Finally a reason to stay up late at night, watching television.  If you are tired of the same old faces on the late night talk shows, raise your hands.  Something to look forward to, NBC announcing that Saturday Night Live former cast member Jimmy Fallon will take over from Conan O'Brien who is moving to take over Jay Leno's job.

Now a look at TV Talk show ratings for the last rating period:

Talkers Strong As Sweeps Starts

Oprah, Dr. Phil Lead the Pack.

By Paige Albiniak -- Broadcasting & Cable

Five talk shows were up for the week ending April 27, which included the first four days of the May sweep, making talk the only genre to see so much improvement.

 CBS’ The Oprah Winfrey Show, coming off its season low in the prior week, was up 9% to a 5.0. CBS’ Dr. Phil scored his strongest ratings since the February sweep, jumping 10% to a 4.6. CBS’ Rachael Ray gained 6% to a 1.9, getting a 17% daily boost with an episode featuring King of Queens’ Leah Remini that kicked off the sweep on April 24 with a 2.1. NBC Universal’s Maury came back from its prior-week season low to climb 19% to a 1.9, tying Rachael. And Warner Bros.’ Tyra Banks improved 10% to a 1.1, with a show on women who are proud of their bodies even though they are overweight, gaining 20% to a 1.2 on April 25, the sweep’s second day.

 As for the rest of the talkers, Disney-ABC’s Live with Regis and Kelly in third place continued to languish at its season low 2.6, unchanged for the week. In fourth place, Warner Bros.’ Ellen DeGeneres also was flat at a 2.1. CBS’ Montel Williams, NBC U’s Jerry Springer, NBC U’s Martha Stewart and NBC U’s rookie Steve Wilkos all were unchanged at 1.3, 1.1, 0.9 and 0.9, respectively. Twentieth’s The Morning Show with Mike and Juliet, which has been the top-rated daytime newcomer, dipped 10% to a 0.9.

 The access magazines were solid with no show declining for the week. CBS’ Entertainment Tonight and CBS’ Inside Edition were the only two to grow, with ET up 2% to a 4.3 and Inside Edition up 3% to a 3.0. CBS’ The Insider, NBC U’s Access Hollywood and Warner Bros.’ rookie leader, TMZ, tied for third, with all three shows steady at a 2.1. Warner Bros.’ Extra was flat at a 1.7.

 CBS’ Judge Judy continued to rule court with a 4.7, unchanged for the week but up 4% for the year, continuing to be the only first-run strip in syndication to show year-to-year improvement.

 CBS’ Judge Joe Brown, in second place, scored its highest ratings in five weeks, hitting a 2.5, up 4% for the week. Warner Bros.’ People’s Court, which had dropped to a season low the prior week, came back 5% to a 2.3. On the other hand, Warner Bros.’ Judge Mathis dropped to a new season low, dropping 11% to a 1.7 and tying Twentieth’s Divorce Court, which was flat. Twentieth’s Judge Alex slipped 6% to a 1.6. Sony’s Judge Hatchett and Twentieth’s Cristina’s Court each were flat at a 1.2. Sony’s Judge Maria Lopez was flat at a 0.9, while Sony’s rookie, Judge David Young, slid 11% to a 0.8. Radar Entertainment’s Jury Duty trailed, unchanged at a 0.3.

 CBS’ Wheel of Fortune remained the top-rated game and overall syndicated show, inching up 1% to a 7.2. CBS’ Jeopardy! dipped 2% to a 5.9. Disney-ABC’s Who Wants to be a Millionaire slipped 4% to tie the show’s season-low 2.7. Debmar-Mercury’s Family Feud eased 6% to a 1.7. Program Partners’ newcomer, Crosswords, was flat at a 0.8. Twentieth’s rookie, Temptation, fell 20% to a 0.4.

 Warner Bros.’ rookie, Two and a Half Men, continued to lead the off-net sitcoms, unchanged at a 5.0, followed by Twentieth’s Family Guy, flat a 4.2. Sony’s Seinfeld fell 5% to a 3.7. CBS’ Everybody Loves Raymond remained at its season low 3.4 for a second straight week. Warner Bros.’ George Lopez climbed 3% to a 3.2. Sony’s King of Queens dropped 10% to 2.6, tying Warner Bros.’ Friends, down 4%.

How is your favorite radio station doing in the ratings?

Radio and Records has the breakdown from the recent book  (winter 2008)

Click here and go to "Baltimore" or whatever other market you'd like to know about.

ARBITRON is the company which mails out diaries and measures listeners radio habits.   

Here's where the Baltimore market stacks up compared to the others in the top 25 of the country:

A harsh reality is no longer on the horizon for the local radio and television stations, as a matter of fact the reality already took a bite out of local newspapers within the last couple of years.  The reality is: a drop in the ratings, fewer readers, viewers, listeners which translates into a tighter competition for advertising dollars. 

Media transforms before our eyes. Old media changes to new media, reporters face layoffs, as network- owned radio and television stations wonder where the budget ax will fall. 

Format evolves at a digital pace.  When I started in television news, about 20 years ago, it took at least three people, sometimes more, to hit the streets, record interviews for the story, bring it all back to the station, edit the tapes,  and finally air the story.   Television cameras were cumbersome and carried on the photographer's right shoulder.  Tape decks were carried on the camera-person's other shoulder. Usually the reporter lugged the extra tapes, the old style  VCR tapes about the size of a cigar box.  Not to mention extra batteries, gigantic "portable" phones that were assigned induvidially.  All of this equipment needed for the final product, a story of no more than 2 minutes length on that nights news.

Now, anyone with a cell phone equipped with a video camera can become the story teller.  If you are at the scene of a fire, shooting, or traffic accident, aim your cellphone and hit record.  YouTube and other video sharing websites devour images and regurgitates information all day and all night.

The information industry is at a crossroads, as outlined in this series of articles:

http://usinfo.state.gov/journals/itgic/1207/ijge/vaina.htm

And local continues to be home for most readers, viewers, or listeners, who want their news and information from right around the corner, news that matters to them:

http://usinfo.state.gov/journals/itgic/1207/ijge/local.htm

Newspapers lay off writers, but bloggers pick up their laptops.  TV stations compress newsroom staff, but add more newscasts with the same content, as if the viewers aren't smart enough to catch their short-cuts.  People who consume news are savvy.  Now they are the ones reporting stories that once took teams to produce.