Dozens Of TV Shows Cancelled As Networks Clean House

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – It’s house-cleaning time for the major networks as the cancellation ax falls in order to make for new additions in the fall.

Some shows, such as NBC’s “State of Affairs” and “Constantine,” have been off the air so long that it feels they’d already been cancelled. But the formal notice falls just as hard even when if it is long expected.

Among the big four networks, NBC got out the largest broom on Friday, a sign of the struggle it had this year with new series. “Marry Me,” “About a Boy,” “One Big Happy” joined earlier casualties “A to Z” and “Bad Judge.”

On the drama side, “Constantine” and Katherine Heigl’s comeback vehicle, “State of Affairs,” were formally terminated, as was “Allegiance” earlier in the year. The bell is also expected to ring soon for another drama, “American Odyssey.”

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/entertainment/television/20150508_Reuters_MT1VRT1201491119_Dozens_of_TV_Shows_Cancelled_as_Networks_Clean_House.html#6zhMXiPdXp4eDklM.99

Pittsburgh Mayor Peduto Goes Undercover On CBS Reality Show To Air Dec. 21

Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto has his own prime time reality TV show.

Peduto donned a wig with shoulder-length gray hair and a scraggly, long gray beard to star on an upcoming hourlong episode of the CBS Emmy-winning show “Undercover Boss.” The episode is scheduled to air 8 p.m. Dec. 21.

“It will be the only chance that I ever have in my life to hear what people say about me directly to my face, but not knowing who I am,” he said Thursday.

Read more: http://triblive.com/news/adminpage/7307404-74/peduto-cbs-undercover#ixzz3L5PD3Htz
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KYW Ratings Skid

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Philadelphia County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

When the latest quarterly radio ratings for the Philadelphia market were released this week, one station’s numbers really jumped off the page.

And right through the floor.

KYW Newsradio (1060 AM) had its share of listeners drop by a dismaying 54 percent over three months from February through April, a period that was relatively stable for its competitors, according to figures from the rating service Nielsen Audio.

The obvious explanation would be vernal. As Philadelphians go from February to April, and the likelihood of school closings and transit delays fades, listening to the all-news station becomes less essential.

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/entertainment/20140515_KYW_ratings_skid.html#y4upsBdA4KsgohRM.99

Colbert To Replace Letterman As “Late Show” Host

NEW YORK — Stephen Colbert — the supremely gifted host of “The Colbert Report” who has made a career of satirically channeling Bill O’Reilly — has been named host of “The Late Show.” He will replace David Letterman when the latter retires next year, probably in May.

Letterman said in a statement, “Stephen has always been a real friend to me. I’m very excited for him, and I’m flattered that CBS chose him. I also happen to know they wanted another guy with glasses.”

Colbert was expected. But this quick an announcement was not. Clearly CBS wanted to get the speculation behind it and begin laying the groundwork for the transition as as soon as possible.

Read more:  http://timesleader.com/news/local-news-news/1317426/Colbert-to-replace-Letterman-as-Late-Show-host

Former CBS 21 Reporter Kirk Wilson Confirms News Director’s Connection To Prostitution Sting

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Dauphin County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Kirk Wilson, former CBS 21 reporter, confirmed Saturday that the man who fired him in May from the news station and a man police arrested for allegedly soliciting prostitution are one and the same.

“That’s the face that fired me,” Wilson said in reference to a mug shot of David Baer issued by Swatara Township police.  Baer is the station’s news director, taking the job just about two months ago.

Wilson, the former Carlisle mayor, said he was also able to confirm that connection by talking to employees at the station.  He said they didn’t know any more about the case than what was issued in a Swatara Township police news release.

Read more: http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2013/06/former_cbs_21_reporter_kirk_wi.html

CBS 21 Weatherman Attacked While Jogging Says He Feels ‘Fortunate’ Incident Wasn’t Worse

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Dauphin County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Kirk Clyatt left his Second Street home early Sunday morning for one of his typical runs through the streets of Harrisburg.

The CBS 21 weatherman said he enjoys blowing off steam and taking in the “visual elements” as people pour out of bars across Restaurant Row and other city establishments.

Clyatt, 54, learned the hard way that it’s also a prime time to become the victim of violence.

In an interview Monday, Clyatt recounted a harrowing encounter in which he said he was attacked around 2:15 a.m. by a group of people as he jogged on Green Street.

Read more:  http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2013/07/cbs_21_weatherman_attacked_whi.html#incart_m-rpt-2

NBC Cancels Several Series

Last fall it appeared that NBC might finally be making inroads in its quest to return to its former frontrunner status in the Nielsen ratings.  But appearances turned out to be deceiving.  NBC’s success was built on the slender shoulders of just two series, reality competition “The Voice” and freshman drama “Revolution,” and when those shows took a break between December and March, NBC’s ratings again collapsed.

NBC is poised to end the 2012-13 TV season later this month in fourth place among total viewers behind No. 1 CBS, No. 2 Fox and No. 3 ABC.  (NBC will likely rank third place among adults 18-49 behind No. 1 CBS and No. 2 Fox; when it comes to the audience demographics advertisers crave, ABC is arguably in worse shape.)

With an abundance of low-rated series, the pink slips were bound to fly and they did.  NBC canceled “Deception,” “Go On,” “Guys with Kids,” “The New Normal,” “Rock Center,” “1600 Penn,” “Smash,” “Up All Night” and “Whitney,” adding these series to a refuse pile that already included the 2012-13 shows “Animal Practice” and “Do No Harm.”  (NBC has not yet made a decision on the futures of “Hannibal” and “Celebrity Apprentice.”)

NBC will replace these programs with three new dramas and three new comedies this fall, and the network ordered an additional five dramas, three comedies and three reality shows to also air during the 2013-14 TV season.  Previews of these programs will be unveiled to advertisers today in New York as part of the annual “upfront” week when advertisers buy commercial time in programs up front before the start of the fall TV season.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/ae/tv-radio/nbc-cancels-several-series-687406/#ixzz2TBauZcNR

Christmas Eve Special On Reading Airs Tonight

A 1947 topographic map of the Reading, Pennsylvania area. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Reading PA – The one-hour CBS Christmas Eve special focusing on Reading’s hopeful holiday spirit amid poverty will be broadcast tonight at 11:35 pm without commercials in the “David Letterman” time slot.

Read more: http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=438823

’60 Minutes’ Report Critical Of Health Management Associates

A national health-care chain that operates two hospitals in Lancaster County has come under fire after an investigative TV news program aired allegations that profits — and not patient care — motivated many of the company’s decisions in the emergency room.

CBS correspondent Steve Kroft on “60 Minutes” Sunday charged Health Management Associates with running unnecessary tests and admitting patients without cause — all to drive up revenue.

Based in Naples, Fla., HMA is the nation’s fourth-largest for-profit hospital chain.  Locally, HMA operates Lancaster Regional Medical Center at 250 College Ave. and Heart of Lancaster Regional Medical Center in Lititz.

Danielle Gilmore, director of marketing for Lancaster Regional, declined to discuss the CBS report, instead sharing a statement issued by HMA’s corporate office in Naples.

Read more: http://lancasteronline.com/article/local/788776_-60-Minutes–report-critical-of-Health-Management-Associates.html#ixzz2E1Aur9Zx

Television’s Fall Season Endures

For years, Alan Wurtzel, the head of research for NBC, has questioned the enduring validity of a television season — the ritual competition of network series, which begins again Monday night.

“I’ve been saying the idea of a television season is an anachronistic artifact,” Mr. Wurtzel said. “It’s a 52-week-a-year business. We never take a night off.”

The tradition of the fall season, originally tied to the start of the model year for new cars, is now more than 60 years old. It is defined arbitrarily and rather arcanely by the Nielsen Company as 34.5 weeks between mid-September and mid-May. The season doesn’t account for the increasing number of viewers who watch shows on their own schedules and it hasn’t stopped cable networks from introducing hit shows all through the year.

And yet, the idea persists, in large part because it still works. In defiance of diminishing ratings, attention on the new network shows seems only to have increased, as more blogs and social media sites offer breakdowns of the lineups and predictions of successes and failures.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/24/business/media/television-changes-but-the-fall-season-endures.html?_r=0

Christmas Eve Special About Reading’s Poverty To Be On CBS

A 1947 topographic map of the Reading, Pennsylvania area. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Reading and its struggles with poverty will be the Christmas story this year on CBS.

The network has asked Odyssey Networks, a multifaith media coalition, to produce an hourlong special to be broadcast on Christmas Eve, said the Rev. Eric Shafer, Odyssey senior vice president and a Berks native.

“We’ve decided to come to Reading to tell ‘One Christmas Story: People Rich in Spirit,’ ” he said. “The special will rejoice in the true spirit of Christmas through the words of the Gospel, glorious choral music and the unique character of the community in Reading.”

Shafer said the Collegiate Churches of New York City have already given a $50,000 grant toward the television production and plan to award an additional $50,000 to help fight poverty in the city.

Read more: http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=389931

Mike Wallace, CBS Pioneer Of ‘60 Minutes,’ Dies At 93

 

Publicity photo of journalist Mike Wallace for the television program Mike Wallace Interviews. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Mike Wallace, the CBS reporter who became one of America’s best-known broadcast journalists as an interrogator of the famous and infamous on “60 Minutes,” died on Saturday. He was 93.

On its Web site, CBS said Mr. Wallace died at a care facility in New Canaan, Conn., where he had lived in recent years. Mr. Wallace, who received a pacemaker more than 20 years ago, had a long history of cardiac care and underwent triple bypass heart surgery in January 2008.

A reporter with the presence of a performer, Mr. Wallace went head to head with chiefs of state, celebrities and con artists for more than 50 years, living for when “you forget the lights, the cameras, everything else, and you’re really talking to each other,” he said in an interview with The New York Times videotaped in July 2006 and released on his death as part of the online feature “Last Word.”

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/09/business/media/mike-wallace-cbs-pioneer-of-60-minutes-dead-at-93.html?ref=business

Irene Leaves More Than Two Dozen People Dead In U.S.

Irene claimed 27 lives in eight states according to CBS.

New York’s Metropolitan Transit Authority has begun rebooting their massive system which was entirely shut down for the first time in its history due to weather.

13,000 flights were cancelled, nearly 5 million homes and business lost power at some point during the storm and damage is estimated at $7 billion dollars.

Already people are pointing fingers and crying overreaction.  I say better to overreact and save lives.  Things could have been much worse and we should be thankful for that.