So when schedules change unexpectedly, there's a disruption, like the one that's sure to come Monday at 6:30, when Channel 6 moves the fast-paced "TMZ" gossip show into the Monday-Friday post-evening news slot. The weekend schedule remains unchanged.
That displaces "Seinfeld" from its long-time weeknight home. Starting Monday, you'll still find the show about nothing at 10:35 weeknights. The second airing will come at 11:35 p.m.
Of course, in our modern DVR era, you could always record the later episodes and watch them whenever you want. And, for the record, TBS airs an hour of "Seinfeld" at 6 p.m. weeknights.
TV's all about the numbers, and the May sweeps period shows how the 6:30 half-hour shakes out.
Nielsen Media Research numbers show Channel 12's airing of "Entertainment Tonight" in the lead with nearly 60,000 households, a 13 percent share of the audience. Channel 58's "Wheel of Fortune" in second with more than 54,000 area households, a 12 percent share.
Since "Wheel" brings in a really old audience -- which isn't as desirable to advertisers -- Channel 12's lead at 6:30 is even more commanding.
After the top two, things drop even more precipitously.
"Two and a Half Men" reruns on Channel 18 averaged almost 34,500 households, a 7 percent share, Channel 4's newscast had nearly 24,500 households, a 5 share.
"Seinfeld" pops up in fifth place, with almost 21,000 households, and a 5 share -- a dip from May 2009 when it had almost 32,600 homes, a 7 share.
Coming in sixth is Channel 24's "Family Guy" rerun, with around 18,000 homes, a 4 share.
Connie goes Fish-less: They've been displaced, at least temporarily, from WQBW-FM (97.3) the radio station formerly known as The Brew. But the Connie and Fish morning show has been continuing this week on Madison's WZEE-FM.
"Fish" announced on the air at 7:20 this morning that he's leaving the radio business as of Friday, and Connie goes solo as of Monday.
There's now a Radio Connie Facebook page, if you're interested.
Yesterday, Kerry Wolfe, operations manager of WQBW-FM, told me it was "very likely" the Connie and Fish morning show would return, once the new top-40 format settles in.
Meanwhile, the other Milwaukee radio station that dumped its format, formerly smooth jazz WJZX-FM (106.9), continued playing an endless string of Beatles songs this morning with no word on what format it will end up with.
On TV: The May cable numbers are out, with the Nielsen stats showing the top five basic cable channels in prime-time are USA, TNT, ESPN, Fox News and Nick-at-Nite.
- While Fox News' strong numbers aren't especially surprising news -- except maybe Neil Cavuto's 100th month at the top of his time period -- CNN's continuing dip is. Larry King had his worst month of the year, averaging some 653,000 viewers at 8 p.m.
- Turner Classic Movies salutes the late Dennis Hopper on June 8 with a marathon of his movies beginning at 7 with 1965's "The Sons of Katie Elder," and 1969's "True Grit" at 9:15, both starring John Wayne. James Dean's 1955 "Rebel Without a Cause" airs at 11:30, followed by 1969's "Easy Rider" at 1:30 a.m., and 1963's "Night Tide" at 3:15 a.m.
- The latest Facebook petition wants George "Mr. Sulu" Takei to host "Saturday Night Live."
A 10 p.m. preview: Comedy Central's Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert took on Conan O'Brien in a dance-off this week in New York. It sort of pre-figures this fall's premiere of O'Brien on TBS opposite the hour of Stewart and Colbert.
Tim Cuprisin is the media columnist for OnMilwaukee.com. He's been a journalist for 30 years, starting in 1979 as a police reporter at the old City News Bureau of Chicago, a legendary wire service that's the reputed source of the journalistic maxim "if your mother says she loves you, check it out." He spent a couple years in the mean streets of his native Chicago, and then moved on to the Green Bay Press-Gazette and USA Today, before coming to the Milwaukee Journal in 1986.
A general assignment reporter, Cuprisin traveled Eastern Europe on several projects, starting with a look at Poland after five years of martial law, and a tour of six countries in the region after the Berlin Wall opened and Communism fell. He spent six weeks traversing the lands of the former Yugoslavia in 1994, linking Milwaukee Serbs, Croats and Bosnians with their war-torn homeland.
In the fall of 1994, a lifetime of serious television viewing earned him a daily column in the Milwaukee Journal (and, later the Journal Sentinel) focusing on TV and radio. For 15 years, he has chronicled the changes rocking broadcasting, both nationally and in Milwaukee, an effort he continues at OnMilwaukee.com.
When he's not watching TV, Cuprisin enjoys tending to his vegetable garden in the backyard of his home in Whitefish Bay, cooking and traveling.
