The Simpsons reach a milestone: Sunday's episode is the show's 500th

On Sunday evening, millions of Americans will tune in to watch a television show do what only two others have done before: Fox's The Simpsons - which, more than any other program put the domination in the network's Animation Domination lineup - will mark its 500th episode.

Only Gunsmoke and Lassie aired more episodes, at 635 and 588, respectively.

"I never imagined this," creator Matt Groening told USA Today. "I thought it would be a hit with kids. I wasn't sure adults would dig it."

But dig it they have.  The show transcends generations, poking fun at, well ... just about everyone and everything, from presidents to everyday life.

Fox and the show's producers inked a new production deal for the show last fall which will carry the series for at least another 59 episodes after tomorrow night.

Will it continue even beyond that?

No one really knows, but producer Mike Reiss says there's no way they'll ever run out of ideas for it. "(It's) a show about the world," he said. "We'll run out of material the day the world stops being interesting."

The Weekender - Reviewing the week in TV and radio, Feb. 11-17

Well, folks, it's Friday, and you know what that means:  It's time to look back at the week and then kick off another weekend!

It's been a pretty good week around here.  I'm adjusting nicely to the new computer, we've covered a fair bit o' news, and I even got to be on the radio Thursday (and I'll post a link to the audio from Power Rock 93.9 KTG as soon as I have it).

If you missed anything this week, you'll find the headlines all conveniently located below, so I hope you'll read some of the stories and catch up on everything.

I hope to see you back here again on Monday, or sooner if news breaks! Be sure to check out JDTVB's Facebook page, which now also includes special exclusive items which aren't posted here, and follow me on Twitter for all the latest information, as well as comments on a host of other topics, too ... you never know what I might say!

FRIDAY 17 FEBRUARY	FOX Sports Midwest announces new Cardinals programs IHSAA championship games to air on Local 7 Turner to charge viewers to stream NCAA Tournament games The Original Company buying FM translator for Robinson, Ill. sports station Standard & Poor's keeps Nexstar Broadcasting on CreditWatch, cites uncertainties KET announces Young Writers Contest for kids in grades K-5
THURSDAY 16 FEBRUARY	Clinton biography debuts Monday on PBS NATIONAL NOTES: NBC leading the network sweeps!? Cardinals announce 2012 TV schedule: FOX Sports Midwest will televise 150 games AcesTV to provide special live video stream of WUEV's Jazz Café on Friday MY TAKE: Paducah NBC affiliate's new website is a nice change
WEDNESDAY  15 FEBRUARY	Jaworski leaving Monday Night Football to take expanded NFL role at ESPN Time Warner Cable launches beta version of TWC TV for your computer ABC News, Bluefin Labs announce social media partnership for election coverage Cougar Town returns, but viewers' love just wasn't there Comcast releases fourth-quarter, full-year financials
TUESDAY 14 FEBRUARY	Terre Haute's HI-99 was the country's highest-rated radio station in 2011 Dish Network introduces "family-focused" Heartland Package
MONDAY 13 FEBRUARY	Slavery By Another Name debuts tonight on KET, other area PBS stations Former WAVE 3 sportscaster returning to his broadcast roots Early numbers suggest Grammy telecast was second most-watched in its history Fewer Cardinals Spring Training games to be televised this year METS director to be first guest on WGBF's new Wednesdays with Winnecke
SATURDAY 11 FEBRUARY	The Bill Cunningham Show coming to The CW this fall

FOX Sports Midwest announces new Cardinals programs

FOX Sports Midwest will debut new Cardinals programming on Monday nights from Feb. 20 through March 19, including four new shows from the network’s new Cardinals Legends series. Here's a list of what's coming your way:

• Monday, Feb. 20 at 7 p.m. CT: Cardinals Legends: Champs White House Visit - A 30-minute special that provides an inside look at the Cardinals visit to Walter Reed Medical Center and the White House.
• Monday, Feb. 27 at 6 p.m. CT: Cardinals Legends: LaRussa’s Championship Insights - A one-hour special produced from the January event at Peabody Opera House in St. Louis in which Tony LaRussa relived key moments of the 2011 postseason with Bob Costas and a live audience.
• Monday, March 5 at 9 p.m. CT: Cardinals Legends: Hall of Fame Roundtable - A discussion with Cardinals Hall of Famers.
• Monday, March 5 at 9:30 p.m. CT: Cardinals Spring Training Report
• Monday, March 12 at 6 p.m. CT: Cardinals Legends: ‘80’s Redbird Roundtable - A discussion with stars of the 1980’s.
• Monday, March 19 at 9 p.m. CT: Cardinals Season Preview

The full schedule of Cardinals programming for February and March, including spring training games, can be found by clicking here.

Information for this story was provided by FOX Sports Midwest.

IHSAA championship games to air on Local 7

When Nexstar Broadcasting took over WEHT Local on Dec. 1, one of the first things to go was the NEWS 25 Sports Channel, which was the Evansville area's home for IHSAA championship sporting events.  That led to the question, "Where will those games move to now?"

As it turns out, not far:  Local 7 WTVW is now this area's IHSAA Champions Network affiliate, and will begin carrying championship sports with this week's boys basketball sectional draws.  That program will air live beginning at 2 p.m. CT (3 p.m. ET) this Sunday, Feb. 19.

The boys' state basketball tournament will air beginning at 9 a.m. CT on Mar. 24.

The move to WTVW gives the IHSAA a much broader television presence in the Tri-State. Local 7 is available on virtually all area cable systems as well as some outside the immediate Tri-State, whereas the old Sports Channel was only available in certain areas.

Turner to charge viewers to stream NCAA Tournament games

CBS and Turner Sports will be happy to let viewers watch this year's NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament online ... in Turner's case, for a price.

Users of computers, smartphones and tablets will face a new $3.99 charge to watch the games which will be televised on TBS, TNT and truTV online, Turner announced this morning.

Games streamed on CBSSports.com will be available for free, as will the Turner streams, if your cable, satellite, internet or phone provider has a TV Everywhere agreement with the company. Otherwise, you'll get stuck with the fee.

In explaining the move, Matthew Hong, senior VP and general manager of operations for Turner Sports, said he's not worried that they'll lose viewers because of the fee.  In an interview with Multichannel News, he said, "We're having the digital model match the television model, which is the TV Everywhere authenticated model for digital. We're not fearing a decline in [audience] numbers. The fact that we're making it available via Android and really making the tournament available anywhere people go on whatever device they want to use via TV, iPad, broadband, or mobile device ... the idea is actually to grow that number."

So ... what do you think?  Is Turner's new charge for streaming tournament games a good idea? Will it keep you from watching that way?  Share your thoughts in the comments section or on JDTVB's Facebook page.

The Original Company buying FM translator for Robinson, Ill. sports station

Vincennes-based radio station owner The Original Company, which recently announced its purchase of WFIW-AM/FM and WOKZ in Fairfield, Ill., is buying again.

This time around, the company has entered into an agreement to purchase an FM translator for its ESPN Radio affiliate, WTAY-1570 AM, in Robinson, Ill., which the company acquired in 2010. The translator in question, W262BI-100.3 FM, is currently owned by First Venture Capital Partners of Dallas, Texas. It's unclear if it is still on the air, but most recently, W262BI has broadcast religious-based programming from the American Family Radio network.

Purchase price for W262BI, which will eventually be relocated to WTAY's tower west of Robinson, is $25,000.

The Federal Communications Commission must approve the deal, and no closing date has been set.

Currently, WTAY's daytime AM signal can be heard in the northernmost portion of the Tri-State, covering much of Richland and Lawrence counties in Southeastern Illinois and Knox County in Southwestern Indiana, as well as parts of Clay County, Ill. and Daviess County, Ind.

The Original Company and its sister company, Old Northwest Broadcasting, currently own and operate 15 radio stations, which are located in Fairfield and Robinson, Ill. and Greencastle, Linton, Mt. Vernon, Petersburg, Sullivan, Vincennes and Washington, Ind.

Standard & Poor's keeps Nexstar Broadcasting on CreditWatch, cites uncertainties

Last July, Nexstar Broadcasting, which owns WEHT Local and operates Local 7 WTVW under a shared services agreement with Mission Broadcasting, announced that it was exploring "strategic options," which could eventually lead to a possible sale of the company.

However, the uncertainty surrounding that possibility, as well as the company's loss of three Fox affiliations and a lucrative management contract in 2011, has led Standard & Poor's to keep Irving, Texas-based Nexstar on its CreditWatch list.

"Although the company has not made a decision to pursue any specific transaction, the situation results in considerable uncertainty regarding Nexstar's business and financial strategy," said S&P credit analyst Daniel Haines.

S&P put Nexstar on the list - with negative implications for the company’s debt ratings - right after the news broke that the company was looking toward possible future changes.

In addition to losing the important Fox affiliations at WTVW, WFFT in Ft. Wayne and what's now KOZL in Springfield, Mo., which are now being operated as independent stations, Nexstar lost its management contract with Four Points Media Group when Sinclair Broadcast Group purchased Four Points. However, S&P points to Nexstar's own purchase of three stations in the latter half of 2011 - one of those being the WEHT Local purchase, which closed at the beginning of December - as having "somewhat" mitigated the sting of losing Fox and the Four Points stations.

We'll see what happens next.

KET announces Young Writers Contest for kids in grades K-5

Does your child have a good story to tell? KET has invited children in kindergarten through 5th grade to submit their original illustrated stories to the 2012 KET Young Writers Contest.

KET will select winners at each grade level and award prizes. The first-place stories in each grade level will be published online on the KET website.

The contest is now underway and ends April 15. Read the rules, fill out the entry form, and send in those stories to:

KET Young Writers Contest

600 Cooper Drive

Lexington, KY 40502-2296

I know we've got some talented kids right here in Western Kentucky (last year, Skyla R. of Beaver Dam won third place in the kindergarten category for her entry, The Unicorn of Courage), so parents, I hope you'll encourage your kids to take part in this great contest!

Information for this story was provided by KET.