bpatrick

Except for WLS, where Oprah's show originated and aired live at 9 AM, stations were not allowed to air her in the morning. The most common time for her show was 4 PM (local time), although there were some stations that aired her at 5 as lead-in to the news and some, like KABC, that had her at 3, before the 4 PM news. Now as to whether Kelly and Mark should be on in the afternoons: I can remember, back in the '70s, when Mike Douglas was considered better suited for the morning and Merv Griffin for the afternoon. That did not deter stations from reversing that; Mike dominated 4:30-6 PM in Atlanta and Jacksonville for years, and Merv did likewise in the mornings in Birmingham until then-ABC affiliate WBRC started carrying "Good Morning America" (Merv had been on at 8 AM). So I don't know about this "such-and-such a show is a morning show (or an afternoon show)." I don't know what difference it makes if Kelly and Mark are on at 9 AM or 3 PM with one exception: For CBS affiliates to put "Y&R" at 3 would be a gamble. CBS affiliates, particularly in the Eastern time zone (like Fort Wayne), tend to dominate at noon; their noon newscasts are bracketed by "The Price Is Right" at 11 and "Y&R" at 12:30. ABC and NBC affiliates are probably in a better position to run Kelly and Mark in the afternoons...not that I think any of them are going to.

WESH also carries Live at 9 AM, with the third and fourth hours of Today at 10 and 11 AM respectively. WESH is also a Hearst station.

I don't recall GL airing in Atlanta at 10 AM; in fact, I recall only two stations south of the Mason-Dixon line airing the venerable soap in the morning; WFOR and WKMG. As for LMAD, I see WKMG has moved it back to 10 AM.

Do you mean that ET is moving from WXYZ to WJBK? It's been on WXYZ at 7:30 for as long as I can remember.

There's one other game that most people have forgotten. Bob hosted "The Family Game" for Chuck Barris on ABC in 1967. A knockoff of "The Newlywed Game," its premise was to see how much parents knew about their kids and vice versa. During taping breaks at "Price," audience members would ask Bob about this show and he would invariably answer, "I forgot about that show a long time ago." If my memory hasn't failed me, Bob also created a show called "Lucky Pair," which aired locally in Los Angeles and was hosted by Richard Dawson (somebody in LA correct me on this). And there was a short-lived reality show, "The End of the Rainbow," which Bob co-hosted with "You Asked For It"''s Art Baker in 1958. Ralph Edwards produced this one, but it lasted only about six weeks before being replaced by that old standby, "Ted Mack's Amateur Hour."

In the Central and Mountain time zones, the 10 PM newscast is traditionally the flagship newscast. As quite a few Fox affiliates (including my own, and I'm in the Eastern time zone) have found out, people like to catch the 10 PM news before turning in; in cities like Chicago and Dallas, quite a few people are still at work or trying to get home. So for KTVT and WDJT to replace news with Jeopardy! at 6 doesn't represent that great a loss in either Dallas or Milwaukee. And WVUE and WALA are Fox affiliates; for them the flagship newscast is at 9 PM so it's no great loss to have one less newscast in New Orleans and Mobile at 6.

OK, does that mean Jennifer Hudson moves back to 3 PM on 11 Alive?

I don't see a change in Raleigh. The stations that are dropping the CW are CBS o&os; WLFL is owned by Sinclair and WNCN by Nexstar (meaning I can't see the CW on 17.2 or whatever WNCN subchannel). I am wondering, however, if the CW is going to still be on in Atlanta; I have yet to see any evidence that either WATL or WPCH is interested, and I don't think the others (WSB, WAGA, WXIA, or WANF) are. (WAGA is out anyway, being a Fox o&o, and I would be shocked if Fox allowed them to carry another network that isn't MNT.)

WTHR and WUSA are sister Tegna stations so this makes sense.

That is unusual for a station in the Central time zone. I'm sure, though, that a lot of people will be happy with the two shows on the same channel and an alternative to the news.

It sounds logical that WESH would move ET to 7:30. However, I suspect WFTV is going to clean up from 7-8, with "Jeopardy!" and "Wheel of Fortune."

NBC has used the "curtain raiser" before; in the '50s it used a camera and the words "NBC Television Presents." By the early '60s that was changed to the NBC "snake" logo and "NBC Presents." As for the "Eyewitness"/"Action" branding, yes, some stations could use a name change: WSB has had "Action News" since I was in college in the '70s. Its sister stations in Charlotte and Orlando have had "Eyewitness News" since I was in high school. But I can imagine the fuss, especially in Atlanta, if the names were changed; it would be comparable to WXIA's attempt to drop "11 Alive." And besides, can you imagine (if you live in New York, Los Angeles, or Chicago) not having "ABC7 Eyewitness News"? op .='[

I don't see any reason why the ABC o&os would move "General Hospital" back to 2. It's no doubt the best lead-in they can have for their 4 PM newscasts. I won't be surprised, though, if WABC and WTVD add 10 AM newscasts (the o&os outside the Eastern time zone have "The View" at 10).

Just learned that Harold Crump, longtime general manager of WTVF Nashville, has passed away at age 91. If I'm reading the obituary correctly Crump instituted the NewsChannel 5 ID; he did change the station's call letters from WLAC-TV to WTVF. During Crump's years at NewsChannel 5 a few nationally syndicated shows were produced there: "Hee Haw," "Candid Camera," and "The Jimmy Dean Show." WTVF is unique in that it is a CBS affiliate which is stronger in Nashville and its suburbs while NBC affiliate WSMV does better in the rural areas; this is the reverse of most markets where NBC tends to do better in the city and suburbs, while CBS does better in the countryside. And frankly, NewsChannel 5 does seem more "big city" than does Channel 4. An R.I.P. to Mr. Crump.

Criswell did the "A.M." show at 7 AM before "Good Morning America" took over the time slot. From the looks of that intro, was this before or after Iola Johnson?

I believe WXIA had the same idea when it revived a midday newscast during the COVID pandemic. But they kept it. My next question: With Dr. Phil ending his run, might 11 Alive move Jennifer Hudson back to 3 and finally start a 4 PM newscast?

Who has it in Atlanta?

Regardless of whether or not CBS goes somewhere else, I plan to drop dead if WANF passes WXIA for third place in Atlanta news. I haven't seen WANF's new look, but my gut tells me to keep an eye on the battle for third between the two. For me the last good newscast on 11 Alive was "Pro News" in the mid-'70s; Virgil Dominic lived up to the newscast's name.

It wouldn't matter. WCNC is an NBC affiliate; WFTV, an ABC one.

The ABC o&os in the Eastern and Pacific time zones air "Jeopardy!" first, and there are a few other places (Charlotte and Orlando come to mind) where that is also true.

There's a lot being made about the CBS logo being absent from Channel 46's. Channel 2 does not incorporate the ABC logo into its own, yet ABC is not about to part ways with WSB. (LIkewise, my NBC affiliate, WRAL, does not have a peacock in its logo; this is a station which is as dominant as WSB.) While it is not out of the question that CBS might move its programming to WUPA and move the CW somewhere else (69.2, maybe?), I don't see why it matters whether the network logo is there or not.

On that same note I wonder if WXIA will add a 4 PM newscast; it's the only one of the Big Four affiliates in Atlanta that does not have one now.

What happened to docudramas? Remember in the '70s "Pueblo" and "The Missiles of October," to name just two? Why can you not find a program like "The World at War" on a broadcast station? I even remember one year in the '60s when ABC had "FDR," CBS had "World War I," and NBC had "Profiles in Courage" either in prime time or just before. My students have a very limited knowledge of history; shows like these could entertain as well as teach, and perhaps we teachers could use some of the made-for-TV movies to point out factual errors.

That takes me back to Atlanta in 1976. "11 Alive Newsroom" on WXIA was an attempt to be different; surveys showed that "Pro News" was too much like the newscasts on WSB and WAGA, and people were not going to change from either of them. WXIA did attract a younger audience for a time but it didn't last, and by 1978 it had begun to resemble Channels 2 and 5 again. But if you're in third you can take a chance; remember that until the late '60s WCBS was number one in New York and then WABC started "Eyewitness News" and we know how that worked out.

I don't remember whose routine it was, but I remember Eyewitness Action Newscenter.