TV syndication upfront ad sales are brisk, with syndicators expected to sell higher levels of ad inventory, similar to the broadcast networks.
Sales are more than 50% complete, with one syndicator, Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution, more than 70% sold out of its 2008-09 ad inventory, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
What's it all mean? It means that syndication upfront totals are expected to be around $2.4 billion, up 4.5% from last year.
Maybe one reason is that syndicators are incorporating more product integration into their packages, especially with talk and entertainment shows. Strong categories include packaged goods, pharmaceuticals, movies, and fast food.
Hmmm ... I wonder what they're saying. That TV viewers sit around eating Big Macs, doing drugs, and woofing down Cheetos? Yeah, that can't be right.
Game shows have been an important part of television since the late 1930s. In 1938, the BBC aired Spelling Bee, a show that is believed to be the world's first game show. In July 1941, CBS Television Quiz made history by becoming the first television game show to broadcast regularly. Since then, U.S. viewers were treated with all sorts of game shows such as To Tell the Truth, Beat the Clock, Concentration, Name that Tune, The Price is Right,Jeopardy, etc.
Jeopardy!, which premiered in 1964, is one of the most successful and popular game show in U.S. TV history. Its challenging questions and format helped make it a household name. This is why we named our "Primetime game show requiring the most skill" category after it.
In this category, we include 2007-2008 season game shows that air/aired in primetime (Jeopardy! is out of the running since it doesn't air in that block) and that are not reality-type game shows such as Survivor and Big Brother. Shows that come to mind are Duel, 1 vs 100, Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader, and the primetime edition of The Price Is Right. Personally, I don't think Deal or No Deal or The Moment of Truth qualify since they don't require much skill.
Which shows do you think should be nominated for The Jeopardy Award? List your suggestions below!
The President's segment was pre-taped at the White House. The contestant, Captain Joseph Kobes, was on the program to try and win enough money to pay off his parents' home. He is a Purple Heart and Bronze Start recipient who completed three tours of duty in Iraq.
Shark will swim again -- at least for the rest of this season. The future, however, remains unclear. CBS today announced that Shark will return on April 29 in a new timeslot. The network is switching the L.A. legal drama from Sundays at nine to Tuesdays at nine, where it may benefit from the strong lead-in of NCIS. Chances are that if Shark holds NCIS's ratings -- or improves on them -- that could mean more Shark for fall. If the show stumbles, CBS will likely pull the plug.
Fans of Shark may need to get more militant if they want to keep the show on the air. In a recent story we did about CBS renewals, there was fervent outcries for bringing back Moonlight and The Unit, even Cane. Out of 40 comments, only two came to Shark's defense. It may be a small sample, but still...
It was NBC's turn today to announce what its winter schedule would look like. The press release states that "NBC's first-quarter primetime schedule is slated to deliver significantly more hours of original programming than was ever the case in the first quarter of 2007." Besides the expected crop of reality and game shows, NBC's winter schedule will be filled with new episodes of series like ER, Friday Night Lights, Las Vegas, Medium, Scrubs and all three versions of Law & Order. Also added to the lineup will be Lipstick Jungle, a new dramedy starring Lindsay Price, Kim Raver and Brooke Shields.
NBC is creating a syndicated version of Deal or No Deal, but it's going to be a little different than the prime time version of the game show. Howie Mandel will still be the host, but everything else is going to be slimmed down. For instance, the syndicated version will last 30 minutes instead of an hour. And the maximum amount a contestant can win will be $250,000 rather than $1 million. Also? Fewer suitcase models.
The game show is being picked up on at least six NBC-owned affiliates as a companion to a new, Merv Griffin-produced game show called Crosswords. Both are scheduled to begin airing in the fall.
Ben Silverman and Marc Graboff, Co-chairs of NBC Enterainment and Universal Media Studios, start off their first TCA executive sessoin by reading some programming changes.
Deal or No Deal is moving to Friday night at 8, providing a nice lead in for critically acclaimed Friday Night Lights and Las Vegas, which has Tom Selleck joining its cast.
Isaiah Washington is going to join The Bionic Woman. He'll be in five of the first eight shows.
Here are the weekly TV ratings, by number of viewers.
1. America's Got Talent (NBC) 2. Two and a Half Men (CBS) 3. So You Think You Can Dance - Weds (FOX) 4. So You Think You Can Dance - Thurs (FOX) 5. Deal Or No Deal - Tues (NBC) 6. CSI (CBS) 7. CSI: Miami (CBS) 8. 60 Minutes (CBS) 9. NCIS (CBS) 10. Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader (FOX) 11. CSI: NY (CBS) 12. NBA Finals - Game 1 (CBS) 13. Shark (CBS) 14. How I Met Your Mother (CBS) 15. NBA Finals - Game 2 (CBS) 16. The Next Best Thing (ABC) 17. Hell's Kitchen (FOX) 18. House (FOX) 19. American Inventor (ABC) 20. Criminal Minds (CBS)
Okay, so, a few months ago Rich gave y'all the skinny on a proposed half-hour syndicated version of Deal or No Deal. Well, Variety, citing "sources" but nothing more solid than that, says NBC Universal and Endemol USA will be moving ahead with plans for a syndicated Deal or No Deal, and that Howie Mandel will likely be hosting this version, as well. The syndicated version would appear sometime in 2008. Again, it's worth noting that neither NBC nor Endemol have confirmed any of this.
Since it's part of the same article, I should probably also mention that Access Hollywood and Yahoo have teamed up to create "omg!," a celeb-centric site featuring clips from Access Hollywood. The site, which is supposed to launch today, will serve as a direct competitor to AOL's TMZ.com (AOL also owns TV Squad). I just hope whoever supplies the alcohol and drugs to today's Hollywood stars keeps the supply coming so folks like me can sit back and watch these two portals fight for the best footage.
Welcome to TV Squad Lists (formerly 'The Five'), a feature where each blogger has a chance to list his or her own rundown of things in television that stand out from the rest, both good and bad.
With the 2006-07 season now just a fading memory in our short attention-span universe, it's a good time to sit back and reflect on what came to pass. The beginning of it was full of excitement and promise. The end of the season was pretty much the same as others before it: some good (and not-so-good) stuff survived, the bad stuff didn't, and stuff that we thought was good went down in flames fairly quickly. There were some surprises in the freshmen class and some resurgences in older fare. In the meanwhile, American Idol remained the show killer.
(S03E21) It's been a big week for the fine folks over at Medium HQ. Not only are they smack dab in the middle of their big three part finale, but they also got an early renewal from the suits at NBC. It wasn't as early as some shows, but having the network make the announcement before upfronts is still a nice vote of confidence. Now, hopefully they'll move the show back to Monday and give it that post Heroes slot next season.
But enough about renewals and scheduling. We have the next to last episode from season three to talk about. In a nutshell, I thought it moved both the Joe story, and the Paxton/Debra/Allison story, along very well. Unfortunately, it also suffered from a couple of problems. First, one way too long, and unnecessary, scene. And second, one missing character.
(S01E03) For those of you playing along at home, the ratings for the big two hour premiere of Drive are in. Unfortunately, they weren't very good. That isn't the end of the world though. To really get an idea of where the series stands, we'll have to wait until the numbers come in for the regular Monday night showing. Things should be fine. Nobody watches Dancing With The Stars or Deal Or No Deal anyway, right?
Moving on, thinking happy thoughts about Nielsen boxes tuned to Drive, episode three was another solid installment. That's solid, but not great. It didn't quite match the level of the first two. Not that there weren't high points. It just seemed that some of the stories lacked the intensity that we saw in the premiere. There was still some good information coming to us, but not in as gripping a fashion. That's fine, but not exactly what I wanted to see in the time slot premiere.
This time, it's The Black Donnellys. The NBC family crime drama, which replaced Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip (itself currently on hiatus), will go on hiatus starting April 23. The show hasn't been doing too well in the ratings in the Monday at 10 slot.
And I know you're wondering: will Studio 60 return? Nope, at least not in that time slot. But for you fans of reality show, you're in luck! The Real Wedding Crashers, a new reality show based on the hit movie, will air in the Monday at 10 slot. NBC was going to put it on another night but they liked it so much (so much!!) that they're going to put it on after Heroes. The April 23 date is also the day that Heroes returns.
So, two quality dramas are put on the shelf, next to months of old boxes of macaroni and cheese, so another reality show can debut early. Fantastic.
TV syndication upfront ad sales are brisk, with syndicators expected to sell higher levels of ad inventory, similar to the broadcast networks. 
President George W. Bush will 
Shark
It was NBC's turn today to announce what its 
NBC is creating a syndicated version of Deal or No Deal, but it's going to be a little different than the prime time version of the game show. Howie Mandel will still be the host, but everything else is going to be slimmed down. For instance, the syndicated version will last 30 minutes instead of an hour. And the maximum amount a contestant can win will be $250,000 rather than $1 million. Also? Fewer suitcase models.
Ben Silverman and Marc Graboff, Co-chairs of NBC Enterainment and Universal Media Studios, start off their first TCA executive sessoin by reading some programming changes.
Here are the weekly TV ratings, by number of viewers.
Okay, so, a few months ago Rich gave y'all 
Welcome to TV Squad Lists (formerly 'The Five'), a feature where each blogger has a chance to list his or her own rundown of things in television that stand out from the rest, both good and bad.
(S03E21)
(S01E03) 
Another day, 
Doctor Who panel - Comic-Con Report
NBC's Kings panel - Comic-Con Report
The Dharma Initiative wants you - VIDEO - Comic-Con Report
