo.

At the Movies continues to be shot at WLS-TV's 190 North State Street studios here in Chicago.

Amy Jacobson speaks

Former WMAQ-TV reporter Amy Jacobson speaks out in candid detail in this interview conducted by Chicago Magazine's Lucinda Hahn. Ms. Jacobson talks about the events that led to a downfall of her career - and her personal life, including the infamous videotape shot by rival WBBM-TV (the management running the station at the time has since departed) while she was at the Stebic household wearing a bikini top and a towel wrapped around her waist.

T Dog's Groovy Grab Bag

Yes, it's another edition of the Bag. Reach in...

- It's the 2008 version of an Edsel: NBC has announced it has halted production of its revival of the television series Knight Rider, meaning the show is finishing its run in February, then likely vanish never to be seen again. It may have been worse: NBC might have tried to revive My Mother, The Car...

- In other NBC news, the network has given The Office the post-Super Bowl slot on Feb. 1. The decision was originally announced last spring, but there was word circulating over the last few weeks the network might use another show to put in the plum slot, like the upcoming Kings - or a revival of My Mother, The Car...

- CW affiliate KCWE-TV in Kansas City and My Network TV affiliate WMZY-TV in Derry, N.H. (Boston) are the latest stations planning to shut off their analog transmitters early, ahead of the February 17 cutoff date. KCWE cans their analog signal on Dec. 15; WMZY already has, using its analog signal to run DTV information.

- It's not often yours truly reports on happenings from the local Los Angeles market - mainly because such info is very hard to come by, with no Rob Feder or Phil Rosenthal-like columnist to keep people informed on the local radio and TV beat. But here's an item of note - Fox-owned KTTV plans to launch a noon newscast effective Monday. The new newscast is a half-hour in length, and is up against a competing newscast on KCAL-TV.

Chicago PPM results for November (updated)

The results from November's PPMs are here, just three days after the radio ratings period ended. Isn't it great to get results like this so quick? (Just don't ask WGN-AM...) Borrowing the formula from Marc Berman's Programming Insider from Mediaweek:

Winners:
WBBM-AM, WLS (AM and FM), The Drive (WDRV-FM), V103 (WVAZ-FM)

Honorable Mention:
Lite FM (WLIT-FM), WBEZ-FM, WIND-AM

Disappointing (like the Bears):
The Score (WSCR-AM), ESPN 1000 (WMVP)

Losers:
WGN-AM, Love FM (WILV), Q101, Power 92 (WPWX-FM), Jack FM (WJMK-FM)

The November PPM book certainly brought some surprises - like the decline of WGN-AM, which went from second in October to seventh in total-day 2+ numbers, and not ranking in the top 20 at all in adults 25-54. With this surprisingly poor performance, I'm sorry WGN - it's off to the loser's circle.

All news WBBM-AM took top honors in 2+ and in adults 25-54 cume, while V103 (WVAZ-FM) took first in total day 25-54 numbers. V103 also surged in midday (Troi Tyler) and afternoons (Doug Banks), finishing third and second, respectively. Citadel had a great book - WLS - both AM and FM, occupied the second and third spots in 2+, with WLS-FM finishing eighth in total day 25-54s.

Bonneville's WDRV is another winner - The Drive finished second in total day 2+ , total day 25-54s, in 25-54 cume, and second in morning drive in 25-54s. Its' sister station (WTMX) finished first in 25-54 in morning drive with Eric & Kathy - thanks to the strong female demo.

WLIT warmed up for its holiday music drive by showing increases in total day overall ratings, while V103 and WBEZ scored ratings increases across the board (though V103 was flat in total day 2+).

Also showing a healthy increase was WIND-AM, thanks to the recent election.

On the flipside, it's clear Chicago radio listeners don't want to hear callers bitch about how bad the Bears are as ratings for both sports radio stations took a dive after Chicago's baseball teams' playoffs were over, which itself was disappointing.

Aside from WGN, the losers were pretty much the usual suspects - and as for Steve Dahl's morning show - once again borrowing a phrase from Marc Berman - the axe is waiting to swing.

To read the total day PPM numbers click here. To read the 25-54 rankings, click here.

UPDATE: Here are the rankings in the adults 18-49 demo, and it shows Spanish-language WOJO-FM in the top spot in all but one of the dayparts (weekends went to WVAZ-FM), while WGN-AM once again, does not show up in the top 20 any of the rankings, while alt-rock Q101 (WKQX) shows up in the top 20 only on weekends. Ouch!

Updated 10:26 p.m. on 2008-12-04

T Dog's Groovy Grab Bag

- SciFi orders new Caprica: The SciFi Channel has greenlighted a new prequel for Battlestar Galactica titled Caprica. The prequel is set fifty years before Galactica's Cylon attack, with two rival families dealing with life on Caprica, including an emerging artifical intelligence sector on the planet.

- The Big three networks have announced their new mid-season prime-time schedules, if you care. Click here for ABC, here for NBC, and here for CBS. The big project is CBS' new serial Harper's Island, a serial running for thirteen weeks, if its' lucky. Otherwise, skip the rest - especially NBC's crappy schedule, from the mind of Ben "Bulls Ballboy" Silverman.

- William Shanter has a new program on the Bio Channel titled Shanter's Last Nerve. Shanter has stated he's always wanted to host a talk show. Let's hope syndicators aren't listening. Or we might see him on every morning at 11.

-WKRP is on the air in Cincinnati. Really. WBQC-CA, a low-powered independent station in Cincinnati has branded itself "WKRP TV", after the TV series WKRP in Cincinnati, which ran on CBS from 1978 to 1982.

The name change does not include the station's current call letters - they're staying WBQC. The WKRP call letters reside with a low-powered TV station in Nashville. The branding should not be confused with WKRC-TV, the CBS (and former ABC) affiliate in Cincinnati.

WKRP of course, was a sitcom about a fictional radio station in Cincinnati. The program entered off-network syndication in September 1982, and performed very well for stations airing it. A sequel titled The New WKRP in Cincinnati debuted in first-run syndication in 1991, but was cut down two years later because of high production costs.

Currently, the original WKRP runs on WGN America's Sunday night lineup, as well as American Life's Monday night lineup. Ironically, WKRP isn't running on the branded WKRP, as over-the-air broadcast rights of the show aren't available (music rights issues, perhaps?) So no Me-TV appearences for WKRP...

Syndication rights to WKRP are held by Twentieth Television, but in the past was held by MTM (who produced the show) and Jim Victory Television, who handled all of MTM's properties in syndication back in the day (except for The Mary Tyler Moore Show and The Bob Newhart Show - those two were handled by Viacom.)

This is catching on

The new digitial subchannel from MGM and Weigel Broadcasting titled This TV - a channel featuring movies and television shows from MGM's library, has gotten off to a good start, and has now lined up 40+ stations across the country.

Station groups signing affiliation agreements include Fisher Broadcasting, Sinclair Broadcasting, Hearst-Argyle Television, and Post-Newsweek stations. According to Wikipedia, stations cleared include KPRC-TV Houston, WDIV-TV Detroit, and WRGB-TV Albany, N.Y. Both KPRC and WDIV are replacing the soon to be shuttered Weather Plus with This TV.

Early ratings reports show the new network is drawing viewers in Chicago, Milwaukee, and Columbus, Ohio. This airs on the digital subchannels of Weigel-owned WCIU-TV, WDJT-TV, and Sinclair-owned WSYX-TV, respectively.

In Milwaukee, a 1972 horror movie titled Frogs beat a college football game on sister station WMLW-TV on a recent Saturday, and also beat programming on Sinclair's My Network TV station, WCGV-TV.

Movies scheduled to run on This the next couple of days include China Moon, The Mighty Quinn, and The Terminator.

"Rosie Live!" dead on arrival

Dancing cupcakes? People spinning on their heads? Alanis Morrisette signing adult contemporary? It's little wonder no one watched Rosie Live on Wednesday night, which tied ABC's now-canceled Pushing Daisies as the lowest-rated original show of the evening. And judging by the reviews, no one missed anything.

You'd think Rosie O'Donnell would bring back the fun of her old daytime show (at least from the early years - before she got political), but I guess that's too much to ask from her, right?

NBC announced there would be no more Rosie Live specials, due to Wednesday night's poor performance.

If the special was successful, NBC could have picked up Rosie Live for six more episodes. Talk about dodging a bullet.

More syndie cancellations coming?

The president of Debmar-Mercury is calling out the first-run syndication business.

In an interview with Broadcasting & Cable, Mort Marcus says we might be seeing more syndie cancellations coming in the next several months as the economy continues to become worse.

Marcus, who runs the company responsible for syndicating South Park, Family Feud, Trivial Pursuit, and the upcoming Wendy Williams Show, points out that syndicators aren't going to be taking on deficit-financed programming during a recession, and many low-rated programs on the air now could end up going away as a result. Plus, he says sales of new shows are being slowed because of the recession.

So far, only Dr. Oz from Sony, T.D. Jakes from CBS, and Debmar's own Wendy has been sold into first-run syndication for next fall.

There are reports many syndicators are struggling financially, as the economic situation has gotten worse. According to Marcus, many stations are balking at renewing some programs because they simply can't come up with the cash license fee.

Marcus also talks about the hazard of stations signing long-term deals for syndicated programming, and the possibility of Oprah Winfrey departing her talk show come 2011.

He certainly has some valid points here. After all, can anyone explain why Comics Unleashed and Jury Duty (with an average rating of 0.2 - yes, 0.2) are still on the air? As far as the latter is concerned, somebody must be busting the bank to keep the show in production (and if it is, the bank probably won't be around for long in this economy.)

The 2008 T Dog Blog Turkey Awards

Well, it's that time of year again... It's Thanksgiving... and it's time for the third annual T Dog Media Blog Turkey Awards, celebrating the worst in media. Gobble, gobble...

- Media Rights Capital's Sunday lineup on CW. The network leases its Sunday lineup to MRC, and programs it with junk like Valentine and Easy Money. The results? CW's ratings go even lower - lower than even TV preacher shows Paula White Today and Dr. James D. Kennedy. The CW recently took back the night to program, albeit with reruns. Praise the Lord!

- The Detroit Lions. This is history, baby! 0-16!

- NBC. The Ben Silverman era makes me long for the Fred Silverman era. Is a remake of Supertrain on tap?

- Joe Ahern. The WBBM-TV boss was canned for being unable to translate his success at WLS-TV to the beleaguered CBS-owned station - and not to mention making station employees pay for his lunches...

- The FCC. An award for the third year in a row. The agency is more concerned about indecency than the upcoming analog-to-digital TV conversion. Don't worry - the kids will be protected because if they don't have cable or satellite, they won't be able to turn on the TV come February 17.

- The Parents Television Council. It just wouldn't be the T Dog Media Blog Turkey Awards without this group showing up here.

- Nine-FM. This turkey finally flew the coup in October after four non-productive years of "We Play Anything."

- HD-DVD. Tobisha's attempt to compete with Blu-Ray in the race for the next generation of DVDs fell apart with a mighty dud, with Blu-Ray declared the "winner". Or is it the loser? Sales of Blu-Ray players have been quite lackluster since HD-DVD's demise.

- The Cubs. It's gonna happen. Well, it didn't.

- Star Wars: The Clone Wars. The debut of the TV series scored the highest ratings ever for Cartoon Network. So what? The movie - which came out in August - flopped with audiences. Sorry, but a turd is still a turd.

- Jay Mariotti. This jive turkey decided to fly from the Sun-Times coup, beliving "newspapers are dead", but a few days later, he interviews with the Tribune. A gobbling, gobbling liar.

- The return of Mancow and Delilah. You know the statement "You always can't go broke underestimating the tastes of the American public...?" So true.

- Fox News' E.D. Hill. She reported the fist-bump gesture Obama did with his wife was a "terrorist fist-jab." - something Howie Mandel also does on Deal or No Deal because he is a germophobic. Well, Obama is President-Elect, Howie still has his job, and E.D. Hill's career in journalism is over, as Fox declined to renew her contract.

- Randy from Survivor: Gabon. Is this guy a potential Fox News hire or what? This guy made Omorosa and Johnny Fairplay look like Donny & Marie. With Alan Comes gone, now Randy can team up with Sean Hannity for the "Hannity & Randy Hour". Now that's a hour of must-see (or flee) TV!

- The Simpsons' That '90's Show episode. Nothing smells like desperation like a "Jump the Shark" stunt like rewriting the back story of the series because the writers ran out of ideas. You guys are lucky the fans are this forgiving... unlike in the next example...

- Heroes and Tim Kring. The biggest turkey of 2008 is this current season of Heroes and features the worst storytelling I've seen anywhere in recent memory (and I've seen Barbershop 2.) Too many characters, unbelievably dumb plots (Hiro thinks he's ten?), abandoning storylines without closure, and horrible, horrible, writing and acting. The result? Ratings are down by 40 percent this year compared to last.

And then there's Heroes creator Tim Kring, while at a recent screenwriting expo, called his fans "saps" and "dipshits" for watching the series live as it airs and not figuring out how to watch the program in a more superior way, i.e. DVR and DVDs (He has since apologized.) Hey "dipshit", I have one word to call you and your stupid show- retarded. You've lost this viewer. How about a pumpkin pie to the face, you sniveling jackass?

Happy Thanksgiving!

T Dog's Groovy Grab Bag

- Fox O&Os, including WFLD-TV here in Chicago, have renewed Warner Bros.' TMZ on TV nightly strip through the 2010-11 season. So more celebrity paparazzi junk from producer and alleged lawyer Lionel Hutz - I mean, Harvey Levin.

- Check out Battlestar Galactica's new promo for its' fourth-season premiere, coming in January.

- The first broadcast station sale of Twentieth's My Name Is Earl occurred - to independent WPCH-TV in Atlanta for fall 2009, as well as NBC Universal's The Office - and the station's new national ad sales rep is Millennium, taking over for Turner. No word on a Chicago clearance for Earl, but The Office is slated for WPWR-TV (or WFLD) next fall.

- Here's one way to get out of jury duty, albeit a very stupid one: The general manager for ABC-owned KFSN-TV in Fresno, Calif. is out after making some negative comments about Hispanics while under consideration for jury duty. Bob Hall resigned after he said to a court reporter he could not be a fair juror because he had proof Hispanic males commit more violent crimes than any other group in the Fresno area.

Hispanics make up 49 percent of the Fresno-Visalia market, and is ranked the thirteenth largest Hispanic market in the country.

Can we say... oops? This Bob Hall guy makes Joe Ahern look like General Manger of the Year by comparison.

Fox drops Saturday cartoons - for infomercials

Foxhas announced it is trading in Sonic the Hedgehog - for a bunch of people riding around in Hoveround chairs.

In a move that ends children's programming on Fox after 18 years, the network announced it is dropping the 4KidsTV block it had been airing on Saturday mornings. This comes after 4Kids sued Fox for a refund, alleging it owed them money if the clearance levels fell below 90 percent.

The two parties settled out of court, and as a result, the deal between 4Kids and Fox ends on Dec. 27, which will be the last broadcast of Saturday morning cartoons on the network.

As a replacement, Fox instead will be airing infomercials - yes, infomercials - the same ones you see late at night on TV, from Carelton Sheets to Time-Life Music. It is believed this is the first time a major network has opted for long-form commercials outside of President-Elect Barack Obama's time buy before the recent election.

Fox has being leasing the Saturday morning block to 4KidsTv since 2002 - a year after the network ended its' weekday afternoon animated block. 4Kids had been paying Fox $20 million for the privilege per year. According to the suit, 4Kids claims Fox owed them $13 million, due to the failure to keep the clearance level above 90 percent. Fox countered it didn't owe 4Kids any money.

Earlier this year, CW and 4Kids made a deal for the entity to program CW's Saturday morning lineup, replacing the Kids' WB fare it has aired for years (going back to The WB days.) The agreement continues, with some 4Kids fare formerly aired on Fox likely winding up on CW.

Fox's children's lineup began in 1990 as Fox Kids, as a partnership with the network and its' affiliates; any profits derived from the programming would be split between both parties. Its' start however was rocky: 60 or so Fox affiliates was airing The Disney Afternoon two-hour animated block at the time, and Buena Vista Television (now Disney-ABC Domestic Television) sued Fox to keep those time periods (it didn't succeed.)

Fox's afternoon kids block hit its' peak in the mid-1990's, with hits like Animanics, Tiny Toon Adventures, and Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.

But ratings dwindled by the end of the decade, as kids inherited more programming options (like cable and DVDs), and many others decided to be heavily-involved in after-school activities, which meant fewer and fewer kids were at home in early fringe to watch TV.

Also, traditional animated fare has fallen out of favor with today's kids, preferring live-action comedies (think Hannah Montana) and other programming instead.

As for Saturday mornings, the other networks have regulated children's programming to three-hour educational programming blocks on Saturday or Sunday mornings, pairing them with national and local news shows, a trend started by NBC affiliate KCRA-TV in Sacramento in 1989, which dropped cartoons for local news shows. As a result, ratings - and revenue - skyrocketed and placed KCRA in first place on Saturday mornings.

Then-NBC affiliate KRON-TV in neighboring San Francisco shortly followed suit, as did stations in Atlanta, Minneapolis, and even here in Chicago - WGN-TV programmed news on weekend mornings for a short-time in the mid-'90's. The moves led NBC to add a Saturday Today show in 1992, with CBS adding a Saturday news show four years later, followed by ABC with a Saturday edition of Good Morning, America.

Many Fox stations - including WFLD-TV here in Chicago, dropped the 4Kids block, and either punted it to their sister MyNetworkTV station (in this case, WPWR-TV) or some other station in a given market. In Atlanta and Austin, TX - where Fox owns stations, Fox's 4Kids TV block didn't air at all.

The move signals an end of an era of sorts - an era that saw a daypart dominated by Scooby-Doo, The Smurfs, Garfield, Fat Albert, Bugs Bunny, The Banana Splits, and a whole lot more - not to mention making companies like Hanna-Barbera, Filmation, and Film Roman whole lot of money along the way. But let's face it - it was an era that passed quite a while ago.

John Willams to succede Spike O'Dell

It's official: Radio-info is reporting on its front page right now of the promotion of afternoon host John Willams to mornings on WGN-AM after current host Spike O'Dell retires on December 12. Willams take over the following Monday (December 15.)

No word yet on who will take over Willams' spot in the afternoons.

More from Phil Rosenthal in his Tower Ticker blog.

B96 thanks Eddie & JoBo & Erica (updated)

WBBM-FM has a note on their website saying "thanks" to Eddie Volkman, Joe Bohannon, and Erica Cobb for their years of hard work and dedication on their morning show. As you all know by now, the trio were let go Friday.

In an interview with Phil Rosenthal of the Tribune, Volkman talked about the harsh realities facing the radio business - admitting the big paydays of years past are in - well, the past.

Cobb posted a goodbye note to her fans on her Facebook page and took a parting shot at her critics (I assume including this blog - which took a shot at her last spring for an on-air incident:)

"I am SO grateful and unbelievably blessed to have been a part of so many of your lives every morning. And I'm even more touched that so many of you feel that there will be a void by me not being there tomorrow. I love you all, I'll miss you all, but this is NOT the end, and I'll see you soon.

"No tears for me... I'm in MEXICO for crying out loud and when I return it's back to the grind. But I'll do so with excitement as I'm a firm believer in one door closing another one opening! AND to the haters ... LOL, it's such a rare opportunity that I actually address people who have so little to do but talk poorly about others who CHOOSE to work hard to achieve their dreams!

"I've NEVER considered my success your failure. And find it QUITE sad that you'd consider my 'failure,' which it's clearly NOT, your success. But if that's the way you want to play it, then I want you to prepare for MANY more failures in YOUR future."

Well, at least she has much more class than a certain creator and producer of a Monday night NBC show, who called fans of his program "saps and dipshits" at a screenwriting expo in Los Angeles last week. So how come Ms. Cobb loses her gig and this "dipshit" keeps his?

Ah, you gotta love this business. But don't worry - this "dipshit" will lose his job soon enough.

UPON FURTHER REVIEW: Flag on the play. After reading the note from Ms. Cobb a couple of times more, yours truly realized how unprofessional her statement was - coming from a person who pulls bush-league stunts. I guess Cobb can find a job with the Heroes writing staff. She's a diva - just like Tim Kring is. That more than enough qualifies her for the job. Given the show is written by "saps" and "dipshits", Erica would fit right in.

Updated 8:23 pm at 2008-11-24

"The Tyra Banks Show" moves to CW

In a move that comes as a bit of a surprise, Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution announced Thursday the move of The Tyra Banks Show to CW from first-run syndication - giving the network two hours to fill in its daytime lineup starting next September.

CW, home already to Ms. Banks' America's Next Top Model, acquired the program to run in early fringe from 3 to 5 p.m. in all time zones. The move replaces Judge Jeanne Pirro (which is shifting to first-run syndication) and repeats of Jamie Foxx and The Wayans Bros.

The Tyra Banks Show will air a repeat from a previous season at 3 p.m., followed by a new episode at 4 p.m. There are only 130 shows scheduled to be produced next season.

Warner Bros. Media Sales is selling the adtime (commercial spots) during the program.

This is not the first time of course, that a issues-oriented show has appeared on a network's daytime schedule. In 1991, CBS aired The Barbara DeAngelis Show, a short-lived talk show about relationships, while NBC has aired Leeza, Dr. Dean Edell, and The Other Side in its' daytime lineup.

Under terms of the agreement, Tyra remains in first-run syndication throughout the remainder of this current season. Her program is currently under contract with numerous Fox-owned stations, including WPWR-TV here. Recently, all eighteen Fox-owned stations purchased Debmar-Mercury's The Wendy Williams Show for next fall after a successful test run on a few of those stations- though at the time the Fox O&Os bought the show, it wasn't targeted as a replacement for Tyra Banks' talk show.

As for CW stations - many of them Tribune-owned outlets who already air Maury Povich and Jerry Springer, Tyra Banks is a good fit, perhaps better than the new T.D. Jakes show Trib stations picked up for next fall a few weeks ago.

As for Chicago-based Pirro, look for her show to likely wind up on WCIU-TV here - as the station is already home to two such programs from Warner - The People's Court and another Chicago-based courtroom show, Judge Mathis (better off, given CW has barely promoted Pirro's show.)

Eddie & JoBo out at B96

Note: This is a longer version of a story posted yesterday at 7:01 p.m.

Not exactly a shocker (as some would claim), given how the radio business has changed since these two signed a multi-year deal in 2002, but with high-salaries becoming a thing of the past in radio - as well as TV - and so is Eddie & JoBo's radio show on WBBM-FM (B96), who were unceremoniously dumped from the rhythmic/Top 40 outlet after 18 non-consecutive years today.

Also out were co-host Erica Cobb and producer Jeff Owen.

The duo - better known as Ed Volkman and Joe Bohannon - were first paired in 1988 at B96 - at a time when vinyl albums and cassettes were still being sold, the Internet barely existed, and the major chart action came from artists like Steve Winwood, Taylor Dayne, Michael Jackson, and Whitney Houston - all of which got significant airplay at the station at the time.

The duo were successful during their first run at B96, but a few years later a false story they concocted about a former WMAQ-TV anchorwoman fathering a baby by a Chicago Bull led to their firing in 1994. After two years in Philadelphia, Eddie & JoBo returned to B96 in late 1996, joining Frankie "Hollywood" Rodriguez (he was later dropped.)

While Eddie & JoBo were never really a overall ratings winner (especially in recent years), it has always been a demo hit - the program often topped the ratings in young adult demos and among teens.

In 2006, the duo added Erica Cobb as a third host.

Ratings for the program have eroded over the years, but managed to stay in the Top 10 among key demos. But the decline in those same demos accelerated with the introduction of the Portable People Meter system earlier this year. According to RadioCrunch analysis of PPM ratings, Eddie & JoBo finished eleventh among adults 18-34 in October, while rival WKSC's morning show (DreX) finished third. In female 18-34 demos, Eddie & JoBo finished ninth compared to DreX's third place finish.

Eddie & JoBo were contracted through July of next year and will earn a handsome $1 million - for not doing anything. Volkman talked about the firing and its aftermath to a WBBM-TV reporter.

B96 has stated they plan to launch a new morning show in January, but declined to elaborate. For now, midday jock J Nice will fill in on the morning shift, while Rebecca Ortiz takes over the midday shift.

Thought: Yours truly is torn. While I thought it was time for Eddie & JoBo to hang up their tired act - which was cool years ago mind you - the firing by CBS was just dumb headed. What CBS could have - and should have done was let them finish their contract, or let them leave on their own terms. Instead, CBS decided to fire them and incurring a PR nightmare. And the reason tough economic times our country is facing is nothing more than a lousy, convenient excuse.

Another claim is Eddie & JoBo were too old to connect with their younger audience, with Eddie Volkman already 50 years old. While that may be true, they still did well with the station's younger audience. Dick Clark and Casey Kasem still connected with younger listeners (and viewers) back in the day with their respective shows and both were over 50.

One thing that bugged me about Eddie & JoBo was their dissing older musical acts -Prince and Tom Petty performing at the Super Bowl halftime show, for example - just to impress their younger audience who they think aren't interested in those type of acts. The disses came across as contrived and phony, which hurt their own credibility. Another problem were the lame, recycled jokes the two kept using on the air. Adding Erica dragged down the show even further, with her inexperience.

On the other hand, both men should be commended for their community service throughout Chicagoland, from broadcasting from Cabrini-Green for a whole weekend a few weeks after Dantrell Davis was shot to broadcasting live from Dunkin' Dounts a year or so ago to raise money for a Chicago Police officer who was paralyzed from the waist down after getting shot in the line of duty.

With the end of the Eddie & JoBo, one could speculate about the future of B96 - the station has been leaning more pop than hip-hop and rap lately - the biggest shift since 2002 as ratings have softened. While a format change isn't likely, a ratings drop is, and it now puts them squarely behind rival WKSC-FM.

Though Eddie & JoBo often weren' t my cup of hot cocoa, the two should be commended for staying on as long as they did - nearly 20 years - just about as long as Rick Dees lasted at the morning shift on KIIS-FM in Los Angeles (22 years), and becoming a part of Chicago's radio heritage. But what Clear Channel did to Dees in 2004 (for Ryan Seacrest, no less) is the same thing CBS just did to Eddie & JoBo - and with no successor named. We all know it's a business, but come on. CBS could have gave them some options - to stay for a lower salary, to retire, or some other way.

But no... CBS gave them only one option - hitting the door without them saying goodbye to their fans - the ultimate kiss-off. And with just eight months to go on their contract. And if CBS let them renegotiate their contract, it would mean on their terms - meaning they would've been pulled off the air again - just like they were in 2002 - the last time their contract was up for renegotiation.

This proves once again radio conglomerates don't care about their listeners or their on-air personalities - just the bottom line. Ask former B96 jocks Roxanne Steele and Candi Gomez, who were also given similar treatment. Or better yet, ask Howard McGee.

And you wonder why radio - like television and newspapers - is a dying medium.