It may be over for FlashForward.
The ABC sci-fi drama did not generate any interest Thursday night, averaging only a 1.9 rating among adults 18-49, and 6.5 million viewers according to figures supplied by Nielsen and The Wrap.
While the program fared better in households, the 25-54 demo, and even made Trending Topics on Twitter during the 8 p.m. hour here in Chicago (obviously due to WLS-TV's popularity), it's the advertiser industry standard 18-49 and to a lesser extent, total viewers that matters most when it comes to entertainment programming.
FlashForward had been on hiatus for three-and-a-half months before returning with a clip show Tuesday night, in order to get viewers pumped up for the show again. It drew only a 1.6 rating in adults 18-49.
Meanwhile, The Marriage Ref grew week-to-week in its latest outing, up 8 percent in its third Thursday night airing. The moronic celebrity-panel program is creating a debate online, as many detractors have assaulted it (though not exactly in the classiest way possible.)
The Marriage Ref surprisingly did not make Trending Topics on Twitter in Chicago, given how the audience usually tunes in to inane programming in this town (the Cubs, the Bears when they are losing, The Bachelor, Mancow, etc.)
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Friday, March 19, 2010
WGN-TV launches "Chicago's Best"
Tribune-owned WGN-TV is expanding its weekend local programming offerings by adding a new lifestyle-oriented magazine show.
Titled Chicago's Best, the program examines the best restaurants and lifestyle choices in the Chicago area and is hosted by Chicago TV veteran Ted Brunson, Second City alum Sarah Spain, and Brittany Payton, who is the co-founder of the "Youth for Life" foundation (to educate teens about organ and tissue donation) and runs the Walter and Connie Payton Foundation with her mother.
Brittany's father was the late Walter Payton, who played for the Chicago Bears for his entire career. He died on November 1, 1999.
Chicago's Best plans to take a look at the metro area's best restaurants, venues, and activities - a format similar to WLS-TV's successful Sunday night magazine 190 North.
Chicago's Best will air on Sundays at 10 p.m. on WGN beginning April 18 and repeats will air throughout the week on WGN's cable news sister station CLTV.
Already, WGN is airing two other local programs on Sundays: Homes Plus at 11 a.m. and Living Healthy Chicago at 11:30 a.m. Those two shows are also re-ran on CLTV
The program is not expected to air on WGN America.
Titled Chicago's Best, the program examines the best restaurants and lifestyle choices in the Chicago area and is hosted by Chicago TV veteran Ted Brunson, Second City alum Sarah Spain, and Brittany Payton, who is the co-founder of the "Youth for Life" foundation (to educate teens about organ and tissue donation) and runs the Walter and Connie Payton Foundation with her mother.
Brittany's father was the late Walter Payton, who played for the Chicago Bears for his entire career. He died on November 1, 1999.
Chicago's Best plans to take a look at the metro area's best restaurants, venues, and activities - a format similar to WLS-TV's successful Sunday night magazine 190 North.
Chicago's Best will air on Sundays at 10 p.m. on WGN beginning April 18 and repeats will air throughout the week on WGN's cable news sister station CLTV.
Already, WGN is airing two other local programs on Sundays: Homes Plus at 11 a.m. and Living Healthy Chicago at 11:30 a.m. Those two shows are also re-ran on CLTV
The program is not expected to air on WGN America.
Conan, Fox on the move
You'd think with recently disposed former NBC talk show host Conan O' Brien possibly headed to Fox, you think the news would thrill affiliates, right?
Well, think again.
With news yesterday of Fox and O'Brien negotiating a deal to host a late-night talk show - something the network hasn't had on a nightly basis since the debacle of Chevy Chase's ill-fated gabber in 1993, Fox affiliates will be wrestling with a dilemma - whether to clear a new talk show featuring one of the hottest names out there right now - or stick with the current first-run and off-network fare they're currently airing.
In some cases, they may not have a choice but to stick with the syndicated fare.
Several syndicators may hold Fox affiliates contractually bound to the time period clearances for their shows - just one of the many hurdles O'Brien faces as he tries to seal a deal with Fox. In some markets, O'Brien show could be delayed from its regularly scheduled time (which hasn't bee set as of yet) due to existing contracts to syndicated fare.
When David Letterman moved to CBS in 1993, there were many affiliates who had to delay his show because of a similar scenario (after all, Letterman did replace a bunch of low-budget first-run crime dramas and repeats in late night, which were not widely cleared on the network.) CBS was flexible, allowing stations to delay Letterman a half-hour to carry first-run programming and off-network sitcoms airing on many CBS affiliates at 11:30 p.m. (10:30 p.m. Central) .
For example, WUSA-TV in Washington D.C., delayed Letterman until 12:35 a.m. because of Paramount's The Aresnio Hall Show airing an hour earlier, which was very popular among Washington viewers. As a result, WUSA got an exemption from CBS to delay Letterman an hour. Had WUSA moved Aresnio from its 11:35 p.m. time slot, it would had to pay Paramount through a "liquid damages" clause, which could have cost WUSA hundreds of thousands of dollars (when Arsenio Hall's show was canceled in May 1994, WUSA cleared Letterman in-pattern, at 11:35 p.m.)
In nearby Baltimore, then-CBS affiliate WBAL-TV (now an NBC affiliate), who also carried Arsenio, tried to get the same exemption WUSA got, but was turned down by the network. Instead, CBS cleared Letterman on independent WNUV-TV until May 1994, when Arsenio's departure led CBS to finally move Letterman to WBAL (that is, until January 2, 1995 when the CBS affiliation left for WJZ-TV, which the network now owns.)
But even the "liquid damages" clause didn't protect Arsenio's Hall show when Fox mandated its affiliates to clear Chase's talk show at 11 p.m. Eastern/10 Central with no exemptions - forcing Arsenio to air at midnight on those stations, which made up roughly half of his affiliate base. The move to the later time slots and Letterman's success ultimately led to his late night show's demise.
These days, it'll be even harder to move syndicated programs to accommodate Conan O'Brien. The one difference between 1993 and today is syndicators are now owned by bigger conglomerates, as they can wield considerable clout and power. Fox doesn't want to undercut rival studios, which its own O&O group often does business with - that's why you won't likely see the mandated time period clearance this time around. Another difference: today, almost all off-network fare is sold on a barter or cash-barter basis, as opposed to mostly cash deals (no barter) back then. And with the all-barter shows, those programs will take a hit if they are moved to a later time slot, where HUT and CPM (cost-er-thousand) rates are lower.
One syndicator that could lose big is NBC Universal, which sold 30 Rock on an all-barter basis for 2011. The manner the show is sold in means the program's revenues (in broadcast syndication) are totally dependent on barter revenue.
As for existing shows, O'Brien's arrival could cause some headaches, for Fox affiliates and O&Os. In Chicago, WFLD-TV's late night lineup consists of The Office (which they canceled a 10 p.m. newscast to make room for), The Simpsons, and repeats of TMZ and The Wendy Williams Show from earlier in the day. In the nine markets where Fox owns a Fox-My Network TV duopoly (including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Dallas), there is an option to move some of the fare forced out by O'Brien's show to the My Network TV affiliate. But it could come at a cost to the shows' ratings and revenue as most of those MNT stations have very low viewership. In Chicago, WPWR-TV finishes behind independent WCIU-TV and PBS station WTTW in the ratings, while New York's WWOR-TV usually comes in behind the market's Univision and Telemundo stations.
As for Fox affiliates, they would lose ad revenue if they are forced to clear O'Brien's show at either 10 or 11 p.m. Usually, stations would have 12 minutes per hour to sell per hour in late night. With O'Brien's show, the number would nearly be cut in half.
For the competition, Tribune stations and CBS' CW and independent stations would benefit as they could be the only games in town if the Fox station (who isn't in a duopoly with a My Network TV affiliate) gets out of the sitcom business in late fringe. This would certainly be the case in Philadelphia (#4 market) since Tribune owns the MNT affiliate (WPHL-TV) and CBS owns CW affiliate WPSG-TV. Fox O&O WTXF currently airs a sitcom block from 11 p.m. -1 a.m. consisting of Seinfeld, Malcolm in the Middle, and two episodes of King of the Hill. O'Brien's show would push those shows to later time periods.
Weigel Broadcasting, owner of WCIU and WMLW-TV in Milwaukee, also stands to benefit from the possible flood of syndicators knocking on their doors for product in late-night, as is Sinclair's CW and MNT affiliates.
Overall, if Conan O' Brien lands on Fox - or even in first-run syndication itself (a long shot), the syndication landscape will change significantly.
Well, think again.
With news yesterday of Fox and O'Brien negotiating a deal to host a late-night talk show - something the network hasn't had on a nightly basis since the debacle of Chevy Chase's ill-fated gabber in 1993, Fox affiliates will be wrestling with a dilemma - whether to clear a new talk show featuring one of the hottest names out there right now - or stick with the current first-run and off-network fare they're currently airing.
In some cases, they may not have a choice but to stick with the syndicated fare.
Several syndicators may hold Fox affiliates contractually bound to the time period clearances for their shows - just one of the many hurdles O'Brien faces as he tries to seal a deal with Fox. In some markets, O'Brien show could be delayed from its regularly scheduled time (which hasn't bee set as of yet) due to existing contracts to syndicated fare.
When David Letterman moved to CBS in 1993, there were many affiliates who had to delay his show because of a similar scenario (after all, Letterman did replace a bunch of low-budget first-run crime dramas and repeats in late night, which were not widely cleared on the network.) CBS was flexible, allowing stations to delay Letterman a half-hour to carry first-run programming and off-network sitcoms airing on many CBS affiliates at 11:30 p.m. (10:30 p.m. Central) .
For example, WUSA-TV in Washington D.C., delayed Letterman until 12:35 a.m. because of Paramount's The Aresnio Hall Show airing an hour earlier, which was very popular among Washington viewers. As a result, WUSA got an exemption from CBS to delay Letterman an hour. Had WUSA moved Aresnio from its 11:35 p.m. time slot, it would had to pay Paramount through a "liquid damages" clause, which could have cost WUSA hundreds of thousands of dollars (when Arsenio Hall's show was canceled in May 1994, WUSA cleared Letterman in-pattern, at 11:35 p.m.)
In nearby Baltimore, then-CBS affiliate WBAL-TV (now an NBC affiliate), who also carried Arsenio, tried to get the same exemption WUSA got, but was turned down by the network. Instead, CBS cleared Letterman on independent WNUV-TV until May 1994, when Arsenio's departure led CBS to finally move Letterman to WBAL (that is, until January 2, 1995 when the CBS affiliation left for WJZ-TV, which the network now owns.)
But even the "liquid damages" clause didn't protect Arsenio's Hall show when Fox mandated its affiliates to clear Chase's talk show at 11 p.m. Eastern/10 Central with no exemptions - forcing Arsenio to air at midnight on those stations, which made up roughly half of his affiliate base. The move to the later time slots and Letterman's success ultimately led to his late night show's demise.
These days, it'll be even harder to move syndicated programs to accommodate Conan O'Brien. The one difference between 1993 and today is syndicators are now owned by bigger conglomerates, as they can wield considerable clout and power. Fox doesn't want to undercut rival studios, which its own O&O group often does business with - that's why you won't likely see the mandated time period clearance this time around. Another difference: today, almost all off-network fare is sold on a barter or cash-barter basis, as opposed to mostly cash deals (no barter) back then. And with the all-barter shows, those programs will take a hit if they are moved to a later time slot, where HUT and CPM (cost-er-thousand) rates are lower.
One syndicator that could lose big is NBC Universal, which sold 30 Rock on an all-barter basis for 2011. The manner the show is sold in means the program's revenues (in broadcast syndication) are totally dependent on barter revenue.
As for existing shows, O'Brien's arrival could cause some headaches, for Fox affiliates and O&Os. In Chicago, WFLD-TV's late night lineup consists of The Office (which they canceled a 10 p.m. newscast to make room for), The Simpsons, and repeats of TMZ and The Wendy Williams Show from earlier in the day. In the nine markets where Fox owns a Fox-My Network TV duopoly (including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Dallas), there is an option to move some of the fare forced out by O'Brien's show to the My Network TV affiliate. But it could come at a cost to the shows' ratings and revenue as most of those MNT stations have very low viewership. In Chicago, WPWR-TV finishes behind independent WCIU-TV and PBS station WTTW in the ratings, while New York's WWOR-TV usually comes in behind the market's Univision and Telemundo stations.
As for Fox affiliates, they would lose ad revenue if they are forced to clear O'Brien's show at either 10 or 11 p.m. Usually, stations would have 12 minutes per hour to sell per hour in late night. With O'Brien's show, the number would nearly be cut in half.
For the competition, Tribune stations and CBS' CW and independent stations would benefit as they could be the only games in town if the Fox station (who isn't in a duopoly with a My Network TV affiliate) gets out of the sitcom business in late fringe. This would certainly be the case in Philadelphia (#4 market) since Tribune owns the MNT affiliate (WPHL-TV) and CBS owns CW affiliate WPSG-TV. Fox O&O WTXF currently airs a sitcom block from 11 p.m. -1 a.m. consisting of Seinfeld, Malcolm in the Middle, and two episodes of King of the Hill. O'Brien's show would push those shows to later time periods.
Weigel Broadcasting, owner of WCIU and WMLW-TV in Milwaukee, also stands to benefit from the possible flood of syndicators knocking on their doors for product in late-night, as is Sinclair's CW and MNT affiliates.
Overall, if Conan O' Brien lands on Fox - or even in first-run syndication itself (a long shot), the syndication landscape will change significantly.
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Flash Forward... to your demise
ABC is relaunching FlashForward this Thursday night after a nearly four month hiatus. But does anyone care?
The sci-fi drama debuted last September 24 with the premise of the everyone in the world blacking out for two minutes and when everyone woke up, chaos ensued. The event gave the FBI a mystery to solve: What caused the blackout? Who's behind it? Will it happen again? Viewers were intrigued as well, with 12 million viewers tuned in for the premiere.
But six months and three showrunners later, the program is fighting for its life. Viewers have steadily fled for the exits as the plots became more complicated and more difficult to follow, the characters (the key to any great TV show or movie) became more and more buffoonish, and the story structure is now more uneven than the pavement on the Eisenhower.
Instead of focusing on the mystery at hand, we're faced with the personal problems of the characters. While that's fine, the show has dabbled in it a little too much - dealing with whether someone's gay or not, or whether a couple got married or not in their "FlashForward", suicidal FBI agents, or alcoholic fathers battling with their long-lost daughters. Is this a science fiction drama or The Maury Show?
And there were some actions the producers took which were unexplainable. An episode of FlashForward opened in November with a six-minute recap montage of the entire series set to loud rock music which seemed way out of place. To yours truly, it was an excuse for lazy writing - a good guess is the writers probably came up with only 53 pages for the script, instead of the standard 60-70 pages used for an one-hour network drama.
The bottom line is this - FlashForward has shred audience every week since its premiere. On September 24, the program had those 12 million viewers and a 3.8 Nielsen rating among adults 18-49. When the program aired the mid-season finale on December, the program plunged 40% in total viewers and 42% in adults 18-49 as it sputtered to the finished line with only 7.2 million viewers and a 2.2 adults 18-49 rating. And the series - which was supposed to return in January - is just returning now, and the nearly four-months hiatus isn't likely to bring the viewers back into the seats. You can argue Glee is going through a similar months-long hiatus - but the big difference here is Glee's ratings have held up and still has plenty of water-cooler and Internet buzz - something FlashForward now lacks.
FlashForward actually gets a break for the first two weeks of its return since CBS' Survivor is displaced by the NCAA Basketball Tournament. But the show faces an uphill battle to stay alive. You know what? I'm having a FlashForward right now. In the future, I see... I see... a second season of this show... not taking place.
The sci-fi drama debuted last September 24 with the premise of the everyone in the world blacking out for two minutes and when everyone woke up, chaos ensued. The event gave the FBI a mystery to solve: What caused the blackout? Who's behind it? Will it happen again? Viewers were intrigued as well, with 12 million viewers tuned in for the premiere.
But six months and three showrunners later, the program is fighting for its life. Viewers have steadily fled for the exits as the plots became more complicated and more difficult to follow, the characters (the key to any great TV show or movie) became more and more buffoonish, and the story structure is now more uneven than the pavement on the Eisenhower.
Instead of focusing on the mystery at hand, we're faced with the personal problems of the characters. While that's fine, the show has dabbled in it a little too much - dealing with whether someone's gay or not, or whether a couple got married or not in their "FlashForward", suicidal FBI agents, or alcoholic fathers battling with their long-lost daughters. Is this a science fiction drama or The Maury Show?
And there were some actions the producers took which were unexplainable. An episode of FlashForward opened in November with a six-minute recap montage of the entire series set to loud rock music which seemed way out of place. To yours truly, it was an excuse for lazy writing - a good guess is the writers probably came up with only 53 pages for the script, instead of the standard 60-70 pages used for an one-hour network drama.
The bottom line is this - FlashForward has shred audience every week since its premiere. On September 24, the program had those 12 million viewers and a 3.8 Nielsen rating among adults 18-49. When the program aired the mid-season finale on December, the program plunged 40% in total viewers and 42% in adults 18-49 as it sputtered to the finished line with only 7.2 million viewers and a 2.2 adults 18-49 rating. And the series - which was supposed to return in January - is just returning now, and the nearly four-months hiatus isn't likely to bring the viewers back into the seats. You can argue Glee is going through a similar months-long hiatus - but the big difference here is Glee's ratings have held up and still has plenty of water-cooler and Internet buzz - something FlashForward now lacks.
FlashForward actually gets a break for the first two weeks of its return since CBS' Survivor is displaced by the NCAA Basketball Tournament. But the show faces an uphill battle to stay alive. You know what? I'm having a FlashForward right now. In the future, I see... I see... a second season of this show... not taking place.
Monday, March 15, 2010
Tribune and The CW: Culture Clash?
While the Tribune Co. is struggling with the antics of CEO Randy Michaels and Chapter 11 bankruptcy, its TV division is actually taking care of its own business - despite the struggles of The CW - the network which thirteen of its stations (including WPIX in New York, KTLA in Los Angeles and WGN-TV in Chicago) are aligned with, in this spot-on Broadcasting & Cable article.
Many Tribune stations feel their syndicated lineups - featuring fare like Live With Regis & Kelly, Jerry Springer, and Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader? and their local newscasts and sporting events - are incompatible with the young female-skewing CW programming, which is generating buzz and setting trends (e.g. landing on magazine covers), but failing to generate the ratings or revenue for local stations - or the lead-in numbers for its 9 or 10 p.m. newscasts. (The CW was formed by the merger of WB and UPN in 2006.)
Many station execs are griping that the CW programming is, according to B&C, "too hip for the room" (and you thought NBC affiliates have problems.)
Meanwhile, Tribune outlets have been taking care of their own business in other dayparts - and doing a good job of it in many cases.
Tribune stations in daytime - notably WPIX and KTLA - has done well, thanks to NBC Universal's trio of raunchy talk shows (Maury, Jerry Springer, and Steve Wilkos.) The shows are up from year-ago time period shares across the board in key female demos.
Of course, not all three shows air on all Tribune stations. In Chicago, Wilkos airs on Weigel's WCIU (where, like its Tribune counterparts, was up in key female demos last month), and Jerry Springer airs on Fox's WPWR-TV (but is moving to WCIU this fall.) WGN airs Disney's Live With Regis & Kelly and Who Wants To Be A Millionaire instead, but does air Maury at 2 p.m.
In St. Louis, Springer airs on Tribune's KPLR-TV, but Maury airs on Sinclair's ABC affiliate, KDNL-TV while My Network TV affiliate WRBU-TV has the rights to Wilkos. In Sacramento, Tribune's KTXL (Fox) only airs Wilkos. (Hearst's KQCA-TV airs the other two NBCU talk shows.)
Meanwhile, Tribune's stations in access and late fringe are doing very well with Two And A Half Men and Family Guy, which they recently renewed for a second cycle. In October 2009 on WGN, Men beat The Simpsons in households by 56% in rating at 6 p.m. and had a whopping 118% advantage over the animated sitcom at 10:30 p.m.
But when CW network fare begins, it is very clear viewers flee. In October 2009 [1], WGN averaged a 1.8/3 from 7-9 p.m. compared to a 2.5/5 for Family Guy at 6:30 p.m. On WPIX, CW programming earned an identical 1.8/3 compared to a 1.9/3- lead-in from Family Guy, and KTLA had 1.5/2 in prime with Men providing a 2.9/5 lead-in - a 48% drop.
Washington D.C.'s WBDC prime-time average in October was 1.1/2 compared to 2.0/4 for Men at 7:30 p.m., while in Dallas, KDAF had a 1.4/2 in prime compared to Men's 2.6/5 at 6:30 p.m. - a 46% drop.
The weak CW lead-ins have hurt Tribune's late newscasts in some markets - notably in New York and Los Angeles, where the Fox O&O enjoys a hefty lead-in advantage from Fox prime-time programming containing blockbusters like House and American Idol. But in Chicago, WGN has dominated over WFLD in the 9 p.m. news ratings, despite the weak CW lead-ins.
Two Tribune stations have remedied this problem somewhat by moving their newscasts to 7 p.m: KPLR in St. Louis and KWGN-TV has done so, with CW programming airing at 8 p.m. (both stations are in local marketing agreements with Local TV's Fox affiliates in those markets.)
Tribune is hoping CW develops programming that attracts a more broader audience in prime-time and more importantly, to its newscasts. The 18-34 crowd who watches CW programs in prime-time usually don't hang around for the older-skewing newscasts that follow, instead seeking out fare on the Big 3 networks or on basic cable like Project Runway and The Real Housewives.
CW is doing just that, with development deals in place with projects from Heroes' Hayden Panettiere, two former Gilmore Girls producers, and a remake of popular 1990's cable drama Le Femme Nikita.
Despite these hurdles, don't look for Tribune to dump CW anytime soon - they still have six years left to go on their contract. Plus, despite the weak ratings, an identity sells with advertisers and stockholders - believe it or not, there's more value to these stations with a CW identity than without one. But with Tribune owning CW affiliates in four of the top five markets - their influence can carry some weight. And if ratings don't improve soon, that weight will have to be thrown around.
[1] Source: Katz MultiDayGrids and Nielsen Media Research, October 2009.
Many Tribune stations feel their syndicated lineups - featuring fare like Live With Regis & Kelly, Jerry Springer, and Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader? and their local newscasts and sporting events - are incompatible with the young female-skewing CW programming, which is generating buzz and setting trends (e.g. landing on magazine covers), but failing to generate the ratings or revenue for local stations - or the lead-in numbers for its 9 or 10 p.m. newscasts. (The CW was formed by the merger of WB and UPN in 2006.)
Many station execs are griping that the CW programming is, according to B&C, "too hip for the room" (and you thought NBC affiliates have problems.)
Meanwhile, Tribune outlets have been taking care of their own business in other dayparts - and doing a good job of it in many cases.
Tribune stations in daytime - notably WPIX and KTLA - has done well, thanks to NBC Universal's trio of raunchy talk shows (Maury, Jerry Springer, and Steve Wilkos.) The shows are up from year-ago time period shares across the board in key female demos.
Of course, not all three shows air on all Tribune stations. In Chicago, Wilkos airs on Weigel's WCIU (where, like its Tribune counterparts, was up in key female demos last month), and Jerry Springer airs on Fox's WPWR-TV (but is moving to WCIU this fall.) WGN airs Disney's Live With Regis & Kelly and Who Wants To Be A Millionaire instead, but does air Maury at 2 p.m.
In St. Louis, Springer airs on Tribune's KPLR-TV, but Maury airs on Sinclair's ABC affiliate, KDNL-TV while My Network TV affiliate WRBU-TV has the rights to Wilkos. In Sacramento, Tribune's KTXL (Fox) only airs Wilkos. (Hearst's KQCA-TV airs the other two NBCU talk shows.)
Meanwhile, Tribune's stations in access and late fringe are doing very well with Two And A Half Men and Family Guy, which they recently renewed for a second cycle. In October 2009 on WGN, Men beat The Simpsons in households by 56% in rating at 6 p.m. and had a whopping 118% advantage over the animated sitcom at 10:30 p.m.
But when CW network fare begins, it is very clear viewers flee. In October 2009 [1], WGN averaged a 1.8/3 from 7-9 p.m. compared to a 2.5/5 for Family Guy at 6:30 p.m. On WPIX, CW programming earned an identical 1.8/3 compared to a 1.9/3- lead-in from Family Guy, and KTLA had 1.5/2 in prime with Men providing a 2.9/5 lead-in - a 48% drop.
Washington D.C.'s WBDC prime-time average in October was 1.1/2 compared to 2.0/4 for Men at 7:30 p.m., while in Dallas, KDAF had a 1.4/2 in prime compared to Men's 2.6/5 at 6:30 p.m. - a 46% drop.
The weak CW lead-ins have hurt Tribune's late newscasts in some markets - notably in New York and Los Angeles, where the Fox O&O enjoys a hefty lead-in advantage from Fox prime-time programming containing blockbusters like House and American Idol. But in Chicago, WGN has dominated over WFLD in the 9 p.m. news ratings, despite the weak CW lead-ins.
Two Tribune stations have remedied this problem somewhat by moving their newscasts to 7 p.m: KPLR in St. Louis and KWGN-TV has done so, with CW programming airing at 8 p.m. (both stations are in local marketing agreements with Local TV's Fox affiliates in those markets.)
Tribune is hoping CW develops programming that attracts a more broader audience in prime-time and more importantly, to its newscasts. The 18-34 crowd who watches CW programs in prime-time usually don't hang around for the older-skewing newscasts that follow, instead seeking out fare on the Big 3 networks or on basic cable like Project Runway and The Real Housewives.
CW is doing just that, with development deals in place with projects from Heroes' Hayden Panettiere, two former Gilmore Girls producers, and a remake of popular 1990's cable drama Le Femme Nikita.
Despite these hurdles, don't look for Tribune to dump CW anytime soon - they still have six years left to go on their contract. Plus, despite the weak ratings, an identity sells with advertisers and stockholders - believe it or not, there's more value to these stations with a CW identity than without one. But with Tribune owning CW affiliates in four of the top five markets - their influence can carry some weight. And if ratings don't improve soon, that weight will have to be thrown around.
[1] Source: Katz MultiDayGrids and Nielsen Media Research, October 2009.
Sunday, March 14, 2010
T Dog's Think Tank: The Court Jester
Last week, A memo Tribune CEO Randy Michaels sent through WGN-AM News Director Charlie Meyerson, had a list of 119 words and phrases his employees at WGN should not say on the air in order to "improve the product". And if they say any of these "forbidden" words, other employees can "rat them out" by noting the precise date and time of the infraction using "bingo cards", which contains several of the words Michaels have forbidden. The item appeared on Robert Feder's blog at Vocalo on Wednesday.
As you can imagine, the memo generated a lot of controversy in Chicago media circles this week and sparked a discussion on excessive newspeak.
The real question is, why was the list even out? Seriously, does anyone whine and bitch about what type of words being used on the air? To me, this is excessive nitpicking at its worst. Anybody who rails against something like "excessive newspeak" really needs to get a life.
And as for the mastermind behind this idiotic memo - Randy "Court Jester" Michaels, all he's trying to do is "improve the product". Well, since Sam Zell (the Ziphead) and the Court Jester took over the bankrupt Tribune Co., its properties have taken a huge nosedive in quality - especially WGN Radio and the Chicago Tribune, whose content is laughable. For example, their "Tribune Watchdog" series of articles is hypocrisy at its worst given a bankruptcy judge green-lighted $45 million in bonuses for Tribune executives. Well, who's watching the watchdog?
Now, make no mistake - Randy Michaels is - or was - a master promoter and marketer, evidenced from the time he was with Jacor (now Clear Channel)-owned WFLZ-FM in the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater Fla. market. In 1989, he masterminded the greatest publicity stunt of all time when WFLZ - then an oldies station - pulled off a faux kidnapping of soon-to-be rival WRBQ-FM morning jock Cleveland Wheeler and asked them to pay a ransom of $4 million to WFLZ so they wouldn't flip to CHR, or contemporary-hit radio, and take WRBQ - or Q105 - on. Q105 had been the dominant Top 40 station in the Tampa area throughout the 1980's. Well, Q105 turned down the offer and WFLZ became a contemporary-hit radio station called "The Power Pig" - and the rest was history. (WFLZ is still a huge player in Tampa-St. Petersburg, constantly ranking in the top ten in the 12+ demographic. Q105 - now owned by CBS Radio - abandoned the Top 40 format in 1993 and has had greater success as a "classic hits" station.)
Michaels attempted to duplicate that success in Chicago in early 1991 when he was hired as a consultant to help boost CHR outlet WYTZ-FM's (now "true oldies" WLS-FM) sagging ratings against rival WBBM-FM. He came up with "Hell-FM", a lame and unoriginal attempt that lasted all of a week, going down as one of the biggest marketing slogan failures in radio history. And ten months later, it was WYTZ-FM that would be history.
Michaels has been called out for his raunchy and unprofessional antics in the workplace while at Jacor, and was fired from a position at Clear Channel in Tampa (Jacor was bought by CC in 1998) after one of his DJ's at WXTB-FM (former WBBM-FM nighttime personality Bubba The Love Sponge) killed a boar live on the air.
When Zell - former owner of Jacor Broadcasting - bought Tribune, he hired Michaels as CEO of the company. But Michaels' decisions since being appointed to the post have been widely panned in media circles - especially regarding WGN radio. There, he dropped Kathy & Judy's show, hired former Chicago alderman and ex-con James Laski as a weekend host, and scrapping Sports Central and Pet Central for right-wing political talk on the weekends.
On the TV side, the decisions have been less aggravating, but notable nonetheless. While the Tribune group did renew Family Guy for another syndication cycle and picked up American Dad!, it passed on renewing Legend of the Seeker for a third season - and is likely to fill the weekend time slots vacated by the show with more off-network reruns, which is already the norm at most TV stations on Saturdays and Sundays. Tribune's CW affiliates are sticking with the network despite rock-bottom ratings, which in some markets have even been surpassed by My Network TV, which is now a programming service airing syndicated reruns for the most part. The CW shows have been criticized for their lack of quality and death - notably 90210, Gossip Girl, and new docu-soap High Society. But then again, this is the type of fare The Court Jester loves to put on his air.
And as a CEO "focusing on content", it seems what he's focusing on right now is crap - which he has done by hiring ex-con (and former WBBM-TV anchor) Larry Mendete to do commentaries for Tribune's WPIX in New York and hiring radio personality Gary Burbank to dress up in a redneck character to do commentaries for WGN-TV in Chicago and WGN America - moves which could alienate viewers of Tribune's already struggling local newscasts. What's next? Michaels hiring Survivor host Jeff Probst to do commentaries for KTLA's newscasts in Los Angeles? (judging by Probst's blog, the idea doesn't sound too far-fetched.)
So, for anyone who thought Bozo's Circus was dead, a far less enjoyable version is alive and well in the offices of Tribune Tower, with Zell the Ziphead leading the Grand March into oblivion and Court Jester Michaels destroying what was once a great newspaper and media company. The only thing left to do is rig the Grand Prize Game.
As you can imagine, the memo generated a lot of controversy in Chicago media circles this week and sparked a discussion on excessive newspeak.
The real question is, why was the list even out? Seriously, does anyone whine and bitch about what type of words being used on the air? To me, this is excessive nitpicking at its worst. Anybody who rails against something like "excessive newspeak" really needs to get a life.
And as for the mastermind behind this idiotic memo - Randy "Court Jester" Michaels, all he's trying to do is "improve the product". Well, since Sam Zell (the Ziphead) and the Court Jester took over the bankrupt Tribune Co., its properties have taken a huge nosedive in quality - especially WGN Radio and the Chicago Tribune, whose content is laughable. For example, their "Tribune Watchdog" series of articles is hypocrisy at its worst given a bankruptcy judge green-lighted $45 million in bonuses for Tribune executives. Well, who's watching the watchdog?
Now, make no mistake - Randy Michaels is - or was - a master promoter and marketer, evidenced from the time he was with Jacor (now Clear Channel)-owned WFLZ-FM in the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater Fla. market. In 1989, he masterminded the greatest publicity stunt of all time when WFLZ - then an oldies station - pulled off a faux kidnapping of soon-to-be rival WRBQ-FM morning jock Cleveland Wheeler and asked them to pay a ransom of $4 million to WFLZ so they wouldn't flip to CHR, or contemporary-hit radio, and take WRBQ - or Q105 - on. Q105 had been the dominant Top 40 station in the Tampa area throughout the 1980's. Well, Q105 turned down the offer and WFLZ became a contemporary-hit radio station called "The Power Pig" - and the rest was history. (WFLZ is still a huge player in Tampa-St. Petersburg, constantly ranking in the top ten in the 12+ demographic. Q105 - now owned by CBS Radio - abandoned the Top 40 format in 1993 and has had greater success as a "classic hits" station.)
Michaels attempted to duplicate that success in Chicago in early 1991 when he was hired as a consultant to help boost CHR outlet WYTZ-FM's (now "true oldies" WLS-FM) sagging ratings against rival WBBM-FM. He came up with "Hell-FM", a lame and unoriginal attempt that lasted all of a week, going down as one of the biggest marketing slogan failures in radio history. And ten months later, it was WYTZ-FM that would be history.
Michaels has been called out for his raunchy and unprofessional antics in the workplace while at Jacor, and was fired from a position at Clear Channel in Tampa (Jacor was bought by CC in 1998) after one of his DJ's at WXTB-FM (former WBBM-FM nighttime personality Bubba The Love Sponge) killed a boar live on the air.
When Zell - former owner of Jacor Broadcasting - bought Tribune, he hired Michaels as CEO of the company. But Michaels' decisions since being appointed to the post have been widely panned in media circles - especially regarding WGN radio. There, he dropped Kathy & Judy's show, hired former Chicago alderman and ex-con James Laski as a weekend host, and scrapping Sports Central and Pet Central for right-wing political talk on the weekends.
On the TV side, the decisions have been less aggravating, but notable nonetheless. While the Tribune group did renew Family Guy for another syndication cycle and picked up American Dad!, it passed on renewing Legend of the Seeker for a third season - and is likely to fill the weekend time slots vacated by the show with more off-network reruns, which is already the norm at most TV stations on Saturdays and Sundays. Tribune's CW affiliates are sticking with the network despite rock-bottom ratings, which in some markets have even been surpassed by My Network TV, which is now a programming service airing syndicated reruns for the most part. The CW shows have been criticized for their lack of quality and death - notably 90210, Gossip Girl, and new docu-soap High Society. But then again, this is the type of fare The Court Jester loves to put on his air.
And as a CEO "focusing on content", it seems what he's focusing on right now is crap - which he has done by hiring ex-con (and former WBBM-TV anchor) Larry Mendete to do commentaries for Tribune's WPIX in New York and hiring radio personality Gary Burbank to dress up in a redneck character to do commentaries for WGN-TV in Chicago and WGN America - moves which could alienate viewers of Tribune's already struggling local newscasts. What's next? Michaels hiring Survivor host Jeff Probst to do commentaries for KTLA's newscasts in Los Angeles? (judging by Probst's blog, the idea doesn't sound too far-fetched.)
So, for anyone who thought Bozo's Circus was dead, a far less enjoyable version is alive and well in the offices of Tribune Tower, with Zell the Ziphead leading the Grand March into oblivion and Court Jester Michaels destroying what was once a great newspaper and media company. The only thing left to do is rig the Grand Prize Game.
Friday, March 12, 2010
T Dog's Four Pack: Hoop it up!
In honor of the month we all go basketball crazy, we salute the three-point buzzer beaters and the airballs of the last week-and-the-half:
March Madness!
The Bears spend like no tomorrow. Bears sign Julius Peppers and two other free agents last Friday (March 5.) The Bears had a good week last week, hoping to get the team back to Lakers-like contention. Then again, so did NBC.
- Seth MacFarlane strikes back at Matt & Trey. Nearly four years after Cartoon Wars, the Family Guy creator finally strikes back at them at the end of the recent WGA Awards. To listen, click here, wait patiently and scroll all the way down to the end. That's what I call a slam dunk! (Personally, I recommend you listen to the whole thing, as Jeff Goldsmith of Creative Screenwriting Magazine did a great job putting this podcast together. You will not be sorry.)
- Richard Roeper joins Roe Conn's afternoon show. And this after Roeper turned down an offer to work for crosstown rival WGN-AM. Smart move? With Kevin "Pig Virus" Methany and Randy "Court Jester" MIchaels continuing to shoot airballs over there, you can't blame them. Good move by WLS.
- Katherine Helgi leaves Grey's Anatomy. Here's to future B-movie stardom! See you at the Clippers game courtside next week?
March Blandness.
- Quality isn't Job #1. Your hits of the year so far: Undercover Boss, The Bachelor, The Marriage Ref, and on the radio side, the Bears (NFL team with the most listeners in 2009) and Mancow (#1 in his time slot on WLS, before he got canned.) There's no accounting for taste, I suppose.
- Nancy Loo leaves Fox News Chicago. The lovely Ms. Loo is out at Fox-owned WFLD-TV's news operation, leaving us with the Chicago version of Jillian Barberie Renyolds, Jan Jeffcoat. Mornings and Noon won't be the same. It's like replacing the Bulls Cheeleaders with several Rosie O'Donnell clones.
- Randy "Court Jester" Michaels inane memo. The Court Jester shot an airball Wednesday by releasing this inane memo (through WGN-AM's Charlie Meyerson) If his memo banning the use of 119 words from radio and TV stations are meant to "improve the product", then he's more delusional than I thought. Anyone who listens for stuff like this is just nitpicking - and needs to get a life. Or is that a hard thing to do now?
- 90210 and Gossip Girl renewed for another season. And this despite an average viewership of two million viewers this season. Since Tribune'snineteen 13 TV stations are CW outlets, I guess these two programs qualifies as hits to the Court Jester. It's all part of his master plan for world domination to dumb down the planet. Or has that happened already? He and Sam Zell "The Ziphead" are already stupid enough to think The CW is a successful network.
March Madness!
The Bears spend like no tomorrow. Bears sign Julius Peppers and two other free agents last Friday (March 5.) The Bears had a good week last week, hoping to get the team back to Lakers-like contention. Then again, so did NBC.
- Seth MacFarlane strikes back at Matt & Trey. Nearly four years after Cartoon Wars, the Family Guy creator finally strikes back at them at the end of the recent WGA Awards. To listen, click here, wait patiently and scroll all the way down to the end. That's what I call a slam dunk! (Personally, I recommend you listen to the whole thing, as Jeff Goldsmith of Creative Screenwriting Magazine did a great job putting this podcast together. You will not be sorry.)
- Richard Roeper joins Roe Conn's afternoon show. And this after Roeper turned down an offer to work for crosstown rival WGN-AM. Smart move? With Kevin "Pig Virus" Methany and Randy "Court Jester" MIchaels continuing to shoot airballs over there, you can't blame them. Good move by WLS.
- Katherine Helgi leaves Grey's Anatomy. Here's to future B-movie stardom! See you at the Clippers game courtside next week?
March Blandness.
- Quality isn't Job #1. Your hits of the year so far: Undercover Boss, The Bachelor, The Marriage Ref, and on the radio side, the Bears (NFL team with the most listeners in 2009) and Mancow (#1 in his time slot on WLS, before he got canned.) There's no accounting for taste, I suppose.
- Nancy Loo leaves Fox News Chicago. The lovely Ms. Loo is out at Fox-owned WFLD-TV's news operation, leaving us with the Chicago version of Jillian Barberie Renyolds, Jan Jeffcoat. Mornings and Noon won't be the same. It's like replacing the Bulls Cheeleaders with several Rosie O'Donnell clones.
- Randy "Court Jester" Michaels inane memo. The Court Jester shot an airball Wednesday by releasing this inane memo (through WGN-AM's Charlie Meyerson) If his memo banning the use of 119 words from radio and TV stations are meant to "improve the product", then he's more delusional than I thought. Anyone who listens for stuff like this is just nitpicking - and needs to get a life. Or is that a hard thing to do now?
- 90210 and Gossip Girl renewed for another season. And this despite an average viewership of two million viewers this season. Since Tribune's
Monday, March 08, 2010
"Legend of the Seeker" seeking new outlets
Disney/ABC's weekly action-adventure hour Legend of the Seeker is going to have an adventure of its own - trying to find new outlets after a major station group carrying the show declined to renew it.
In a memo obtained by TV By The Numbers, Tribune Broadcasting said it would not renew the sci-fi/fantasy action hour after two seasons.
Tribune is the show's largest group clearance, with WGN-TV carrying it locally, as is WPIX in New York, KTLA in Los Angeles, WPHL in Philadelphia, and KDAF in Dallas - all in the nation's five largest markets.
Seeker is produced by ABC Studios, the same production company responsible for Lost, Grey's Anatomy, and Criminal Minds (which is a co-production with CBS Television Studios.)
But keep hope alive, Seeker fans - the show may come back for a third season thanks to a little magic called "synergy". The producers are shopping the show around for a third season, and there is an outside possibility the program could end up on ABC-owned stations for weekend late-night play - though this is a long shot.
ABC owns stations in the top four markets where it competes with Tribune. And even though ABC doesn't own a station in fifth-ranked Dallas (where Belo owns ABC affiliate WFAA), it does own KGO-TV in San Francisco, which along with Oakland and San Jose, make up the sixth-largest market in the U.S. Currently, the ABC O&Os air syndicated repeats of Grey's Anatomy and Lost in those weekend time periods, both of which are underperforming.
If ABC's owned stations don't take the show, then Seeker could be shopped to Fox's ten My Network TV stations (forget Fox O&Os, too many weekend sporting commitments) or basic cable outlets. But again, all of this is a long shot.
Disney-ABC has not said whether or not it renew Seeker for a third season. But with Tribune bailing out, the prognosis isn't good.
If Seeker does depart, it means there will be no scripted first-run action programming in syndication, which was plentiful in weekend time periods in the late 1980's and the entire 1990's with Xena, Hercules, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Baywatch, and more, than to the ability to sell these program in international markets, where the bulk of the financing came from. In the late 1980's, first-run sitcoms (such as Small Wonder, Out of This World, and Mama's Family) occupied these time periods as well.
In fact, there were first-run scripted programming airing in syndication dating back to the early 1970's when the FCC instituted the Prime-Time Access Rule, which prohibited network affiliates in the 50 largest markets from running network programming an hour before prime-time, before the rule was scrapped in 1996. First-run fare back then included Wait 'Til Your Father Gets Home, UFO, Police Surgeon, The Protectors, Space: 1999, and The Muppet Show - all of which were funded in part by foreign sales (in fact, all of those series - with the exception of Home and Surgeon - were produced in Britain.)
But this kind of financing dried up about a decade ago, and with HUT levels declining in weekend afternoon time periods (Saturdays in particular), stations found it more profitable to air off-network reruns, movies, and infomercials.
Legend of the Seeker hoped to re-ignite the genre, but since its debut, no syndicator has stepped forward with such a project. Outside of weekend versions of first-run strips, many large syndicators (mainly the studios) have bailed out of the first-run weekend syndication business long ago.
But the real shame is if Legend of the Seeker does go away, it will give viewers one less reason to watch TV on the weekends.
More Lost and Grey's Anatomy reruns, anyone?
In a memo obtained by TV By The Numbers, Tribune Broadcasting said it would not renew the sci-fi/fantasy action hour after two seasons.
Tribune is the show's largest group clearance, with WGN-TV carrying it locally, as is WPIX in New York, KTLA in Los Angeles, WPHL in Philadelphia, and KDAF in Dallas - all in the nation's five largest markets.
Seeker is produced by ABC Studios, the same production company responsible for Lost, Grey's Anatomy, and Criminal Minds (which is a co-production with CBS Television Studios.)
But keep hope alive, Seeker fans - the show may come back for a third season thanks to a little magic called "synergy". The producers are shopping the show around for a third season, and there is an outside possibility the program could end up on ABC-owned stations for weekend late-night play - though this is a long shot.
ABC owns stations in the top four markets where it competes with Tribune. And even though ABC doesn't own a station in fifth-ranked Dallas (where Belo owns ABC affiliate WFAA), it does own KGO-TV in San Francisco, which along with Oakland and San Jose, make up the sixth-largest market in the U.S. Currently, the ABC O&Os air syndicated repeats of Grey's Anatomy and Lost in those weekend time periods, both of which are underperforming.
If ABC's owned stations don't take the show, then Seeker could be shopped to Fox's ten My Network TV stations (forget Fox O&Os, too many weekend sporting commitments) or basic cable outlets. But again, all of this is a long shot.
Disney-ABC has not said whether or not it renew Seeker for a third season. But with Tribune bailing out, the prognosis isn't good.
If Seeker does depart, it means there will be no scripted first-run action programming in syndication, which was plentiful in weekend time periods in the late 1980's and the entire 1990's with Xena, Hercules, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Baywatch, and more, than to the ability to sell these program in international markets, where the bulk of the financing came from. In the late 1980's, first-run sitcoms (such as Small Wonder, Out of This World, and Mama's Family) occupied these time periods as well.
In fact, there were first-run scripted programming airing in syndication dating back to the early 1970's when the FCC instituted the Prime-Time Access Rule, which prohibited network affiliates in the 50 largest markets from running network programming an hour before prime-time, before the rule was scrapped in 1996. First-run fare back then included Wait 'Til Your Father Gets Home, UFO, Police Surgeon, The Protectors, Space: 1999, and The Muppet Show - all of which were funded in part by foreign sales (in fact, all of those series - with the exception of Home and Surgeon - were produced in Britain.)
But this kind of financing dried up about a decade ago, and with HUT levels declining in weekend afternoon time periods (Saturdays in particular), stations found it more profitable to air off-network reruns, movies, and infomercials.
Legend of the Seeker hoped to re-ignite the genre, but since its debut, no syndicator has stepped forward with such a project. Outside of weekend versions of first-run strips, many large syndicators (mainly the studios) have bailed out of the first-run weekend syndication business long ago.
But the real shame is if Legend of the Seeker does go away, it will give viewers one less reason to watch TV on the weekends.
More Lost and Grey's Anatomy reruns, anyone?
Friday, March 05, 2010
Local Feburary "sweeps" good as Gold for WMAQ and WCIU
NBC-owned WMAQ-TV won the Gold when it came to Olympic ratings, but it was WLS-TV that grabbed the medal where it really counts: late news.
And WCIU-TV came home with some Gold itself.
The February "sweeps" period ended on Wednesday, but this ratings period won't be as important because of the heavy skew of the Winter Olympics. Some stations (notably non-NBC affiliates) will be skipping this book and continue to use the November ratings period to sell numbers until the May's numbers come out.
With that said, WMAQ could only muster a second-place finish in late news during the month, despite the fact the Winter Olympics lead-in pushed its news to 11 p.m. (The Sun-Times article this is based on counts in WMAQ's numbers at 11 p.m., along with WLS' and WBBM-TV's 10 p.m. numbers - which itself is questionable since it isn't really a fair comparison.)
WLS finished first in late news. last month in households, and scored a ratings increase from last year. On the other hand, CBS' WBBM-TV's as expected, fell to third in late news. The real challenge for WBBM now is to return to second place - and it won't be easy since NBC has since replaced The Jay Leno Show at 9 p.m. with more general entertainment fare - with new series Parenthood and The Marriage Ref getting off to strong ratings starts this week.
Speaking of 9 p.m., WGN continued to dominate over Fox-owned WFLD-TV with a 41% household ratings advantage, despite Fox obviously having a stronger network lead-in, while CW threw in the towel in February by running mostly repeats (they should have thrown in the towel a long time ago.)
WGN's audience - particularly in the core news 25-54 demo - have been quite loyal to the newscast, tuning in while the CW audience (what little of it) - mostly the younger female 18-34 crowd - are exiting the station at the same time and head to cable for fare like Project Runway, The Real Housewives, and Jersey Shore. Call it the "ships passing in the night" theory.
Over at Weigel Broadcasting, the mood at WCIU-TV was quite giddy as the independent station saw its ratings increase in key female and adult 18-49 and 25-54 demos. Among the big winners were The Steve Wilkos Show, People's Court, Judge Mathis, The Insider, and Tyler Perry's House of Payne.
The biggest winner though was Steve Wilkos. His NBC Universal-distributed program - which moved to WCIU this season after two unproductive years at WGN - scored triple-digit increases at 11 a.m. from year-ago time period rating among key female demos (W18-49 and W25-54), among adults 18-49 (up 100%), and a double-digit increase (75%) among adults 25-54.
WCIU recently added another hour of Wilkos at 10 a.m., replacing Litton's Street Court, which was downgraded to 4 a.m. (and likely not returning to syndication next fall as Litton is now focusing on Judge Karen's return.)
The show where Wilkos got his television career started - as a bodyguard on Jerry Springer - is coming to WCIU this fall.
And WCIU-TV came home with some Gold itself.
The February "sweeps" period ended on Wednesday, but this ratings period won't be as important because of the heavy skew of the Winter Olympics. Some stations (notably non-NBC affiliates) will be skipping this book and continue to use the November ratings period to sell numbers until the May's numbers come out.
With that said, WMAQ could only muster a second-place finish in late news during the month, despite the fact the Winter Olympics lead-in pushed its news to 11 p.m. (The Sun-Times article this is based on counts in WMAQ's numbers at 11 p.m., along with WLS' and WBBM-TV's 10 p.m. numbers - which itself is questionable since it isn't really a fair comparison.)
WLS finished first in late news. last month in households, and scored a ratings increase from last year. On the other hand, CBS' WBBM-TV's as expected, fell to third in late news. The real challenge for WBBM now is to return to second place - and it won't be easy since NBC has since replaced The Jay Leno Show at 9 p.m. with more general entertainment fare - with new series Parenthood and The Marriage Ref getting off to strong ratings starts this week.
Speaking of 9 p.m., WGN continued to dominate over Fox-owned WFLD-TV with a 41% household ratings advantage, despite Fox obviously having a stronger network lead-in, while CW threw in the towel in February by running mostly repeats (they should have thrown in the towel a long time ago.)
WGN's audience - particularly in the core news 25-54 demo - have been quite loyal to the newscast, tuning in while the CW audience (what little of it) - mostly the younger female 18-34 crowd - are exiting the station at the same time and head to cable for fare like Project Runway, The Real Housewives, and Jersey Shore. Call it the "ships passing in the night" theory.
Over at Weigel Broadcasting, the mood at WCIU-TV was quite giddy as the independent station saw its ratings increase in key female and adult 18-49 and 25-54 demos. Among the big winners were The Steve Wilkos Show, People's Court, Judge Mathis, The Insider, and Tyler Perry's House of Payne.
The biggest winner though was Steve Wilkos. His NBC Universal-distributed program - which moved to WCIU this season after two unproductive years at WGN - scored triple-digit increases at 11 a.m. from year-ago time period rating among key female demos (W18-49 and W25-54), among adults 18-49 (up 100%), and a double-digit increase (75%) among adults 25-54.
WCIU recently added another hour of Wilkos at 10 a.m., replacing Litton's Street Court, which was downgraded to 4 a.m. (and likely not returning to syndication next fall as Litton is now focusing on Judge Karen's return.)
The show where Wilkos got his television career started - as a bodyguard on Jerry Springer - is coming to WCIU this fall.
ESPN becomes The Bowl Network
When it comes to December and January, ESPN should rename themselves BPN: The Bowl Programming Network.
ESPN announced Thursday it has acquired yet another Bowl game - this time the Gator Bowl, a longtime ABC staple which recently had stops at ESPN, NBC, and most recently, CBS. The game is played at Jacksonville Municipal Stadium, which was one known as the Gator Bowl and became Alltel Stadium when the NFL's Jacksonville Jaguars moved in.
The Gator Bowl is expected to air on New Year's Day on ESPN 2. Beginning in 2011, the game will pit a school from the SEC (which is very popular in Jacksonville) against one from the Big Ten.
This comes as ESPN has acquired almost every bowl game known to man, including the major BCS ones: Orange, Fiesta, Sugar, Rose, and the BCS National Championship Game. All of those bowls (with the exception of the Rose Bowl and the National Championship) aired on Fox until this year. In 2011, they all will move to ESPN. The Worldwide Leader also acquired the rights to the Texas Bowl, previously on the NFL Network.
ESPN also extended the contract of the Capital One Bowl, which is moving to the cable network from ABC. To take its place, ESPN is moving the Outback Bowl to ABC. The Capital One Bowl is played at the Citrus Bowl (which was the actual name of the bowl game until Capital One bought the rights to it) in Orlando, Fla. (If you saw this year's game between Penn State and LSU, it was played in the most horrid conditions you can imagine with the field tore up like a bad piece of cloth.)
The Gator, Outback, and Capital One Bowls are being played at the same time to create a "roadblock" among the ESPN family of networks to drive viewers to the Rose Bowl on ESPN, being played immediately after all those games.
There has been outcries from ABC affiliates over the move of several sporting events - notably NASCAR events and college basketball games - over from ABC to ESPN (ABC and ESPN are owned by The Walt Disney Corp.) This is happening as more and more sporting events - on both the national and local levels - are moving from broadcast to cable.
In addition to the bowls mentioned above, ESPN has the nights to the Holiday, Outback, Independence, Music City, and many, many more.
Despite ESPN airing the majority of bowl games, there are some without the brashness of the Worldwide Leader (!) Fox still has the Cotton Bowl, CBS still holds the rights to the Sun Bowl, and the NFL Network has rights to the Insight Bowl.
But enjoy these non-ESPN bowls while you can boys... because the Worldwide Leader in Cable Sports Monopolies - wants to become the College Bowl Monopoly as well.
ESPN announced Thursday it has acquired yet another Bowl game - this time the Gator Bowl, a longtime ABC staple which recently had stops at ESPN, NBC, and most recently, CBS. The game is played at Jacksonville Municipal Stadium, which was one known as the Gator Bowl and became Alltel Stadium when the NFL's Jacksonville Jaguars moved in.
The Gator Bowl is expected to air on New Year's Day on ESPN 2. Beginning in 2011, the game will pit a school from the SEC (which is very popular in Jacksonville) against one from the Big Ten.
This comes as ESPN has acquired almost every bowl game known to man, including the major BCS ones: Orange, Fiesta, Sugar, Rose, and the BCS National Championship Game. All of those bowls (with the exception of the Rose Bowl and the National Championship) aired on Fox until this year. In 2011, they all will move to ESPN. The Worldwide Leader also acquired the rights to the Texas Bowl, previously on the NFL Network.
ESPN also extended the contract of the Capital One Bowl, which is moving to the cable network from ABC. To take its place, ESPN is moving the Outback Bowl to ABC. The Capital One Bowl is played at the Citrus Bowl (which was the actual name of the bowl game until Capital One bought the rights to it) in Orlando, Fla. (If you saw this year's game between Penn State and LSU, it was played in the most horrid conditions you can imagine with the field tore up like a bad piece of cloth.)
The Gator, Outback, and Capital One Bowls are being played at the same time to create a "roadblock" among the ESPN family of networks to drive viewers to the Rose Bowl on ESPN, being played immediately after all those games.
There has been outcries from ABC affiliates over the move of several sporting events - notably NASCAR events and college basketball games - over from ABC to ESPN (ABC and ESPN are owned by The Walt Disney Corp.) This is happening as more and more sporting events - on both the national and local levels - are moving from broadcast to cable.
In addition to the bowls mentioned above, ESPN has the nights to the Holiday, Outback, Independence, Music City, and many, many more.
Despite ESPN airing the majority of bowl games, there are some without the brashness of the Worldwide Leader (!) Fox still has the Cotton Bowl, CBS still holds the rights to the Sun Bowl, and the NFL Network has rights to the Insight Bowl.
But enjoy these non-ESPN bowls while you can boys... because the Worldwide Leader in Cable Sports Monopolies - wants to become the College Bowl Monopoly as well.
Wednesday, March 03, 2010
T Dog's Four Pack - Olympic sized fun
A midweek edition of T Dog's Four Pack: What's not - and what's not:
Worthy of Gold
Olympic hockey. Nothing hokey about it - most watched program ever in Canada, third most-watched hockey game in history in the United States - and we had four Blackhawks in the game!
Undercover Boss. Whaaa? This is the surprise Sunday Night 8 p.m. show CBS was looking for - and has put Desperate Housewives and Family Guy on notice.
Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains. One of the best seasons of this venerable reality franchise thus far - don't blow it.
The Boondocks are back. Aaron McGruder's comic strip-turned-TV show is finally back after a three-year hiatus on May 2nd. But at this rate, the program could reach 100 episodes for syndication - by 2024.
Worthy of Mold
Rewarding mediocrity. WLS-AM extends low-rated host Roe Conn's contract and The CW renews 90210 for another season. And you thought this was only limited to the Chicago Bears.
Tony Kornhiser and ESPN. TV's most senile geezer did it again when he ripped ESPN colleague Hannah Storm's outfit on his Washington D.C. radio show and got suspended for two weeks. But it is interesting to note The Worldwide Leader in B.S. did NOT suspend Mike Greenberg for his Martin Luther King Jr. Day slip-up on the vastly overrated Mike & Mike Morning Show or Kornheiser's Pardon The Interruption co-host (Michael Wilbon) for race-baiting comments on the show.
And as for Kornheiser - it's time for you to head to the retirement home, buddy...
The Marriage Ref. This is what yours truly tweeted Sunday night: "The Marriage Ref" looks like one of those syndicated strips that should be only on at 1 in the afternoon. I guess NBC's next new show will be a prime-time version of Cheaters.
MTV doesn't need "cynical" Generation X. So MTV Networks President Van Toffler says he doesn't need "cynical" Generation X viewers anymore at MTV, saying they are about as relevant as Boomers are. Fine. Kind of redundant since Gen Xers have tuned out MTV for more than twelve years now, given the long blocks of commercials, insipid Sweet 16 birthday shows, making Spencer and Heidi Pratt stars, and airing reality TV shows featuring drunken frat people from New Jersey who act like jackasses and being shoved down our throats and thrust into the national spotlight.
The "M" in MTV once stood for music. It now stands for moron, because that's who it showcases and it also describes those who run the network. It also qualifies them to work at NBC.
Worthy of Gold
Olympic hockey. Nothing hokey about it - most watched program ever in Canada, third most-watched hockey game in history in the United States - and we had four Blackhawks in the game!
Undercover Boss. Whaaa? This is the surprise Sunday Night 8 p.m. show CBS was looking for - and has put Desperate Housewives and Family Guy on notice.
Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains. One of the best seasons of this venerable reality franchise thus far - don't blow it.
The Boondocks are back. Aaron McGruder's comic strip-turned-TV show is finally back after a three-year hiatus on May 2nd. But at this rate, the program could reach 100 episodes for syndication - by 2024.
Worthy of Mold
Rewarding mediocrity. WLS-AM extends low-rated host Roe Conn's contract and The CW renews 90210 for another season. And you thought this was only limited to the Chicago Bears.
Tony Kornhiser and ESPN. TV's most senile geezer did it again when he ripped ESPN colleague Hannah Storm's outfit on his Washington D.C. radio show and got suspended for two weeks. But it is interesting to note The Worldwide Leader in B.S. did NOT suspend Mike Greenberg for his Martin Luther King Jr. Day slip-up on the vastly overrated Mike & Mike Morning Show or Kornheiser's Pardon The Interruption co-host (Michael Wilbon) for race-baiting comments on the show.
And as for Kornheiser - it's time for you to head to the retirement home, buddy...
The Marriage Ref. This is what yours truly tweeted Sunday night: "The Marriage Ref" looks like one of those syndicated strips that should be only on at 1 in the afternoon. I guess NBC's next new show will be a prime-time version of Cheaters.
MTV doesn't need "cynical" Generation X. So MTV Networks President Van Toffler says he doesn't need "cynical" Generation X viewers anymore at MTV, saying they are about as relevant as Boomers are. Fine. Kind of redundant since Gen Xers have tuned out MTV for more than twelve years now, given the long blocks of commercials, insipid Sweet 16 birthday shows, making Spencer and Heidi Pratt stars, and airing reality TV shows featuring drunken frat people from New Jersey who act like jackasses and being shoved down our throats and thrust into the national spotlight.
The "M" in MTV once stood for music. It now stands for moron, because that's who it showcases and it also describes those who run the network. It also qualifies them to work at NBC.
Tuesday, March 02, 2010
"Access: Hollywood" coming to you live!
Get ready, one of syndication's top-rated prime access magazine shows is getting ready to coming at you live!
NBC Universal Television Distribution has announced it is launching Access: Hollywood Live, an one-hour daytime "brand extension" of its prime-access magazine show on six NBC O&O stations, including WMAQ-TV in Chicago.
The other five markets are New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, and Hartford/New Haven.
The new hour is a mix of entertainment news and banter with guests, all coming to you live from Los Angeles.
The move fills the last hour vacated by the recent departure of three first-run syndicated series. Two of those spots have already been filled by Sony's Nate Berkus Show and NBCU's The Real Housewives for airing this fall.
If Access: Hollywood Live works on these six NBC-owned stations, the program could be rolled out on other stations across the country.
Currently, Access: Hollywood is ranked fourth among newsmagazines in the key women 25-54 demographic. The program is currently in its fourteenth season and has been through five syndicator changes along the way.
This "brand extension" of a first-run syndicated series isn't new - over the years, syndicators have tried to extend the brand name of a television show and extend it into other dayparts (pure spin-offs, like Dr. Phil deriving from The Oprah Winfrey Show, do not count in this particular case.)
During the 1989-90 season, Warner Bros. launched a weekly young-adult version of its hit kids game show strip Fun House. Titled College Mad House, it pitted colleges against one another and was hosted by Greg Kinnear.
During the summer of 1984, Paramount tested a daily strip version of its weekly music series Solid Gold titled Solid Gold Hits, hosted by Grant Goodeve. Ratings were poor however, and thus wasn't renewed.
Baywatch spun-off Baywatch Nights, which lasted two seasons from 1995 to 1997.
There have also been brand extensions of several game shows targeted to children (to meet FCC educational requirements, basically.) The Hollywood Squares (Storybook Squares, which ran before educational mandates were put in place) Wheel of Fortune (Wheel of Fortune 2000), and American Gladiators (Gladiators 2000) all had kid-friendly versions. Another game show (Jeopardy!) spun-off Rock n' Roll Jeopardy!, hosted by Jeff Probst.
updated 12:41 a.m. on 2010-03-03
NBC Universal Television Distribution has announced it is launching Access: Hollywood Live, an one-hour daytime "brand extension" of its prime-access magazine show on six NBC O&O stations, including WMAQ-TV in Chicago.
The other five markets are New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, and Hartford/New Haven.
The new hour is a mix of entertainment news and banter with guests, all coming to you live from Los Angeles.
The move fills the last hour vacated by the recent departure of three first-run syndicated series. Two of those spots have already been filled by Sony's Nate Berkus Show and NBCU's The Real Housewives for airing this fall.
If Access: Hollywood Live works on these six NBC-owned stations, the program could be rolled out on other stations across the country.
Currently, Access: Hollywood is ranked fourth among newsmagazines in the key women 25-54 demographic. The program is currently in its fourteenth season and has been through five syndicator changes along the way.
This "brand extension" of a first-run syndicated series isn't new - over the years, syndicators have tried to extend the brand name of a television show and extend it into other dayparts (pure spin-offs, like Dr. Phil deriving from The Oprah Winfrey Show, do not count in this particular case.)
During the 1989-90 season, Warner Bros. launched a weekly young-adult version of its hit kids game show strip Fun House. Titled College Mad House, it pitted colleges against one another and was hosted by Greg Kinnear.
During the summer of 1984, Paramount tested a daily strip version of its weekly music series Solid Gold titled Solid Gold Hits, hosted by Grant Goodeve. Ratings were poor however, and thus wasn't renewed.
Baywatch spun-off Baywatch Nights, which lasted two seasons from 1995 to 1997.
There have also been brand extensions of several game shows targeted to children (to meet FCC educational requirements, basically.) The Hollywood Squares (Storybook Squares, which ran before educational mandates were put in place) Wheel of Fortune (Wheel of Fortune 2000), and American Gladiators (Gladiators 2000) all had kid-friendly versions. Another game show (Jeopardy!) spun-off Rock n' Roll Jeopardy!, hosted by Jeff Probst.
updated 12:41 a.m. on 2010-03-03
Monday, March 01, 2010
WCIU hails "Cash Cab" and boards "Stargate: Universe"
The next time you hail a cab in New York City, you might be on a game show and not even know it. Call it a game show - on wheels.
Discovery Channel's New York-based game show Cash Cab has been picked up by WCIU-TV in Chicago for airing this fall as a weekday strip on a straight barter basis.
MGM sold the program to WCIU, and a few other broadcasters, including CBS' KCAL-TV in Los Angeles and KTVT in Dallas, and Turner's WPCH-TV in Atlanta.
Ironically, New York - the show's home base - hasn't been cleared yet, but the program has been sold in 50 percent of the country. MGM said more clearances will be announced within a fewdays.
How does Cash Cab work? Well, a cab (driven by host Ben Bailey) drives around New York City picking up unsuspecting passengers and when they get in, the game begins. The driver asks the passenger trivia questions, and if he/she gets it correct, they win some money. But if the contestant gets three questions wrong during the time they are in the cab riding into their destination, the game's over, they lose their winnings, and they have to get out of the cab (heaven forbid the cab isn't going through a dangerous neighborhood...)
Ben Bailey has been nominated for an Emmy as Outstanding Game Show Host three times during the show's run. Cash Cab premiered on December 5, 2005.
Meanwhile, WCIU has also picked up weekly science fiction drama Stargate: Universe from MGM, with the clearance rate for the off-cable weekly drama currently at 65 percent, with WPIX-TV in New York and KCAL-TV in Los Angeles also on board for airing this fall.
New episodes of Stargate: Universe are currently running on SyFy. Stargate: Universe is the fourth television series in the Stargate franchise, often rivaling arch nemesis Star Trek for most spin-offs, films, and sequels from a science fiction program. The other three television series are Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis, and Stargate Infinity, a short-lived animated version of the series (which ironically, isn't connected with the live-action series or the films of the Stargate franchise.)
Discovery Channel's New York-based game show Cash Cab has been picked up by WCIU-TV in Chicago for airing this fall as a weekday strip on a straight barter basis.
MGM sold the program to WCIU, and a few other broadcasters, including CBS' KCAL-TV in Los Angeles and KTVT in Dallas, and Turner's WPCH-TV in Atlanta.
Ironically, New York - the show's home base - hasn't been cleared yet, but the program has been sold in 50 percent of the country. MGM said more clearances will be announced within a fewdays.
How does Cash Cab work? Well, a cab (driven by host Ben Bailey) drives around New York City picking up unsuspecting passengers and when they get in, the game begins. The driver asks the passenger trivia questions, and if he/she gets it correct, they win some money. But if the contestant gets three questions wrong during the time they are in the cab riding into their destination, the game's over, they lose their winnings, and they have to get out of the cab (heaven forbid the cab isn't going through a dangerous neighborhood...)
Ben Bailey has been nominated for an Emmy as Outstanding Game Show Host three times during the show's run. Cash Cab premiered on December 5, 2005.
Meanwhile, WCIU has also picked up weekly science fiction drama Stargate: Universe from MGM, with the clearance rate for the off-cable weekly drama currently at 65 percent, with WPIX-TV in New York and KCAL-TV in Los Angeles also on board for airing this fall.
New episodes of Stargate: Universe are currently running on SyFy. Stargate: Universe is the fourth television series in the Stargate franchise, often rivaling arch nemesis Star Trek for most spin-offs, films, and sequels from a science fiction program. The other three television series are Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis, and Stargate Infinity, a short-lived animated version of the series (which ironically, isn't connected with the live-action series or the films of the Stargate franchise.)
Canada-USA Gold Medal game scores in Chicago - and everywhere else
What's the best part of the Winter Olympics? Seeing one of the best hockey tournaments in the world. And this Olympics proved no different.
The Gold Medal Game in Men's Hockey between the United States and Canada drew the largest audience for any hockey game in 30 years on this side of the border and the largest audience ever for any television program in Canada.
The game - in which the Pittsburgh Penguins' Sidney Crosby scored the game-winning goal in overtime to give Canada the gold medal in hockey at the Olympics - drew 27.6 viewers on NBC in the U.S., only behind the two 1980 Winter Olympic hockey games the U.S. were involved in - including the Miracle on Ice game, which still tops 'em all with 34.2 million.
At 4:30 p.m., (CT), the game peaked at 34.8 million viewers, when the USA's Zack Parise tied the game to send it into overtime.
In Canada on CTV, the game broke an all-time viewing record by drawing 16.6 million viewers - besting the mark set only Feb. 12 with the Opening Ceremonies of the Winter Olympics. At least 80 percent of all Canadians watched some part of the game, which translates to 26.5 million viewers.
Locally, the game drew a 23.5 HH rating and a 41 HH share, making it the highest-rated hockey game in Chicago in more than 30 years - thanks in part to four Chicago Blackhawks players participating in the game. Buffalo (where USA goaltender Ryan Miller plays for the Sabres) scored the highest number, with a 32.6/51, followed by Pittsburgh witha 31.9/50 (home of Sydney Crosby.)
Another winner in this contest was the National Hockey League - all whom participated in this game plays for an NHL team. The league got the badly needed exposure they were looking for - and may cash in with this year's upcoming playoffs - even more so if the Chicago Blackhawks - who have been setting local record ratings for Comcast SportsNet this season - make it alll the way to the Stanley Cup Finals.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
More on Chicago PPM numbers for January
Here some more information on the Arbitron PPM numbers for the month of January, which were released yesterday:
- In what could be considered an upset, WLS-AM's morning duo of Don and Wade Roma won the morning drive race in January, handly defeating WGN-AM's Greg Jarrett among overall listeners. The duo have been at WLS since 1985 (when it was still a Contemporary Hit Outlet!) Among adults 25-54, the Romas finished tied for twelveth, ahead of Jarrett's show, which finished tied for eighteenth.
- And among 25-54s, WTMX-FM (The Mix) was the top-rated station in this most sought-after demo, and when you split among genders, WSCR-AM took home the crown among men while the femmes preferred WTMX.
- And while WLS' Roe Conn continued to disappoint with his afternoon show finishing 23rd among adults 25-54, his bosses nonetheless decided to give him a two-year contract extension today.
If you think this is uncommon, The CW recently renewed 90210 and Gossip Girl for next season with just as disastrous ratings. Go figure.
- In what could be considered an upset, WLS-AM's morning duo of Don and Wade Roma won the morning drive race in January, handly defeating WGN-AM's Greg Jarrett among overall listeners. The duo have been at WLS since 1985 (when it was still a Contemporary Hit Outlet!) Among adults 25-54, the Romas finished tied for twelveth, ahead of Jarrett's show, which finished tied for eighteenth.
- And among 25-54s, WTMX-FM (The Mix) was the top-rated station in this most sought-after demo, and when you split among genders, WSCR-AM took home the crown among men while the femmes preferred WTMX.
- And while WLS' Roe Conn continued to disappoint with his afternoon show finishing 23rd among adults 25-54, his bosses nonetheless decided to give him a two-year contract extension today.
If you think this is uncommon, The CW recently renewed 90210 and Gossip Girl for next season with just as disastrous ratings. Go figure.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Chicago January PPM ratings
The following is based on 6+ numbers only:
Winners:
WBBM-AM, WLS-AM, WGN-AM, WTMX-FM, WUSN-FM, WSCR-AM, WILV-FM, WNUA-FM, WBEZ-FM (whew!)
Honorable mention:
WGCI-FM, WDRV-FM, WBBM-FM,WPWX-FM, WLS-FM, WXRT-FM
Big drop as expected:
WLIT-FM
Losers:
Nothing. A first!
Analysis: January was a very strong month for Chicago's radio stations as more than 15 radio stations showed period-to-period increases, debunking the myth radio in Chicago is "dying". In fact, if you look at the chart, there really isn't a negative story to be found (if you excuse WLIT's drop.)
News and talk radio proved popular once again in the Windy City as WBBM-AM, WLS-AM, and WGN-AM all took the top three spots. WVAZ-FM finished fourth (though down slightly), while WUSN-FM and WTMX surged to 5th and 6th place, respectively with strong showings.
In fact, many radio stations showed increases from last period, as patterns are returning to normal since the Holidays. But one station did take a big spill - and that was WLIT-FM, which declined a whopping 65% from last period. But the drop was expected as the station returned to its Adult Contemporary format from Holiday music on December 26. But the station still had a respectable showing in this post-holiday book and finished 11th.
The only other station to post a major drop was SBS' WLEY-FM, which fell 18%, but still managed to finish within the top 20.
Winners:
WBBM-AM, WLS-AM, WGN-AM, WTMX-FM, WUSN-FM, WSCR-AM, WILV-FM, WNUA-FM, WBEZ-FM (whew!)
Honorable mention:
WGCI-FM, WDRV-FM, WBBM-FM,WPWX-FM, WLS-FM, WXRT-FM
Big drop as expected:
WLIT-FM
Losers:
Nothing. A first!
Analysis: January was a very strong month for Chicago's radio stations as more than 15 radio stations showed period-to-period increases, debunking the myth radio in Chicago is "dying". In fact, if you look at the chart, there really isn't a negative story to be found (if you excuse WLIT's drop.)
News and talk radio proved popular once again in the Windy City as WBBM-AM, WLS-AM, and WGN-AM all took the top three spots. WVAZ-FM finished fourth (though down slightly), while WUSN-FM and WTMX surged to 5th and 6th place, respectively with strong showings.
In fact, many radio stations showed increases from last period, as patterns are returning to normal since the Holidays. But one station did take a big spill - and that was WLIT-FM, which declined a whopping 65% from last period. But the drop was expected as the station returned to its Adult Contemporary format from Holiday music on December 26. But the station still had a respectable showing in this post-holiday book and finished 11th.
The only other station to post a major drop was SBS' WLEY-FM, which fell 18%, but still managed to finish within the top 20.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
T Dog's Grab Bag - Jerry Agar, "Undercover Boss", KNBC and more
It's been a little while since yours truly has done a Grab Bag of news and notes - so here's what's going on in the world of media today:
- Was yours truly wrong on Undercover Boss? People are still tuning in, and Ben Grossman of B&C offers up a great defense of the show and reality TV in general (but he is way off the mark when he says Undercover Boss is funnier than The Big Bang Theory.)
- Jerry Agar is returning to his home north of the border: The former WLS-AM and current WGN-AM weekend radio talker has signed on with CFRB-AM in Toronto to host a daily talker in Canada's largest market. The native Canadian will continue doing weekend work for WGN, but Bill Leff is not - he has exited WGN's ChicagoNowRadio Saturday morning show.
- And like a lot of Canadians, they were sobbing on Sunday night after the men's U.S. hockey team beat Canada 5-3. But Canada did win in one category: TV ratings. While the game drew 8.2 million viewers on MSNBC in the States, on CTV, it drew a whopping 10.6 million viewers, making it the most-watched sporting event in Canada's history.
- No more tears and no Johnson & Johnson either: Earvin "Magic" Johnson and Johnson Publishing fail to reach an agreement on a sale of the company to the former basketball star.
- Litton's new Judge Karen's Court and Twentieth's Dont Forget The Lyrics have released updated clearance information for their debuts this fall. While Litton declined to identify stations who bought the show, they did release info on what groups are involved (it's likely Karen will end up on WCIU, since it was the home of her last syndicated effort.) Meanwhile, Twentieth did release an updated station list for Lyrics, which now lists 155 stations at 65 percent clearance. Among new stations joining the lineup include WFXT Boston, WJBK Detroit, KTVI in St. Louis, and WMLW in Milwaukee. In Chicago, Lyrics will air on WPWR-TV.
- As part of its station group's upcoming daytime overhaul, NBC-owned KNBC-TV in Los Angeles has canceled its low-rated midday newscast titled Midday Report, anchored by Kim Baldonado. The show was originally supposed to be bumped for the Olympics and return March 1, but KNBC officials decided to air day-old repeats of Access: Hollywood instead.
This fall, KNBC will air The Nate Berkus Show from Sony and The Real Housewives Of... repeats.
- Was yours truly wrong on Undercover Boss? People are still tuning in, and Ben Grossman of B&C offers up a great defense of the show and reality TV in general (but he is way off the mark when he says Undercover Boss is funnier than The Big Bang Theory.)
- Jerry Agar is returning to his home north of the border: The former WLS-AM and current WGN-AM weekend radio talker has signed on with CFRB-AM in Toronto to host a daily talker in Canada's largest market. The native Canadian will continue doing weekend work for WGN, but Bill Leff is not - he has exited WGN's ChicagoNowRadio Saturday morning show.
- And like a lot of Canadians, they were sobbing on Sunday night after the men's U.S. hockey team beat Canada 5-3. But Canada did win in one category: TV ratings. While the game drew 8.2 million viewers on MSNBC in the States, on CTV, it drew a whopping 10.6 million viewers, making it the most-watched sporting event in Canada's history.
- No more tears and no Johnson & Johnson either: Earvin "Magic" Johnson and Johnson Publishing fail to reach an agreement on a sale of the company to the former basketball star.
- Litton's new Judge Karen's Court and Twentieth's Dont Forget The Lyrics have released updated clearance information for their debuts this fall. While Litton declined to identify stations who bought the show, they did release info on what groups are involved (it's likely Karen will end up on WCIU, since it was the home of her last syndicated effort.) Meanwhile, Twentieth did release an updated station list for Lyrics, which now lists 155 stations at 65 percent clearance. Among new stations joining the lineup include WFXT Boston, WJBK Detroit, KTVI in St. Louis, and WMLW in Milwaukee. In Chicago, Lyrics will air on WPWR-TV.
- As part of its station group's upcoming daytime overhaul, NBC-owned KNBC-TV in Los Angeles has canceled its low-rated midday newscast titled Midday Report, anchored by Kim Baldonado. The show was originally supposed to be bumped for the Olympics and return March 1, but KNBC officials decided to air day-old repeats of Access: Hollywood instead.
This fall, KNBC will air The Nate Berkus Show from Sony and The Real Housewives Of... repeats.
Saturday, February 20, 2010
T Dog's Four Pack - A long time coming
Been awhile since a T Dog's Four pack was published... so, let's create one. Now!
What's Hot:
The New Orleans Saints. ...and in fact, the city of New Orleans and the entire state of Louisiana. Their recent Super Bowl win was their first in the team's 42-year history, giving a huge lift to an area devastated by Hurricane Katrina only four years ago.
Super Bowl XLIV breaks all-time viewing record. An estimated 106 million viewers tuned in to the Super Bowl, breaking a 27-year old record set by the final episode of M*A*S*H in 1983.
The Winter Olympics. Ratings for the Vancouver games on NBC are up from the Torino games in 2006 - and are setting ratings records in the host country for CTV - where the Opening Ceremonies broke an all-time ratings record in Canada, only days after the American record fell for the most-watched program of all time.
Mancow out at WLS-AM. The Big 89 finally came to its senses and released Mancow the Moron, a hire that never should happened to begin with. Hopefully his reign of terror over Chicago's airwaves ends for good.
...and what's not:
- The networks running fresh fare opposite the Olympics. So much for counter-programming as the Olympics run ripshod over most new episodes of regular prime-time fare, including season lows for Grey's Anatomy and The Simpsons. Even American Idol was beaten on Wednesday.
- Hyde Park. President Obama's neighborhood was featured in Time Out Chicago recently - and the picture wasn't pretty - the neighborhood struggling much like the famous politician is in the White House. Sadly, Hyde Park is more closer to Harvey and Ford Heights than it is to Lincoln Park and Wilmette when it comes to retail development and respectable nightlife (which is not of the strip club caviler.)
- Sarah Palin. Can someone please put The Club on her mouth whenever she speaks? I mean really.
- Pardon the Interruption. Tuesday's episode featuring the old farts was a complete embarrassment. Michael Wilbon talking about a commercial for male enhancement products and actually endorsing it? Really, is there anyone under the age of 55 still watching this show? I guess Warner Saunders forgot to feed his son Wilbon his strained carrots and burp him before airtime.
What's Hot:
The New Orleans Saints. ...and in fact, the city of New Orleans and the entire state of Louisiana. Their recent Super Bowl win was their first in the team's 42-year history, giving a huge lift to an area devastated by Hurricane Katrina only four years ago.
Super Bowl XLIV breaks all-time viewing record. An estimated 106 million viewers tuned in to the Super Bowl, breaking a 27-year old record set by the final episode of M*A*S*H in 1983.
The Winter Olympics. Ratings for the Vancouver games on NBC are up from the Torino games in 2006 - and are setting ratings records in the host country for CTV - where the Opening Ceremonies broke an all-time ratings record in Canada, only days after the American record fell for the most-watched program of all time.
Mancow out at WLS-AM. The Big 89 finally came to its senses and released Mancow the Moron, a hire that never should happened to begin with. Hopefully his reign of terror over Chicago's airwaves ends for good.
...and what's not:
- The networks running fresh fare opposite the Olympics. So much for counter-programming as the Olympics run ripshod over most new episodes of regular prime-time fare, including season lows for Grey's Anatomy and The Simpsons. Even American Idol was beaten on Wednesday.
- Hyde Park. President Obama's neighborhood was featured in Time Out Chicago recently - and the picture wasn't pretty - the neighborhood struggling much like the famous politician is in the White House. Sadly, Hyde Park is more closer to Harvey and Ford Heights than it is to Lincoln Park and Wilmette when it comes to retail development and respectable nightlife (which is not of the strip club caviler.)
- Sarah Palin. Can someone please put The Club on her mouth whenever she speaks? I mean really.
- Pardon the Interruption. Tuesday's episode featuring the old farts was a complete embarrassment. Michael Wilbon talking about a commercial for male enhancement products and actually endorsing it? Really, is there anyone under the age of 55 still watching this show? I guess Warner Saunders forgot to feed his son Wilbon his strained carrots and burp him before airtime.
Friday, February 19, 2010
NBC O&Os get daytime act together
Chicago's WMAQ fares better than New York and Los Angeles counterparts
The NBC-owned-and-operated stations are blowing up their daytime schedules this fall, with two new programs (and possibly a third) coming this fall while three shows are exiting.
NBC Local Media chief John Wallace explains in a recent TVNewscheck article on how the station group is preparing for the massive changeover with the acquisition of Sony Pictures Television's Nate Berkus Show and off-cable repeats of The Real Housewives. In addition, the group is looking to develop a third show, possibly keeping it in-house.
The program would be an Access: Hollywood-type show, but no details were announced. Another possibility would be an hour-long LX.TV show
NBC (as a network) has traditionally trailed CBS and ABC in the daytime race, and programs fewer hours than the other two. Therefore, NBC affiliates - and its O&Os - must rely on syndicated programming. NBC has ten O&Os, including the six largest markets, WRC in Washington, D.C., and the remaining three are in Miami, Hartford, and San Diego.
The opportunity to grab Berkus came when Martha Stewart decided to move her daytime talk show to Hallmark Channel, though at least one slot was already open with the cancellation of The Bonnie Hunt Show.
Another slot will open with the expected cancellation of Deal or No Deal. The second-year syndicated game show suffered steep ratings losses this year, and is being dropped by My Network TV in primetime this fall in favor of Don't Forget The Lyrics, which is also being stripped in syndication.
NBC hopes the moves will boost ratings in its O&O markets. Ironically, NBC-owned WMAQ-TV in Chicago performs better in the women 25-54 demographic than its New York (WNBC-TV) and Los Angeles counterparts (KNBC-TV). WMAQ is tied for second in this demo with WGN-TV during the day, and is only behind market leader WLS-TV.
Also in the O&Os stable is Ellen, which is experiencing ratings growth in its key female demos in its ninth season. It's one of the reasons NBC renewed Ellen for three more years on its stations as a key linchpin for its early fringe lineup (locally, WMAQ airs Ellen DeGeneres' show at 3 p.m. every weekday.)
While the moves are eliciting praise from media buyers and advertisers alike, a big change like this always carries some risk. Though the shows being replaced were definitely not ratings winners, there is no guarantee these new shows will do any better (it is television, after all.) While Nate Berkus has the name recognition for him to succeed, The Real Housewives could sink, given off-cable repeats have not historically worked well in broadcast syndication. Also not working in its favor is no continuity (Housewives have done editions in Atlanta, New York, New Jersey, Washington, D.C., and Orange County, Calif.) and the controversial nature of the series.
But still, the moves bring fresh programming initiatives to the NBC O&Os and are an improvement over the stuff they currently air.
The NBC-owned-and-operated stations are blowing up their daytime schedules this fall, with two new programs (and possibly a third) coming this fall while three shows are exiting.
NBC Local Media chief John Wallace explains in a recent TVNewscheck article on how the station group is preparing for the massive changeover with the acquisition of Sony Pictures Television's Nate Berkus Show and off-cable repeats of The Real Housewives. In addition, the group is looking to develop a third show, possibly keeping it in-house.
The program would be an Access: Hollywood-type show, but no details were announced. Another possibility would be an hour-long LX.TV show
NBC (as a network) has traditionally trailed CBS and ABC in the daytime race, and programs fewer hours than the other two. Therefore, NBC affiliates - and its O&Os - must rely on syndicated programming. NBC has ten O&Os, including the six largest markets, WRC in Washington, D.C., and the remaining three are in Miami, Hartford, and San Diego.
The opportunity to grab Berkus came when Martha Stewart decided to move her daytime talk show to Hallmark Channel, though at least one slot was already open with the cancellation of The Bonnie Hunt Show.
Another slot will open with the expected cancellation of Deal or No Deal. The second-year syndicated game show suffered steep ratings losses this year, and is being dropped by My Network TV in primetime this fall in favor of Don't Forget The Lyrics, which is also being stripped in syndication.
NBC hopes the moves will boost ratings in its O&O markets. Ironically, NBC-owned WMAQ-TV in Chicago performs better in the women 25-54 demographic than its New York (WNBC-TV) and Los Angeles counterparts (KNBC-TV). WMAQ is tied for second in this demo with WGN-TV during the day, and is only behind market leader WLS-TV.
Also in the O&Os stable is Ellen, which is experiencing ratings growth in its key female demos in its ninth season. It's one of the reasons NBC renewed Ellen for three more years on its stations as a key linchpin for its early fringe lineup (locally, WMAQ airs Ellen DeGeneres' show at 3 p.m. every weekday.)
While the moves are eliciting praise from media buyers and advertisers alike, a big change like this always carries some risk. Though the shows being replaced were definitely not ratings winners, there is no guarantee these new shows will do any better (it is television, after all.) While Nate Berkus has the name recognition for him to succeed, The Real Housewives could sink, given off-cable repeats have not historically worked well in broadcast syndication. Also not working in its favor is no continuity (Housewives have done editions in Atlanta, New York, New Jersey, Washington, D.C., and Orange County, Calif.) and the controversial nature of the series.
But still, the moves bring fresh programming initiatives to the NBC O&Os and are an improvement over the stuff they currently air.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
WMAQ cleans up on Olympics
NBC-owned WMAQ-TV is having a blast this month, thanks to the Vancouver Winter Olympics.
Ratings for the games have more than tripled its nearest competitors in prime-time - none of which have come even close, proving the games are a big draw in Chicagoland.
For example on Saturday, the Olympics drew a 15.2 rating (share not available) on Saturday night February 13, outdrawing a Atlanta Thrashers-Chicago Blackhawks game, which did a 2.7 (which still isn't a bad number for a Saturday night outing on WGN-TV.)
While American Idol beat The Olympics on Tuesday night, Chicagoans tuned in to the Olympics in greater numbers than Idol, which beat the Fox show 14.0 to 12.5. Historically, Idol has always underperformed in Chicago and did so this time, even with a few local area hopefuls in the mix on "Hollywood Week". Last May, the local household rating for the American Idol finale was the fifth-worst among the 56 metered markets.
On Wednesday night, the Olympics turned the tables on Idol, handing the venerable talent show its first defeat since May 2004 - thanks in part to several Gold-medal winning performances by American athletes. The Olympics bested Idol across-the-board in households, adults 18-49, and total viewers.
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Wednesday night's Olympics also pulled in strong numbers here, with a 20.2/31 household rating/share, ranking 20th overall out of 56 metered markets, fueled in part by South Sider Shani Davis' Gold Medal win in speedskating (Milwaukee's WTMJ was tops with a 23.7/37.
Locally, the Olympics have averaged a 17.1 rating (though six nights), and nationally has done a 14.5 (though five nights), far higher than the network programming it usually has in prime-time.
Meanwhile in Canada, CTV continues to soar for its Olympic coverage in the host country. CTV, its owned-cable nets, and Rogers SportsNet have draw a combined 40 million viewers since the Olympics started on Friday, with CTV drawing 4.5 million in prime-time Wednesday night.
Ratings for the games have more than tripled its nearest competitors in prime-time - none of which have come even close, proving the games are a big draw in Chicagoland.
For example on Saturday, the Olympics drew a 15.2 rating (share not available) on Saturday night February 13, outdrawing a Atlanta Thrashers-Chicago Blackhawks game, which did a 2.7 (which still isn't a bad number for a Saturday night outing on WGN-TV.)
While American Idol beat The Olympics on Tuesday night, Chicagoans tuned in to the Olympics in greater numbers than Idol, which beat the Fox show 14.0 to 12.5. Historically, Idol has always underperformed in Chicago and did so this time, even with a few local area hopefuls in the mix on "Hollywood Week". Last May, the local household rating for the American Idol finale was the fifth-worst among the 56 metered markets.
On Wednesday night, the Olympics turned the tables on Idol, handing the venerable talent show its first defeat since May 2004 - thanks in part to several Gold-medal winning performances by American athletes. The Olympics bested Idol across-the-board in households, adults 18-49, and total viewers.
\
Wednesday night's Olympics also pulled in strong numbers here, with a 20.2/31 household rating/share, ranking 20th overall out of 56 metered markets, fueled in part by South Sider Shani Davis' Gold Medal win in speedskating (Milwaukee's WTMJ was tops with a 23.7/37.
Locally, the Olympics have averaged a 17.1 rating (though six nights), and nationally has done a 14.5 (though five nights), far higher than the network programming it usually has in prime-time.
Meanwhile in Canada, CTV continues to soar for its Olympic coverage in the host country. CTV, its owned-cable nets, and Rogers SportsNet have draw a combined 40 million viewers since the Olympics started on Friday, with CTV drawing 4.5 million in prime-time Wednesday night.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Meet your new ruler of Earth: "American Idol"
Not even the mighty Winter Olympics could slow down American Idol, which is now the undisputed ruler of the Nielsen Kingdom (with the expection of the Super Bowl, of course.)
Tuesday night's ratings showdown featured Idol, the Olympics, and a new episode of Lost.
Idol won the 7-9 p.m. time slot with a 9.1/22 rating/share among adults 18-49 (and 24 million viewers) while the Olympics drew a respectable 5.1/12 among adults 18-49 and 20 million viewers.
In household overnights, Idol easily cleared the Olympics with a 15.2/22 to 14.4/21 advantage.
Meanwhile, Lost wasn't really affected by the tough competition: it drew a 4.5/10 among adults 18-49 and 9.8 million viewers, with a household overnight rating/share of 6.7/9.
Regularly-scheduled programming beating the Olympics isn't new - Idol did it before in 2006 when it defeated the Torino Winter games; and in February 1992, a first-run episode of The Simpsons on Fox defeated the Albertville Winter games on CBS and NBC's The Cosby Show in its 7 p.m. Thursday time slot.
Tuesday night's ratings showdown featured Idol, the Olympics, and a new episode of Lost.
Idol won the 7-9 p.m. time slot with a 9.1/22 rating/share among adults 18-49 (and 24 million viewers) while the Olympics drew a respectable 5.1/12 among adults 18-49 and 20 million viewers.
In household overnights, Idol easily cleared the Olympics with a 15.2/22 to 14.4/21 advantage.
Meanwhile, Lost wasn't really affected by the tough competition: it drew a 4.5/10 among adults 18-49 and 9.8 million viewers, with a household overnight rating/share of 6.7/9.
Regularly-scheduled programming beating the Olympics isn't new - Idol did it before in 2006 when it defeated the Torino Winter games; and in February 1992, a first-run episode of The Simpsons on Fox defeated the Albertville Winter games on CBS and NBC's The Cosby Show in its 7 p.m. Thursday time slot.
Sunday, February 14, 2010
NBC, CTV score big with Winter Olympics Opener
A week ago, a 27- year record fell when Super Bowl XLIV between the New Orleans Saints and Indianapolis Colts drew more than 106 million viewers, marking it as the most-watched television event ever in the United States.
Now its Canada's turn.
Friday's Opening Ceremonies for the Winter Olympics drew the largest audience ever for a television event in Canada.
The 13.3 million who watched all or part of the Opening Ceremonies in Vancouver broke the record set at the 2002 Salt Lake City games when Canada defeated the U.S. in the gold-medal hockey game, which aired on former rights holder CBC.
The Olympic games are being carried by CTV and its owned-cable properties (all-sports TSN, French-language sports cabler RDS, and OLN, among others.) Some Olympic events are alos being carried by regional sports cabler Rogers SportsNet.
Meanwhile in the U.S. , NBC scored Friday night with its coverage of the Opening Ceremonies, drawing 67 million viewers between 7:00 p.m. and 11:15 p.m., Central Time.
Among the largest markets, Seattle (which is about 100 miles south of Vancouver) came on top Friday with the largest ratings, despite being time-delayed for the Pacific Time Zone (in Canada, the Olympics are being shown "live" in all time zones, coast to coast.) Milwaukee was second, with Denver third.
Chicago tied with Buffalo for 20th place, with a 20.1 household rating and 33 share.
Fact: CTV is celebrating its 50th anniversary this fall, launching as Canada's first privately-owned broadcast network in 1961. What was the top-rated show on CTV's first season? Believe it or not, it was The Andy Griffith Show.
Now its Canada's turn.
Friday's Opening Ceremonies for the Winter Olympics drew the largest audience ever for a television event in Canada.
The 13.3 million who watched all or part of the Opening Ceremonies in Vancouver broke the record set at the 2002 Salt Lake City games when Canada defeated the U.S. in the gold-medal hockey game, which aired on former rights holder CBC.
The Olympic games are being carried by CTV and its owned-cable properties (all-sports TSN, French-language sports cabler RDS, and OLN, among others.) Some Olympic events are alos being carried by regional sports cabler Rogers SportsNet.
Meanwhile in the U.S. , NBC scored Friday night with its coverage of the Opening Ceremonies, drawing 67 million viewers between 7:00 p.m. and 11:15 p.m., Central Time.
Among the largest markets, Seattle (which is about 100 miles south of Vancouver) came on top Friday with the largest ratings, despite being time-delayed for the Pacific Time Zone (in Canada, the Olympics are being shown "live" in all time zones, coast to coast.) Milwaukee was second, with Denver third.
Chicago tied with Buffalo for 20th place, with a 20.1 household rating and 33 share.
Fact: CTV is celebrating its 50th anniversary this fall, launching as Canada's first privately-owned broadcast network in 1961. What was the top-rated show on CTV's first season? Believe it or not, it was The Andy Griffith Show.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
"Ellen" renewed on NBC O&Os through 2014
You can take Ellen DeGeneres off the list of potential replacements for Oprah Winfrey on ABC's O&Os.
Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution's Ellen was renewed by all ten of the NBC owned-and-operated stations (including WMAQ-TV in Chicago) through 2014, when it reaches its 11th season. The NBC stations have been with Ellen since day one, when her show began in 2003.
Her daytime show - which airs in early fringe opposite Oprah in numerous markets - has done well in its target female audiences of 18-49s and 25-54s, and the show's ratings are up this season across-the-board in all key demographics.
With the NBC O&O renewal, it takes Ellen off the market as several ABC O&Os are looking to replace The Oprah Winfrey Show in September 2011.
Ellen DeGeneres' show is likely to benefit this season from her duties as a judge on top-rated American Idol.
Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution's Ellen was renewed by all ten of the NBC owned-and-operated stations (including WMAQ-TV in Chicago) through 2014, when it reaches its 11th season. The NBC stations have been with Ellen since day one, when her show began in 2003.
Her daytime show - which airs in early fringe opposite Oprah in numerous markets - has done well in its target female audiences of 18-49s and 25-54s, and the show's ratings are up this season across-the-board in all key demographics.
With the NBC O&O renewal, it takes Ellen off the market as several ABC O&Os are looking to replace The Oprah Winfrey Show in September 2011.
Ellen DeGeneres' show is likely to benefit this season from her duties as a judge on top-rated American Idol.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Mancow, Cassidy out at WLS-AM
Mancow Mueller has wore out his welcome at yet another Chicago radio station.
He and his on-air partner (former WBBM-AM personality Pat Cassidy) were shown the door at WLS-AM after their show concluded today, ending a run of only sixteen months (or nine more months than The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien.)
As of Thursday morning, Cisco Cotto will replace the two in the 9-11 a.m. time slot. Cotto previously was heard on WIND-AM and was recently paired with Roe Conn on WLS in the afternoons.
The program paired up the oddest of Odd Couples: news reader Cassidy and former shock jock Erich "Mancow" Mueller and ran between Don and Wade Roma's morning drive program and Rush Limbaugh's syndicated show.
While Mueller - a known libertarian - wanted to distance himself from his shock jock past, his interviews with Drew Peterson and a "waterboarding" stunt he performed (which some say was staged) were scorned by critics. Some of his antics - which he brought directly from his syndicated morning show (and his old Mancow's Morning Madhouse) - turned off more conserative listeners. Pat Cassidy seemed out of place on the show, which Mancow dominated (and was proabably thinking... I left WBBM-AM for this?)
Mueller meanwhile, has exited a Chicago radio station for the third time in the last twelve years. After his contract was not renewed at the former WRCX-FM, he jumped to alternative rocker WKQX-FM in 1998, where he lasted eight years. He often clashed with WKQX executives over creative direction of his Mancow Morning Madhouse, which became syndicated during his tenure there. He moved to WLS-AM in October 2008 to be paired up with Pat Cassidy, who now is expected to return to his old post at WBBM.
The changes being made at WLS is due to new general manager Michael Damnsky, who is hoping to reverse a recent ratings slide. He replaced Michael Fowler, whose close friendship which Mueller helped him landed the gig at WLS. When he was dimissed, the cancellation clock was ticking on Mancow and Cassidy.
In another move, Daminsky has brought back WLS-TV anchor Ron Magers as a contributor and to provide news updates to Roe Conn's afternoon show Magers' position was eliminated a few weeks ago in a budget-cutting move.
WLS-TV and WLS-AM are former sister stations; WLS-AM was sold by ABC to Citadel in 2006.
Thought: Can we send Mancow the Moron back to obscurity where he belongs? The backstabbing sellout flopped on WLS-AM because nobody took him seriously as a talk-show host because of his past, which included partying with porn stars and staged stunts. This latest venture was a joke - he dominated this "partnership" over Pat Cassidy - who was lucky to get a word in edgewise. No, this was more about Mancow the Moron and his infatuation with phony waterboarding stunts, daily rantfests, and murder suspect Drew Peterson, who is another waste of human life.
Before the human waste disposal dried up on WKQX in 2006, Mancow already became irrelevant to the local media scene. As I alluded to in this post from over a year ago, he was mentioned in this blog only fourteen times out of some 1300 posts up to that time. While others were willing to give this man the time of day, yours truly wasn't going to.
Mancow the Moron is a hypocritical, unfunnny, lying jerk - the same kind of qualities which make you more than qualified to host The Tonight Show these days.
He and his on-air partner (former WBBM-AM personality Pat Cassidy) were shown the door at WLS-AM after their show concluded today, ending a run of only sixteen months (or nine more months than The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien.)
As of Thursday morning, Cisco Cotto will replace the two in the 9-11 a.m. time slot. Cotto previously was heard on WIND-AM and was recently paired with Roe Conn on WLS in the afternoons.
The program paired up the oddest of Odd Couples: news reader Cassidy and former shock jock Erich "Mancow" Mueller and ran between Don and Wade Roma's morning drive program and Rush Limbaugh's syndicated show.
While Mueller - a known libertarian - wanted to distance himself from his shock jock past, his interviews with Drew Peterson and a "waterboarding" stunt he performed (which some say was staged) were scorned by critics. Some of his antics - which he brought directly from his syndicated morning show (and his old Mancow's Morning Madhouse) - turned off more conserative listeners. Pat Cassidy seemed out of place on the show, which Mancow dominated (and was proabably thinking... I left WBBM-AM for this?)
Mueller meanwhile, has exited a Chicago radio station for the third time in the last twelve years. After his contract was not renewed at the former WRCX-FM, he jumped to alternative rocker WKQX-FM in 1998, where he lasted eight years. He often clashed with WKQX executives over creative direction of his Mancow Morning Madhouse, which became syndicated during his tenure there. He moved to WLS-AM in October 2008 to be paired up with Pat Cassidy, who now is expected to return to his old post at WBBM.
The changes being made at WLS is due to new general manager Michael Damnsky, who is hoping to reverse a recent ratings slide. He replaced Michael Fowler, whose close friendship which Mueller helped him landed the gig at WLS. When he was dimissed, the cancellation clock was ticking on Mancow and Cassidy.
In another move, Daminsky has brought back WLS-TV anchor Ron Magers as a contributor and to provide news updates to Roe Conn's afternoon show Magers' position was eliminated a few weeks ago in a budget-cutting move.
WLS-TV and WLS-AM are former sister stations; WLS-AM was sold by ABC to Citadel in 2006.
Thought: Can we send Mancow the Moron back to obscurity where he belongs? The backstabbing sellout flopped on WLS-AM because nobody took him seriously as a talk-show host because of his past, which included partying with porn stars and staged stunts. This latest venture was a joke - he dominated this "partnership" over Pat Cassidy - who was lucky to get a word in edgewise. No, this was more about Mancow the Moron and his infatuation with phony waterboarding stunts, daily rantfests, and murder suspect Drew Peterson, who is another waste of human life.
Before the human waste disposal dried up on WKQX in 2006, Mancow already became irrelevant to the local media scene. As I alluded to in this post from over a year ago, he was mentioned in this blog only fourteen times out of some 1300 posts up to that time. While others were willing to give this man the time of day, yours truly wasn't going to.
Mancow the Moron is a hypocritical, unfunnny, lying jerk - the same kind of qualities which make you more than qualified to host The Tonight Show these days.
Tuesday, February 09, 2010
ESPN, ABC affiliates tussle over sports
Many affiliates are upset with ABC and ESPN over a decision to remove several Sunday afternoon NASCAR races from the broadcast network to ESPN, leaving them with just three prime-time races to carry.
The move rankled affilates - particuarly in Southern television markets, where NASCAR is very popular.
NASCAR - whose season begins this Sunday with the Daytona 500 - splits its season up among broadcasters with Fox carrying the first portion of the season, followed by TNT for a few weeks, then ESPN/ABC taking over for the rest of the season until the season concludes in November.
While ABC affiliates are unhappy, ESPN claimes the races can pull better Nielsen numbers nationally on their network than they would on sister ABC, where those afternoon races had to compete with the NFL.
Both ESPN and ABC are owned by The Walt Disney Company, and the sports' divisions of both merged several years ago.
This reflects a growing trend of many sporting events - many of which used to air on the broadcast networks - heading to basic cable. Other recent ABC-to-ESPN moves include The Rose Bowl (and the entire BCS package picked up from Fox), The British Open, NBA Conference Finals, and college basketball, leaving the network with bare-bones programming on weekends, outside of the NBA and college. On Saturdays outside the college football season, ABC usually aired fare like Wide World of Sports, which ended its 37-year run in 1998 (What's on Saturday afternoons these days? In Dallas, ABC affiliate WFAA-TV recently aired a infomercial block.)
Locally, the Chicago Cubs announced its new 2010 schedule with the majority of games on Comcast SportsNet, leaving longtime rights holder WGN-TV with only around 60 games.
The reason why this is occurring because team owners and cable networks can benefit from a dual-revenue stream: one from advertising; the other from subscriber fees. ESPN and other networks usually collect them from cable and satellite providers, aka MSOs (Comcast, WOW!, and RCN) on a per-subscriber basis for the right to carry their channel on their system.
While ABC affiliates are unhappy with these turn of events, media buyers feel no sympathy towards them mainly because with ESPN and TNT, sporting events can reach their male-targeted targets better, and the pricing is lower.
And some media buyers dismiss the whining from affiliates since they still draw - and profit from - the networks' popular entertainment fare in prime-time.
As for NASCAR itself, many loyal fans have been upset with ESPN/ABC's coverage of the auto races for a wide variety of reasons, ranging from technical gaffes to bumping races to another ESPN outlet because of a last-minute programming conflict.
The move rankled affilates - particuarly in Southern television markets, where NASCAR is very popular.
NASCAR - whose season begins this Sunday with the Daytona 500 - splits its season up among broadcasters with Fox carrying the first portion of the season, followed by TNT for a few weeks, then ESPN/ABC taking over for the rest of the season until the season concludes in November.
While ABC affiliates are unhappy, ESPN claimes the races can pull better Nielsen numbers nationally on their network than they would on sister ABC, where those afternoon races had to compete with the NFL.
Both ESPN and ABC are owned by The Walt Disney Company, and the sports' divisions of both merged several years ago.
This reflects a growing trend of many sporting events - many of which used to air on the broadcast networks - heading to basic cable. Other recent ABC-to-ESPN moves include The Rose Bowl (and the entire BCS package picked up from Fox), The British Open, NBA Conference Finals, and college basketball, leaving the network with bare-bones programming on weekends, outside of the NBA and college. On Saturdays outside the college football season, ABC usually aired fare like Wide World of Sports, which ended its 37-year run in 1998 (What's on Saturday afternoons these days? In Dallas, ABC affiliate WFAA-TV recently aired a infomercial block.)
Locally, the Chicago Cubs announced its new 2010 schedule with the majority of games on Comcast SportsNet, leaving longtime rights holder WGN-TV with only around 60 games.
The reason why this is occurring because team owners and cable networks can benefit from a dual-revenue stream: one from advertising; the other from subscriber fees. ESPN and other networks usually collect them from cable and satellite providers, aka MSOs (Comcast, WOW!, and RCN) on a per-subscriber basis for the right to carry their channel on their system.
While ABC affiliates are unhappy with these turn of events, media buyers feel no sympathy towards them mainly because with ESPN and TNT, sporting events can reach their male-targeted targets better, and the pricing is lower.
And some media buyers dismiss the whining from affiliates since they still draw - and profit from - the networks' popular entertainment fare in prime-time.
As for NASCAR itself, many loyal fans have been upset with ESPN/ABC's coverage of the auto races for a wide variety of reasons, ranging from technical gaffes to bumping races to another ESPN outlet because of a last-minute programming conflict.
Monday, February 08, 2010
Best and Worst Super Bowl Commercials 2010
Ladies and Gentlemen... welcome to the fourth annual roundup of the best and worst Super Bowl commercials:
Forget Tivo... these ads are worth watching.
1. Kia. Sock Puppets are living it up - driving a Kia, going to parties and clubbing... then is back to reality: in back of a SUV with some kid in the suburbs. One of the most creative ads yours truly has seen in a long time.
2. Bud Light's Lost Ad (Stranded). Very funny Lost parody. The only thing missing was Hurley getting his groove on.
3. KGB. One person uses KGB's answer service to find out what "I Surrender" means in Japenese. One used a search engine to find out what the term means and he gets hammered. Awesome spot (though the KGB spot with the clowns at the birthday party was even funnier.)
4. Betty White and Abe Vigoda for Snickers. At her age, Betty White can still prove she's one tough cookie - excuse me, candy bar.
5. Motorola's Motoblur. Megan Fox in a hot tub? She sends her pictures out... and it affects America's productivity.
Skip these with your DVR
1. Go Daddy and Danica Patrick. Here we go again... the low rating of both spots in USA Today's Ad Meter proves this concept is tired. And speaking of tiring... Isn't everyone sick and tired of hearing about Miss Never Won A Race? Good luck in NASCAR lady, you'll need it. Second year in a row Go Daddy has topped the worst category in Super Bowl advertising.
2. Audi's Green Car Ad. Overzealous eco-cops? Yes, it can happen - wait until they get their own TV show.
3. Boost Mobile. The Chicago Bears Super Bowl Reunion proves you can't go home again. At least one-time Boost Mobile pitchman Master Shake from Aqua Teen Hunger Force didn't show up saying "Where you at, dawg?" (Wait... it would've made the ad more tolerable..)
4. Any Doritos Ad. None of them funny. Period. (In one spot, I wanted to see more of the hot mom - not "Webster".)
5. Cars.com. ...and at age 17, saved everyone from a tornado. Different script, same awful execution from last year's spot.
Other thoughts:
- Hard Hitting. A lot of hard-hitting plays in this year's Super Bowl. And that was just in the commercials!
- For the Super Bowl Halftime Show, entertain yourselves dammit! Reading the tweets about The Who's halftime performance was more entertaining than watching the show itself.
- D'Oh! The Simpsons' Coca-Cola ad looked horrible in HD... was expecting Bart to say "Nobody Better Lay A Finger On My Coke." (hmm... could be taken a lot of ways)
- Unnecessary Super Bowl Ad Of The Year: Google. You are the undisputed search-engine king. Why do you need to spend $2 million on a Super Bowl ad?
- We NEED to take our clothes off to have a good time. In a rather ironic twist, two ads aired back-to-back - with a partial nudity theme. One of CareerBuilder, the other for Dockers.
- Controversy? What Controversy? So this was the Tim Tebow ad everyone was talking about? What was the fuss?
- The ad everyone was talking about - but wasn't really an ad! CBS' Late Show promo featuring David Letterman, Oprah Winfrey, and Jay Leno? If she can get those two rivals together, you'd think it's possible she can unite Cubs and White Sox fans? ...nah.
Further reading:
-For the fourth consecutive year, YouTube is doing Ad Blitz so viewers can pick their favorite Super Bowl commercials. Voting continues until this Sunday, and the winner gets its own homepage.
- And of course, there's the other Super Bowl Ad staple: USA Today's 22nd Annual Ad Meter, which the Betty White Sinckers Ad won this year.
- Another Super Bowl Ad Review vet (Bob Garifeld) weighs in this roundup for Ad Age.
- For a local viewpoint, Chicago Tribune critic Steve Johnson has his thoughts.
- Looking for past Super Bowl ad reviews from yours truly? Here they are: 2007 (best), 2007 (worst), 2008, and 2009.
Forget Tivo... these ads are worth watching.
1. Kia. Sock Puppets are living it up - driving a Kia, going to parties and clubbing... then is back to reality: in back of a SUV with some kid in the suburbs. One of the most creative ads yours truly has seen in a long time.
2. Bud Light's Lost Ad (Stranded). Very funny Lost parody. The only thing missing was Hurley getting his groove on.
3. KGB. One person uses KGB's answer service to find out what "I Surrender" means in Japenese. One used a search engine to find out what the term means and he gets hammered. Awesome spot (though the KGB spot with the clowns at the birthday party was even funnier.)
4. Betty White and Abe Vigoda for Snickers. At her age, Betty White can still prove she's one tough cookie - excuse me, candy bar.
5. Motorola's Motoblur. Megan Fox in a hot tub? She sends her pictures out... and it affects America's productivity.
Skip these with your DVR
1. Go Daddy and Danica Patrick. Here we go again... the low rating of both spots in USA Today's Ad Meter proves this concept is tired. And speaking of tiring... Isn't everyone sick and tired of hearing about Miss Never Won A Race? Good luck in NASCAR lady, you'll need it. Second year in a row Go Daddy has topped the worst category in Super Bowl advertising.
2. Audi's Green Car Ad. Overzealous eco-cops? Yes, it can happen - wait until they get their own TV show.
3. Boost Mobile. The Chicago Bears Super Bowl Reunion proves you can't go home again. At least one-time Boost Mobile pitchman Master Shake from Aqua Teen Hunger Force didn't show up saying "Where you at, dawg?" (Wait... it would've made the ad more tolerable..)
4. Any Doritos Ad. None of them funny. Period. (In one spot, I wanted to see more of the hot mom - not "Webster".)
5. Cars.com. ...and at age 17, saved everyone from a tornado. Different script, same awful execution from last year's spot.
Other thoughts:
- Hard Hitting. A lot of hard-hitting plays in this year's Super Bowl. And that was just in the commercials!
- For the Super Bowl Halftime Show, entertain yourselves dammit! Reading the tweets about The Who's halftime performance was more entertaining than watching the show itself.
- D'Oh! The Simpsons' Coca-Cola ad looked horrible in HD... was expecting Bart to say "Nobody Better Lay A Finger On My Coke." (hmm... could be taken a lot of ways)
- Unnecessary Super Bowl Ad Of The Year: Google. You are the undisputed search-engine king. Why do you need to spend $2 million on a Super Bowl ad?
- We NEED to take our clothes off to have a good time. In a rather ironic twist, two ads aired back-to-back - with a partial nudity theme. One of CareerBuilder, the other for Dockers.
- Controversy? What Controversy? So this was the Tim Tebow ad everyone was talking about? What was the fuss?
- The ad everyone was talking about - but wasn't really an ad! CBS' Late Show promo featuring David Letterman, Oprah Winfrey, and Jay Leno? If she can get those two rivals together, you'd think it's possible she can unite Cubs and White Sox fans? ...nah.
Further reading:
-For the fourth consecutive year, YouTube is doing Ad Blitz so viewers can pick their favorite Super Bowl commercials. Voting continues until this Sunday, and the winner gets its own homepage.
- And of course, there's the other Super Bowl Ad staple: USA Today's 22nd Annual Ad Meter, which the Betty White Sinckers Ad won this year.
- Another Super Bowl Ad Review vet (Bob Garifeld) weighs in this roundup for Ad Age.
- For a local viewpoint, Chicago Tribune critic Steve Johnson has his thoughts.
- Looking for past Super Bowl ad reviews from yours truly? Here they are: 2007 (best), 2007 (worst), 2008, and 2009.
One for the record books
Courtesy: New Orleans Times-Picayune
Super Bowl XLIV between the New Orleans Saints and the Indianapolis Colts brought down one of television's most durable records.
The game drew an astonishing 106.5 million viewers on CBS - breaking the record set by the February 28, 1983 episode of M*A*S*H titled Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen, which closed out the series' eleven-season run. It drew 106 million viewers.
In the fast nationals, the adult 18-49 tally for the Super Bowl was 34.9/68.
The record-breaking total viewer mark is quite remarkable in an era of fragmented viewership, where the top-rated show on television can grab around 30 million.
In the two teams home markets, New Orleans' WWL-TV drew the largest overnight household rating and share (53.7/73) while Indianapolis' WISH-TV finished fourth (51.8/69), behind Washington, D.C. and Nashville.
Overall, the overnight household numbers were 46.4/68, the highest rated Super Bowl in this category in 23 years.
The Saints upset the Colts for their first Super Bowl win in the 42-year history of the franchise - one jokingly known as "The Ain'ts" for so many years.
Meanwhile, the Super Bowl lead-out - a new reality show titled Undercover Boss drew 38.6 million viewers - making it the most-watched reality TV premiere of all time and the most-watched post Super Bowl show in more than 20 years. The series settles into its regular 8 p.m. (CT) time slot this Sunday.
In a surprise to some who were watching, Undercover Boss was not shot in high-definition.
Sunday, February 07, 2010
T Dog's Four Pack - Don't fumble it away
In honor of the Super Bowl this weekend, this is who scored the touchdowns this week - and who fumbled it at the end zone.
Touchdown!
- WGCI and WVAZ gives back. Clear Channel's WGCI-FM and WVAZ-FM (V103) are launching the Raise A Hand Campaign to encourage young people to perform good deeds for their schools and their community via volunteer work. Both Ramonski Luv (former WGCI jock now at V103) and Tony Sculfield (the current afternoon personality at WGCI) are making special appearances at Chicago-area schools on Saturdays throughout February, which is Black History Month. For more information, click here.
As much as yours truly has given grief to Clear Channel over the years for some of their decisions, this initiative from them deserves a lot of kudos. This is what radio should be doing.
- The Grammys. Despite being panned across-the-board by critics, The 51st annual awards show drew more than 26 million viewers in its telecast last Sunday night, validating the fact Top 40 music is hot again.
- Nate Berkus. Thank NBC and its ten owned-and-operated stations for helping launch this new syndicated talk show this fall, which is produced by Harpo Productions.
- Lost. Television's best drama (yeah, I said it) drew 12 million viewers for its sixth-season premiere and a 5.6 ratings in 18-49s.
Fumble!
- Illinois. We stayed away from the polls and we let idiots choose a woman-beating, sleazy pawn owner as a Democratic nominee for Lt. Governor? Now we even don't have to lift a finger and still become a national laughingstock. Like the Bears.
- Monsters and Money in the Morning. The program's first week on the air has yours truly longing for the days of CBS' 1987 A.M. bomb The Morning Program when Soupy Sales hit Bob Saget in the face with a pie and Mariette Hartley performing like she's Judy Tenuta.
- Mel Gibson's interview with WGN-TV. Luckily for Dean Richards, Mel Gibson was on a monitor and not in the same room - he probably would've defecated on him like he did on Cartman. Those send-ups of Gibson on Family Guy and South Park were spot on.
- Taylor Swift's performance at the Grammys. And she actually won some awards? Where's Kanye West when you need him?
Touchdown!
- WGCI and WVAZ gives back. Clear Channel's WGCI-FM and WVAZ-FM (V103) are launching the Raise A Hand Campaign to encourage young people to perform good deeds for their schools and their community via volunteer work. Both Ramonski Luv (former WGCI jock now at V103) and Tony Sculfield (the current afternoon personality at WGCI) are making special appearances at Chicago-area schools on Saturdays throughout February, which is Black History Month. For more information, click here.
As much as yours truly has given grief to Clear Channel over the years for some of their decisions, this initiative from them deserves a lot of kudos. This is what radio should be doing.
- The Grammys. Despite being panned across-the-board by critics, The 51st annual awards show drew more than 26 million viewers in its telecast last Sunday night, validating the fact Top 40 music is hot again.
- Nate Berkus. Thank NBC and its ten owned-and-operated stations for helping launch this new syndicated talk show this fall, which is produced by Harpo Productions.
- Lost. Television's best drama (yeah, I said it) drew 12 million viewers for its sixth-season premiere and a 5.6 ratings in 18-49s.
Fumble!
- Illinois. We stayed away from the polls and we let idiots choose a woman-beating, sleazy pawn owner as a Democratic nominee for Lt. Governor? Now we even don't have to lift a finger and still become a national laughingstock. Like the Bears.
- Monsters and Money in the Morning. The program's first week on the air has yours truly longing for the days of CBS' 1987 A.M. bomb The Morning Program when Soupy Sales hit Bob Saget in the face with a pie and Mariette Hartley performing like she's Judy Tenuta.
- Mel Gibson's interview with WGN-TV. Luckily for Dean Richards, Mel Gibson was on a monitor and not in the same room - he probably would've defecated on him like he did on Cartman. Those send-ups of Gibson on Family Guy and South Park were spot on.
- Taylor Swift's performance at the Grammys. And she actually won some awards? Where's Kanye West when you need him?
Friday, February 05, 2010
Asking the questions: Why is WFLD struggling at 9 p.m.?
The T Dog Media Blog is "asking the questions"... why is Fox-owned WFLD squandering prime-time lead-ins from its parent network? Maybe they should find some answers.
According to Nielsen and from Lewis Lazare's column today, WFLD continues to lag behind its competitors in the month of January. Despite changes to the 9 p.m. newscast - notably adding Anna Davlantes as a third anchor - ratings for the news show was down 20 percent from January 2009.
Tribune-owned WGN meanwhile fared no better - they too were down from last year (to the tune of 22 percent), though it did beat its Fox rival in the head-to-head ratings, one of the very few CW affiliates in the country who have 9 or 10 p.m. news to do so.
So why are WGN and WFLD struggling at 9 p.m.? Simple. The newscasts are down in face of tough competition from CBS and ABC's 9 p.m. programming (except Wednesday for ABC, where it airs the now-canceled Ugly Betty) and from DVR use in the time period.
And don't forget strong competition from basic cable at 9 p.m. - especially from Comcast SportsNet, where Bulls and Blackhawks games have done very well. Last Friday's Bulls overtime victory over the New Orleans Hornets scored a 6.7 rating at 9:30 p.m., a record high for a Bulls regular-season game on the channel. (See? I ask the questions and gave you the answers. WFLD only does half their job...)
Meanwhile, ABC-owned WLS-TV dominated the market as usual in all time periods, with CBS-owned WBBM-TV coming in second at 10 p.m., and NBC-owned WMAQ-TV coming in third. On Thursday, WBBM announced it was bringing back Walter Jacobson's Perspective commentaries on a trial basis during its 10 p.m. newscasts, airing on Tuesdays and Thursdays. You can see the first one he did by clicking here.
According to Nielsen and from Lewis Lazare's column today, WFLD continues to lag behind its competitors in the month of January. Despite changes to the 9 p.m. newscast - notably adding Anna Davlantes as a third anchor - ratings for the news show was down 20 percent from January 2009.
Tribune-owned WGN meanwhile fared no better - they too were down from last year (to the tune of 22 percent), though it did beat its Fox rival in the head-to-head ratings, one of the very few CW affiliates in the country who have 9 or 10 p.m. news to do so.
So why are WGN and WFLD struggling at 9 p.m.? Simple. The newscasts are down in face of tough competition from CBS and ABC's 9 p.m. programming (except Wednesday for ABC, where it airs the now-canceled Ugly Betty) and from DVR use in the time period.
And don't forget strong competition from basic cable at 9 p.m. - especially from Comcast SportsNet, where Bulls and Blackhawks games have done very well. Last Friday's Bulls overtime victory over the New Orleans Hornets scored a 6.7 rating at 9:30 p.m., a record high for a Bulls regular-season game on the channel. (See? I ask the questions and gave you the answers. WFLD only does half their job...)
Meanwhile, ABC-owned WLS-TV dominated the market as usual in all time periods, with CBS-owned WBBM-TV coming in second at 10 p.m., and NBC-owned WMAQ-TV coming in third. On Thursday, WBBM announced it was bringing back Walter Jacobson's Perspective commentaries on a trial basis during its 10 p.m. newscasts, airing on Tuesdays and Thursdays. You can see the first one he did by clicking here.
Tuesday, February 02, 2010
"Monsters" off to a slow start
Monsters and Money in the Morning, the new morning sports and financial advice program on CBS-owned WBBM-TV, got off to a rocky start yesterday morning.
According to Nielsen, the 5-to-7 a.m. outing could gather only a .6 household rating in the first hour and a .2 in the second hour. Among the 25-54 demo, it fared worse: Monsters averaged a .1 in both hours. All numbers are down from year-ago time period ratings, when WBBM ran a more traditional newscast.
While it is only the first day for the Mike North/Dan Jiggetts vehicle, these anemic numbers could suggest one thing: tick tock, the cancellation clock may soon be ticking.
Yesterday's program did receive fair reviews, but it obviously needs work. North and Jiggetts, as well as financial experts Terry Savage and Mike Hedgedus, discussed a wide variety of issues - even beyond the world of sports and finance.
There was Mike North shamefully begging for a sponsor with a box of Raisin Bran. There was a "table cam". There was also an on-screen clock, a la Pardon The Interruption.
Savage and Hedgedus really have no business commenting on pop culture, since they don't know anything about it. And Savage's questions to Chicago Blackhawks owner and guest Rocky Wirtz proved she did not do any background research on the team's business. And she's been a financial expert for how long?
Finally, there was Phil Simms from Miami, chatting away about the upcoming Super Bowl.
To be fair, CBS - and WBBM-TV - have never been real factors in the morning news ratings race for decades, thanks in part to CBS' constant retooling of its network morning program, from The Early Show to CBS This Morning to The Morning Program.
In fact, the latter show was an "experiment" of sorts, much like Monsters. The Morning Program was an "infotainment" program produced by CBS Entertainment - not CBS News - and hosted by Rolland Smith and Mariette Hartley, with comedy from "sidekick" Bob Saget, who would flee for the exits a few months later to join the cast of a new ABC sitcom called Full House.
The Morning Program's January 12, 1987 debut was panned by critics and hated by viewers, and would last only ten months. Steve Friedman, then-producer of NBC's The Today Show, told Electronic Media: "It looks like a Saturday Night Live parody of morning television. Not only they are poor ideas, they are poorly executed. The stand-up comics aren't funny and neither are Hartley's quips".
As part of the carnival atmosphere known as The Morning Show, there was one instance where the late Soupy Sales - whose shtick was throwing pies in people's faces - threw one in the face of Bob Saget.
With Monsters earning ultra-low ratings, don't be surprised if you see Dan Jiggetts start throwing pies at Mike North.
According to Nielsen, the 5-to-7 a.m. outing could gather only a .6 household rating in the first hour and a .2 in the second hour. Among the 25-54 demo, it fared worse: Monsters averaged a .1 in both hours. All numbers are down from year-ago time period ratings, when WBBM ran a more traditional newscast.
While it is only the first day for the Mike North/Dan Jiggetts vehicle, these anemic numbers could suggest one thing: tick tock, the cancellation clock may soon be ticking.
Yesterday's program did receive fair reviews, but it obviously needs work. North and Jiggetts, as well as financial experts Terry Savage and Mike Hedgedus, discussed a wide variety of issues - even beyond the world of sports and finance.
There was Mike North shamefully begging for a sponsor with a box of Raisin Bran. There was a "table cam". There was also an on-screen clock, a la Pardon The Interruption.
Savage and Hedgedus really have no business commenting on pop culture, since they don't know anything about it. And Savage's questions to Chicago Blackhawks owner and guest Rocky Wirtz proved she did not do any background research on the team's business. And she's been a financial expert for how long?
Finally, there was Phil Simms from Miami, chatting away about the upcoming Super Bowl.
To be fair, CBS - and WBBM-TV - have never been real factors in the morning news ratings race for decades, thanks in part to CBS' constant retooling of its network morning program, from The Early Show to CBS This Morning to The Morning Program.
In fact, the latter show was an "experiment" of sorts, much like Monsters. The Morning Program was an "infotainment" program produced by CBS Entertainment - not CBS News - and hosted by Rolland Smith and Mariette Hartley, with comedy from "sidekick" Bob Saget, who would flee for the exits a few months later to join the cast of a new ABC sitcom called Full House.
The Morning Program's January 12, 1987 debut was panned by critics and hated by viewers, and would last only ten months. Steve Friedman, then-producer of NBC's The Today Show, told Electronic Media: "It looks like a Saturday Night Live parody of morning television. Not only they are poor ideas, they are poorly executed. The stand-up comics aren't funny and neither are Hartley's quips".
As part of the carnival atmosphere known as The Morning Show, there was one instance where the late Soupy Sales - whose shtick was throwing pies in people's faces - threw one in the face of Bob Saget.
With Monsters earning ultra-low ratings, don't be surprised if you see Dan Jiggetts start throwing pies at Mike North.
Monday, February 01, 2010
T Dog's Think Tank: The Late Shift 2: The Screwjob Continues
It all began on January 7, when a website reported that NBC had canceled The Jay Leno Show.
It ended on January 22, with Conan O’Brien leaving The Tonight Show.
Welcome to The Late Shift 2: The Screwjob Continues. Based on New York Times writer Bill Carter’s book (and later HBO movie), this is a sequel to the mid 1990s drama where David Letterman was screwed over for The Tonight Show gig by NBC – and some comic named Jay Leno – whose claim to fame was being a Doritos pitchman – and his executive producer Helen Kushnick (who nearly lost the job for Leno because of her outrageous demands and unprofessional demeanor.)
As you know by now, NBC’s experiment with The Jay Leno Show in primetime was a whopping failure (and one yours truly actually thought would work… eep) The effort to cut costs and keep Leno from jumping to another network at the same time didn’t work, and NBC was angering its affiliates because Leno was not delivering an audience to their late local newscasts, which accounts for up to 40 percent of a station’s revenues.
One such station (WHDH in Boston) told NBC it was going to pre-empt the show for local news. When the network threatened to yank the station’s affiliation (even threatening to move it to a subchannel of a Telemunedo station), WHDH backed down.
But with Leno’s ratings sucking fecal water – and hurting the affiliates’ 11 p.m. / 10 p.m. newscasts, a widespread revolt was being organized and all of this began to unravel. And so on January 7, NBC decided to cancel The Jay Leno Show, thus ending what has to be considered the biggest programming blunder in television history.
But instead of cutting Leno loose, the geniuses at the network decided to put him on at 11:35 p.m./10:35 p.m. Central for a half-hour, pushing The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien – the program he inherited from Leno - back a half-hour into a lower HUT (homes-using-television) level time period. The Jimmy Fallon Show would be pushed to 1:05 a.m. ET. The network had their plan set.
But there was one problem: Conan O’Brien did not go along with it. O’Brien stated that moving The Tonight Show to midnight Eastern Time would “seriously damage what I consider to be the greatest franchise in the history of broadcasting. The Tonight Show at 12:05(a.m., ET) simply isn’t the Tonight Show.
And as a result, NBC gave Leno back The Tonight Show, and dumped O’Brien, resulting in a massive PR nightmare for ratings-challenged for the network, who was already in fourth place in prime-time. NBC became a target by late-night comedians including Letterman, who took no prisoners given the situation he was put in by NBC before, and Jimmy Kimmel, who went on Leno’s show 10 @10 segment and told him to “leave our shows alone”.
O’Brien received a huge severance from NBC, and his final show drew more than 10 million viewers. But there is more here that meets the eye here.
It is clear Conan O’Brien got screwed by NBC and Leno. Yes, screwing over – the hottest trend in America right now. Here’s recent evidence submitted for your approval… R&B singer Mya Harrison was screwed over by the judges in the final round of Dancing With The Stars and lost to Donny Osmond at the end… Russell Hantz – the best player on Survivor this past season… was screwed over by the jury and gave it to an undeserving Natalie White… and for you old-school fans out there, Bret Hart was screwed over by Vince McMahon and the WWE in the infamous Montreal Screwjob. And now Conan O’Brien is now the latest member of The Screwed Over Club.
While yours truly have to admit O’Brien’s Tonight Show was struggling in the ratings, NBC should have given him more time to grow and cut Leno loose after his prime-time show tanked. Seven months? Hell, most new syndicated shows get two years to prove themselves nowadays. When Leno took over for Johnny Carson, it took him three years for him to gain traction (thanks in part to the O.J. Simpson trial.)
So how did The Late Shift 2: The Screwjob Continues come to fruition? In 2004, NBC executives concocted a scheme in which Jay Leno would relinquish Tonight to O’Brien in 2009, and he agreed to it. Watch this clip and see for yourself:
And in a recent interview with Oprah Winfrey, Leno admitted he told “a little white lie” that he wanted to give up Tonight to Conan O’Brien. In the hour-long lie-a-thon, Leno took another shot at O'Brien for screwing up the franchise.
And so what is Leno's punishment? Well, Leno the Liar gets the 11:35 p.m. time slot back while he and NBC executives throw O’ Brien under the bus. And those fights Leno the Liar said he did not want to happen again? Yeah… right, we believe you. And to show you how much class this jackass has, he was lobbing jokes at Letterman about the recent intern scandal he endured as a response to his reaction to the situation. Wow, what a dick. You just wonder what talk show Leno the Liar wants to take away next… could he venture into daytime? No wonder Martha Stewart moved her show to cable!
As the drama unfolded, you have to sit back and marvel at how NBC has been run into the ground by court jester Jeff Zucker, Ben “Party All The Time” Silverman, Angela Bromstead, and the rest of these jerks. These idiots wouldn’t even know how to run a Harold’s Chicken Shack let alone a major broadcast network (and if they did, it would certainly burn down to the ground.) And Comcast’s planned takeover of NBC will matters worse, as evidenced by their constant cable and internet outages.
Then there’s NBC Universal Sports honcho Dick Ebersol, who ripped into both Letterman and O’Brien and their jokes about NBC and Leno the Liar, saying it was “ professional jealousy and chicken-hearted and gutless to blame a guy you couldn’t beat in the ratings.” Why the thin skin Ebersol? Is it because you let baseball and pro basketball go to other networks because your network was too damn cheap to pay for it? But you spend and spend on the Olympics and now they’re not making money for NBC. Since you are so good at giving advice, why don’t you give some to the Bears? They certainly could use another idiot. If Letterman and O’Brien are “chicken-hearted” and “gutless”, then you are nothing but chicken shit.
So, what’s the lesson after observing this mess? You can be smart, work hard, and earn your spot in life – only to have greedy, incompetent, lying, scheming, shucking and jiving dipshits take it away from you just like that. In short, its called being “screwed over”. It’s a lesson you won’t learn in school.
Class dismissed.
It ended on January 22, with Conan O’Brien leaving The Tonight Show.
Welcome to The Late Shift 2: The Screwjob Continues. Based on New York Times writer Bill Carter’s book (and later HBO movie), this is a sequel to the mid 1990s drama where David Letterman was screwed over for The Tonight Show gig by NBC – and some comic named Jay Leno – whose claim to fame was being a Doritos pitchman – and his executive producer Helen Kushnick (who nearly lost the job for Leno because of her outrageous demands and unprofessional demeanor.)
As you know by now, NBC’s experiment with The Jay Leno Show in primetime was a whopping failure (and one yours truly actually thought would work… eep) The effort to cut costs and keep Leno from jumping to another network at the same time didn’t work, and NBC was angering its affiliates because Leno was not delivering an audience to their late local newscasts, which accounts for up to 40 percent of a station’s revenues.
One such station (WHDH in Boston) told NBC it was going to pre-empt the show for local news. When the network threatened to yank the station’s affiliation (even threatening to move it to a subchannel of a Telemunedo station), WHDH backed down.
But with Leno’s ratings sucking fecal water – and hurting the affiliates’ 11 p.m. / 10 p.m. newscasts, a widespread revolt was being organized and all of this began to unravel. And so on January 7, NBC decided to cancel The Jay Leno Show, thus ending what has to be considered the biggest programming blunder in television history.
But instead of cutting Leno loose, the geniuses at the network decided to put him on at 11:35 p.m./10:35 p.m. Central for a half-hour, pushing The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien – the program he inherited from Leno - back a half-hour into a lower HUT (homes-using-television) level time period. The Jimmy Fallon Show would be pushed to 1:05 a.m. ET. The network had their plan set.
But there was one problem: Conan O’Brien did not go along with it. O’Brien stated that moving The Tonight Show to midnight Eastern Time would “seriously damage what I consider to be the greatest franchise in the history of broadcasting. The Tonight Show at 12:05(a.m., ET) simply isn’t the Tonight Show.
And as a result, NBC gave Leno back The Tonight Show, and dumped O’Brien, resulting in a massive PR nightmare for ratings-challenged for the network, who was already in fourth place in prime-time. NBC became a target by late-night comedians including Letterman, who took no prisoners given the situation he was put in by NBC before, and Jimmy Kimmel, who went on Leno’s show 10 @10 segment and told him to “leave our shows alone”.
O’Brien received a huge severance from NBC, and his final show drew more than 10 million viewers. But there is more here that meets the eye here.
It is clear Conan O’Brien got screwed by NBC and Leno. Yes, screwing over – the hottest trend in America right now. Here’s recent evidence submitted for your approval… R&B singer Mya Harrison was screwed over by the judges in the final round of Dancing With The Stars and lost to Donny Osmond at the end… Russell Hantz – the best player on Survivor this past season… was screwed over by the jury and gave it to an undeserving Natalie White… and for you old-school fans out there, Bret Hart was screwed over by Vince McMahon and the WWE in the infamous Montreal Screwjob. And now Conan O’Brien is now the latest member of The Screwed Over Club.
While yours truly have to admit O’Brien’s Tonight Show was struggling in the ratings, NBC should have given him more time to grow and cut Leno loose after his prime-time show tanked. Seven months? Hell, most new syndicated shows get two years to prove themselves nowadays. When Leno took over for Johnny Carson, it took him three years for him to gain traction (thanks in part to the O.J. Simpson trial.)
So how did The Late Shift 2: The Screwjob Continues come to fruition? In 2004, NBC executives concocted a scheme in which Jay Leno would relinquish Tonight to O’Brien in 2009, and he agreed to it. Watch this clip and see for yourself:
And in a recent interview with Oprah Winfrey, Leno admitted he told “a little white lie” that he wanted to give up Tonight to Conan O’Brien. In the hour-long lie-a-thon, Leno took another shot at O'Brien for screwing up the franchise.
And so what is Leno's punishment? Well, Leno the Liar gets the 11:35 p.m. time slot back while he and NBC executives throw O’ Brien under the bus. And those fights Leno the Liar said he did not want to happen again? Yeah… right, we believe you. And to show you how much class this jackass has, he was lobbing jokes at Letterman about the recent intern scandal he endured as a response to his reaction to the situation. Wow, what a dick. You just wonder what talk show Leno the Liar wants to take away next… could he venture into daytime? No wonder Martha Stewart moved her show to cable!
As the drama unfolded, you have to sit back and marvel at how NBC has been run into the ground by court jester Jeff Zucker, Ben “Party All The Time” Silverman, Angela Bromstead, and the rest of these jerks. These idiots wouldn’t even know how to run a Harold’s Chicken Shack let alone a major broadcast network (and if they did, it would certainly burn down to the ground.) And Comcast’s planned takeover of NBC will matters worse, as evidenced by their constant cable and internet outages.
Then there’s NBC Universal Sports honcho Dick Ebersol, who ripped into both Letterman and O’Brien and their jokes about NBC and Leno the Liar, saying it was “ professional jealousy and chicken-hearted and gutless to blame a guy you couldn’t beat in the ratings.” Why the thin skin Ebersol? Is it because you let baseball and pro basketball go to other networks because your network was too damn cheap to pay for it? But you spend and spend on the Olympics and now they’re not making money for NBC. Since you are so good at giving advice, why don’t you give some to the Bears? They certainly could use another idiot. If Letterman and O’Brien are “chicken-hearted” and “gutless”, then you are nothing but chicken shit.
So, what’s the lesson after observing this mess? You can be smart, work hard, and earn your spot in life – only to have greedy, incompetent, lying, scheming, shucking and jiving dipshits take it away from you just like that. In short, its called being “screwed over”. It’s a lesson you won’t learn in school.
Class dismissed.
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