In a move that has some scratching their heads, the Chicago Tribune has agreed to deliver for its rival, The Chicago Sun-Times (except to newsstands and newsboxes within the city limits) It's a groundbreaking move for the Daily Onion, who circulation lag behind several papers in town, including The Chicago Tribune, RedEye, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The St. Louis Post-Dispatch, The Rockford Register, The Montreal Gazette, and yes, The Weekly Reader.
Meanwhile, the Daily Onion is dismissing talk of a merger, while the Sun-Times' conference call to analysts on Wednesday was not exactly a warm, family-like moment. Of course, warm and family-like isn't the words to describe the Daily Onion. Yours truly would use some other choice words to describe the rag, but we can't use that kind of language around here....
Friday, August 10, 2007
Thursday, August 09, 2007
Eyewitness Weiner
Happened to be downtown today and saw the Oscar Mayer Weinermobile pass through State Street. Well, it turns out that a few minutes later, that same Weinermobile was ticketed for parking on North Michigan Avenue, a Chicago no-no.
More July numbers
Buffalo: CBS affiliate WIVB-TV and independent WNLO continue to dominate news viewing, according to Nielsen numbers for the July sweeps. WIVB won 5, 6, and 11 p.m. news ratings, while WNLO scored a 6.3 rating at 10 p.m. for its news - among the best in the country. NBC affiliate WGRZ-TV did pull a surprise in the morning news race, with a first-ever victory at 6 a.m. over WIVB. Once-dominant ABC affiliate WKBW-TV was in third in most news time periods, with the exception of 6 p.m. news, where it finished a weak second, barely ahead of WGRZ.
Fox affiliate WUTV is one of the few Fox stations in the top 100 markets that doesn't run news at 10 p.m, but runs Seinfeld instead.
New Orleans: WWL seems just as bit as dominant post-Katrina as it was pre-Katrina. Belo's CBS affiliate dominated news viewing and total-day ratings, but ratings are down across the board for all of New Orleans TV stations, due to all the changes that have occurred in the market since Katrina hit.
Hearst-Argyle's NBC affiliate WDSU was one of the market's biggest losers, with a locally produced nightly news show at 10:30 drawing fewer viewers than The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, which is delayed a half-hour. This is notable, given the fact that most NBC affiliates air Leno in-pattern at 11:35 ET/10:35 CT. In the past, KARE-TV in Minneapolis has delayed Tonight Show to run Cheers, while NBC stations in Milwaukee and Baltimore (WMAR) often didn't carry The Tonight Show at all when it was hosted by Johnny Carson.
Fox affiliate WUTV is one of the few Fox stations in the top 100 markets that doesn't run news at 10 p.m, but runs Seinfeld instead.
New Orleans: WWL seems just as bit as dominant post-Katrina as it was pre-Katrina. Belo's CBS affiliate dominated news viewing and total-day ratings, but ratings are down across the board for all of New Orleans TV stations, due to all the changes that have occurred in the market since Katrina hit.
Hearst-Argyle's NBC affiliate WDSU was one of the market's biggest losers, with a locally produced nightly news show at 10:30 drawing fewer viewers than The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, which is delayed a half-hour. This is notable, given the fact that most NBC affiliates air Leno in-pattern at 11:35 ET/10:35 CT. In the past, KARE-TV in Minneapolis has delayed Tonight Show to run Cheers, while NBC stations in Milwaukee and Baltimore (WMAR) often didn't carry The Tonight Show at all when it was hosted by Johnny Carson.
Wednesday, August 08, 2007
The Viewer Alienation Plan
That's what former Chicago Tribune television critic Steve Johnson said about WBBM-TV in the 1990s, for its tabloid-like newscasts.
Today, the plan seems to be still pretty much intact.
The CBS-owned turned in another pitiful performance in the recently concluded July sweeps according to Nielsen, with WFLD's new 10 p.m. newscast tying it for third among adults 25-54 and finishing ahead of WBBM in adults 18-49. The 10 p.m. newscast in households finished behind a weakened WMAQ-TV and the market leader, WLS-TV, and was down 31 percent in households from a year ago (you think it's time for WBBM to call Carol Marin back? Ratings for her newscasts at 10 were better than what they got now....)
The station's 5 and 6 p.m. newscast also took ratings hits, with the 5 p.m. newscast down 30 percent.
Of course, the Amy Jacobson debacle (not to mention an unpopular anchor change at 5 and 10) contributed to WBBM's downfall, eroding what's left of the station's credibility, which started to evaporate in the mid-1980's, when ratings started declining for WBBM's newscasts.
But there's more to this story about Amy Jacobson and the Stebic household. Ratings for late news, as well as all of local news - are down from a decade ago. People are getting their news from other sources like the Internet, but many- especially younger viewers - are fed up with what passes for local news these days and the select material they use for stories.
For example, a few weeks ago, a 17 year-old was shot in killed in a gang-related shooting in the affluent Wicker Park/Bucktown neighborhood. On the same day, a robbery and shooting took place at the River Oaks Mall in working-class Calumet City, which injured two people.
Guess what story got the most attention? While the Tribune and Sun-Times reported the Wicker Park/Bucktown shooting, it wasn't mentioned on any of the local news stations' websites, or on the air, but the Calumet City shooting received gords of attention.
Think about that. And that's one of the reasons why viewers are tuning out local news. But since news (and the mindless crime stories that come with it) is cheaper to produce than acquiring syndicated programming, and with demand from advertisers continuing to skyrocket -particularly from deep-pocketed political candidates buying ads for next year's elections - it's not going to make much of a difference.
Reel me in: In referring to Steve Johnson's reporting on WBBM-TV, Feder in today's column said that the Tribune used to cover local television. Um, if that is the case, then I assume Phil Rosenthal writes about fishing in the Tribune business section on page 3 every Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday. Mmmmm, that's some good trout....
Today, the plan seems to be still pretty much intact.
The CBS-owned turned in another pitiful performance in the recently concluded July sweeps according to Nielsen, with WFLD's new 10 p.m. newscast tying it for third among adults 25-54 and finishing ahead of WBBM in adults 18-49. The 10 p.m. newscast in households finished behind a weakened WMAQ-TV and the market leader, WLS-TV, and was down 31 percent in households from a year ago (you think it's time for WBBM to call Carol Marin back? Ratings for her newscasts at 10 were better than what they got now....)
The station's 5 and 6 p.m. newscast also took ratings hits, with the 5 p.m. newscast down 30 percent.
Of course, the Amy Jacobson debacle (not to mention an unpopular anchor change at 5 and 10) contributed to WBBM's downfall, eroding what's left of the station's credibility, which started to evaporate in the mid-1980's, when ratings started declining for WBBM's newscasts.
But there's more to this story about Amy Jacobson and the Stebic household. Ratings for late news, as well as all of local news - are down from a decade ago. People are getting their news from other sources like the Internet, but many- especially younger viewers - are fed up with what passes for local news these days and the select material they use for stories.
For example, a few weeks ago, a 17 year-old was shot in killed in a gang-related shooting in the affluent Wicker Park/Bucktown neighborhood. On the same day, a robbery and shooting took place at the River Oaks Mall in working-class Calumet City, which injured two people.
Guess what story got the most attention? While the Tribune and Sun-Times reported the Wicker Park/Bucktown shooting, it wasn't mentioned on any of the local news stations' websites, or on the air, but the Calumet City shooting received gords of attention.
Think about that. And that's one of the reasons why viewers are tuning out local news. But since news (and the mindless crime stories that come with it) is cheaper to produce than acquiring syndicated programming, and with demand from advertisers continuing to skyrocket -particularly from deep-pocketed political candidates buying ads for next year's elections - it's not going to make much of a difference.
Reel me in: In referring to Steve Johnson's reporting on WBBM-TV, Feder in today's column said that the Tribune used to cover local television. Um, if that is the case, then I assume Phil Rosenthal writes about fishing in the Tribune business section on page 3 every Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday. Mmmmm, that's some good trout....
Avoid this show?
Not since the debut of The Chevy Chase Show has a show has received such scathing reviews - and this program hasn't debuted yet.
Upcoming CBS reality show KidNation is coming under such scrutiny, this show could join My Mother, the Car, Me and the Chimp, and Cop Rock in the TV Hall Of Shame.
Arthur Greenwald of TVNewsday (registration may be required) really lays the hammer down of what is likely to be one of television's worst shows of the upcoming season. One valid point he makes is that the Parents Television Council hasn't said anything (and won't say anything) about the horrid conditions children have to work under this show, but would rather raise a stink about a flash of Janet Jackson's breasts and someone dropping the f-bomb on TV.
Upcoming CBS reality show KidNation is coming under such scrutiny, this show could join My Mother, the Car, Me and the Chimp, and Cop Rock in the TV Hall Of Shame.
Arthur Greenwald of TVNewsday (registration may be required) really lays the hammer down of what is likely to be one of television's worst shows of the upcoming season. One valid point he makes is that the Parents Television Council hasn't said anything (and won't say anything) about the horrid conditions children have to work under this show, but would rather raise a stink about a flash of Janet Jackson's breasts and someone dropping the f-bomb on TV.
Tuesday, August 07, 2007
He's back....
Vince McMahon has "risen from the dead" and is assuming his role as Bill Wirtz Jr. : At the opening of Raw, he took on Congress and the media to a chorus of "Whats" from the fans (are these people still stuck in 2000?) Yep, things are back to normal (LOL) in WWE land. Unfortunately. And even worse, ratings are up a full point from last week.
Remember that T Dog Media Think Tank that featured a story on the WWE and Grey's Anatomy, but pulled because of Chris Benoit's death? A revised version will be posted on Friday. Fans of both deserve one another, no?
Remember that T Dog Media Think Tank that featured a story on the WWE and Grey's Anatomy, but pulled because of Chris Benoit's death? A revised version will be posted on Friday. Fans of both deserve one another, no?
Twist on out
McDonald's dumped alleged rapper Twista, the biggest embarrassing export out of Chicago since Jenny McCarthy and Jim Belushi, from a concert that's scheduled to take place today. Something about his lyrics? Thought it was about his talent, or lack thereof....
Veteran KTLA anchor dies
Hal Fishman, the legendary anchor at Tribune's KTLA in Los Angeles, died this morning of colon cancer at the age of 75. Fishman was a mainstay at KTLA off and on for 42 years.
Fishman anchored his last newscast on July 30, and collapsed at his home on August 1, in which he was hospitalized with a serious infection.
Fishman anchored his last newscast on July 30, and collapsed at his home on August 1, in which he was hospitalized with a serious infection.
NBC stations dominate in late news
Remember when I said NBC stations get no help from their network lead-ins, hurting them?
Turns out they don't need them.
NBC stations in Boston, Milwaukee, and Baltimore won the 11 p.m. late news races, according to recent July numbers from Nielsen. Among the highlights:
Boston: NBC affiliate WHDH won the 11p.m. news race, but finished behind ABC affiliate WCVB-TV in all other news time slots. WCVB also won the 7:30 prime access slot with the local newsmagazine show Chronicle.
Pittsburgh: CBS' KDKA won all news time periods, except from 5 to 7 a.m., where it came in third. ABC affiliate WTAE came in second in most time periods, but came in first at 6 a.m. WPXI came in third at Noon, 5 and 6 p.m., but finished first at 7 and 7:30 with Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy! respectively, plus snuck into second ahead of WTAE at 11. The one surprise: Oprah finishing third at 4 p.m. behind KDKA's news and WPXI's Judge Judy.
Milwaukee: NBC affiliate WTMJ and ABC affiliate WISN traded time period dominance in a number of news slots. WTMJ won at 6 a.m., 5 p.m., and 10 p.m., while WISN won only from 5-6a.m. and at 6 p.m.
Orlando: Cox's ABC affiliate WFTV was No. 1 in all time slots. NBC affiliate WESH's late news was up 28,000 households from last year, but still finished third.
Baltimore: CBS' WJZ won at 4 p.m., over Oprah on NBC affiliate WBAL for the first time since February 2003. However, WBAL still won at 5,6, and 11 p.m. ABC affiliate WMAR-TV's ratings -for news and entertainment programming - continues to suck.
Turns out they don't need them.
NBC stations in Boston, Milwaukee, and Baltimore won the 11 p.m. late news races, according to recent July numbers from Nielsen. Among the highlights:
Boston: NBC affiliate WHDH won the 11p.m. news race, but finished behind ABC affiliate WCVB-TV in all other news time slots. WCVB also won the 7:30 prime access slot with the local newsmagazine show Chronicle.
Pittsburgh: CBS' KDKA won all news time periods, except from 5 to 7 a.m., where it came in third. ABC affiliate WTAE came in second in most time periods, but came in first at 6 a.m. WPXI came in third at Noon, 5 and 6 p.m., but finished first at 7 and 7:30 with Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy! respectively, plus snuck into second ahead of WTAE at 11. The one surprise: Oprah finishing third at 4 p.m. behind KDKA's news and WPXI's Judge Judy.
Milwaukee: NBC affiliate WTMJ and ABC affiliate WISN traded time period dominance in a number of news slots. WTMJ won at 6 a.m., 5 p.m., and 10 p.m., while WISN won only from 5-6a.m. and at 6 p.m.
Orlando: Cox's ABC affiliate WFTV was No. 1 in all time slots. NBC affiliate WESH's late news was up 28,000 households from last year, but still finished third.
Baltimore: CBS' WJZ won at 4 p.m., over Oprah on NBC affiliate WBAL for the first time since February 2003. However, WBAL still won at 5,6, and 11 p.m. ABC affiliate WMAR-TV's ratings -for news and entertainment programming - continues to suck.
Saturday, August 04, 2007
Friday, August 03, 2007
Hollinger takes control of Sun-Times. Again.
Read Phil Rosenthal's column on this very complex situation here. Bottom line: The Chicago Onion may be sold, hopefully not to Rupert Murdoch (If it wasn't for him, the paper wouldn't be where it is today...)
"Masters of Science Fiction" finally airs
On a Saturday night, no less. But hey, ABC found room for crap like National Bingo Night and The Bachelor... Another reason network television (and their lame-brained executives) isn't cool.
L.A. Telemndo anchor supsended two months
One anchor sleeps with the mayor, she keeps her job; one anchor shows up at the Stebic house, she loses her job. Both employed by the same company. Something's not connecting here. Then again, it is the world of television news, right?
Cubs beat "Singing Bee"
On Wednesday night, Chicagoans had a choice between the Cubs and Joey Fatone.
Chicagoans made the right decision.
The Cubs-Phillies games on Comcast SportsNet drew a 6.9 Nielsen rating in prime-time on Wednesday night (second item), making it the top-ranked network (broadcast and cable), beating the news coverage of the bridge collapse in Minneapolis on the cable news networks (whose coverage was subpar - the local streaming coverage on the Minneapolis' local stations websites was much better), and the inane Singing Bee on NBC.
The Cubs also outdrew the White Sox-Yankees game on WGN, in which the White Sox lost 8-1 (WGN would've been better off airing those America's Next Top Model reruns they pre-empted.)
Not only that, CSN scored a 9.8 rating with the game overrun at 10 p.m., topping all the network O&O newscasts.
Ratings for the Cubs have been going up, thanks to the team's successful run this season, bucking the trend of sporting events whose ratings were losing to subpar reality TV fare and DVR usage.
If the Cubs make the post-season, all those theories about sports telecasts losing rating points to other fare and fragmentation will be thrown out the window.
Chicagoans made the right decision.
The Cubs-Phillies games on Comcast SportsNet drew a 6.9 Nielsen rating in prime-time on Wednesday night (second item), making it the top-ranked network (broadcast and cable), beating the news coverage of the bridge collapse in Minneapolis on the cable news networks (whose coverage was subpar - the local streaming coverage on the Minneapolis' local stations websites was much better), and the inane Singing Bee on NBC.
The Cubs also outdrew the White Sox-Yankees game on WGN, in which the White Sox lost 8-1 (WGN would've been better off airing those America's Next Top Model reruns they pre-empted.)
Not only that, CSN scored a 9.8 rating with the game overrun at 10 p.m., topping all the network O&O newscasts.
Ratings for the Cubs have been going up, thanks to the team's successful run this season, bucking the trend of sporting events whose ratings were losing to subpar reality TV fare and DVR usage.
If the Cubs make the post-season, all those theories about sports telecasts losing rating points to other fare and fragmentation will be thrown out the window.
Thursday, August 02, 2007
Minneapolis TV rises to the call
Local television stations in the nation's fifteenth largest market sprung into action shortly after a bridge collapse at Interstate 35W over the Mississippi river, the main link between the eastern downtown portion of Minneapolis to the University/Northeast sections of the city.
According to Broadcasting & Cable, ABC affiliate KSTP was first on the scene just minutes after the bridge collapse, which occurred at 6:05 p.m. yesterday, with aerial views. Other stations joined in quickly, including CBS-owned WCCO, which is trying to pull staffers back from vacation and pulling together sources quickly.
The market's four news stations pre-empted network prime-time last night for continuing coverage of the disaster, which so far has claimed four lives.
Fox's KMSP, for one, went on the air at 6:15 and continued until midnight, picking up coverage again at 5 a.m. this morning.
Traffic on the four stations' websites soared last night, but the sites were still easily accessible, and the streaming video worked for the most part (KSTP's feed though, continued to drop and come back.)
(Information on link of bridge corrected on 2007-08-04 at 10:45. We apologize for the error.)
According to Broadcasting & Cable, ABC affiliate KSTP was first on the scene just minutes after the bridge collapse, which occurred at 6:05 p.m. yesterday, with aerial views. Other stations joined in quickly, including CBS-owned WCCO, which is trying to pull staffers back from vacation and pulling together sources quickly.
The market's four news stations pre-empted network prime-time last night for continuing coverage of the disaster, which so far has claimed four lives.
Fox's KMSP, for one, went on the air at 6:15 and continued until midnight, picking up coverage again at 5 a.m. this morning.
Traffic on the four stations' websites soared last night, but the sites were still easily accessible, and the streaming video worked for the most part (KSTP's feed though, continued to drop and come back.)
(Information on link of bridge corrected on 2007-08-04 at 10:45. We apologize for the error.)
Wednesday, August 01, 2007
The local Onion does it again
The Assclown Times is promoting Daley vs. Sharpton.
Man, just how desperate these losers are to get sales?
At the movies online
The balcony is never going to close, thanks to a website that's posting 20 years worth of movie reviews from Sun-Times movie critic Roger Ebert and the late Tribune film critic Gene Siskel.
At the MoviesTV.com, will make more than 5,000 video reviews from Siskel, Ebert, and Siskel's replacement, Richard Roeper available, making it the largest collection on the web.
At the Movies, of course, was the TV show that Siskel & Ebert launched for Tribune Entertainment in 1982 after leaving PBS' Sneak Previews, where they gave their thumbs up or thumbs down.
Visitors can watch clips of their reviews as they gave them on Siskel & Ebert , the movie review program they did for Buena Vista Television (now Disney-ABC Domestic Television) after they left At the Movies in 1986. Viewers can watch clips of Ebert & Roeper as well, including recent shows which featured guest reviewers such as Jay Leno, Aisha Tyler, and others who have subbed for Ebert because of his illness.
Ebert & Roeper begins its 22nd season in syndication under Disney this fall. The program airs Saturday Nights at 10:35 p.m. on WLS-TV.
At the MoviesTV.com, will make more than 5,000 video reviews from Siskel, Ebert, and Siskel's replacement, Richard Roeper available, making it the largest collection on the web.
At the Movies, of course, was the TV show that Siskel & Ebert launched for Tribune Entertainment in 1982 after leaving PBS' Sneak Previews, where they gave their thumbs up or thumbs down.
Visitors can watch clips of their reviews as they gave them on Siskel & Ebert , the movie review program they did for Buena Vista Television (now Disney-ABC Domestic Television) after they left At the Movies in 1986. Viewers can watch clips of Ebert & Roeper as well, including recent shows which featured guest reviewers such as Jay Leno, Aisha Tyler, and others who have subbed for Ebert because of his illness.
Ebert & Roeper begins its 22nd season in syndication under Disney this fall. The program airs Saturday Nights at 10:35 p.m. on WLS-TV.
Murdoch wins Dow Jones
The company that publishes the Wall Street Journal was purchased by News Corp. owner Rupert Murdoch for $5 billion, or $60-per-share.
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