bpatrick

Don't look for her to be on WSB, also a Cox station. WAGA has her in Atlanta and that station is a Fox o&o.

Somebody forgot Texas, the Another World spinoff that tried to capitalize on the Dallas craze in 1980. NBC put it on against General Hospital (then in the Luke and Laura craze) and Guiding Light at 3 PM, and it made few if any inroads against the established hits on ABC and CBS. NBC made another goof when it moved Texas to 11 AM, against The Price Is Right. Texas and The Doctors had their last episodes Dec. 31, 1982. Texas was actually the first soap to debut as an hour show and, yes, it was on NBC. Does anybody realize that only three NBC soaps lasted more than ten years: Days, The Doctors, and Another World? I don't count Search for Tomorrow, because it was on CBS for 31 years but only four on NBC. By contrast, CBS has had eight (Y&R, B&B, Guiding Light, As the World Turns, Edge of Night (19 of its 28 years), Search for Tomorrow (31 of 35 years), Love of Life, and Secret Storm; ABC has had five (GH, One Life to Live, All My Children, Ryan's Hope, and Loving--I don't count Edge of Night because it was on for nine years on ABC).

I wouldn't put money on B&B going to an hour. Brad Bell has been adamant that that's not going to happen, and I think the actors like the half-hour format because, normally, they can rehearse and tape the show in an eight-hour working day rather than the 12-14-hour days common on the hour soaps. 0p-

I can see a CBS newscast at 11 AM outside the Eastern time zone, but there are five stations which run Y&R at 11:30: Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas, Nashville, and Springfield, MO. Also, KFMB has a local newscast from 11-12:30, delaying Y&R to 1 PM. In the Eastern time zone, you seem to be suggesting that CBS's newscast air at 1 PM, directly opposite GMA3 and NBC News Daily. Do you think people will want three news/public affairs shows head-to-head in the middle of the day? And does Y&R get the boot? Perhaps those five stations that run Y&R at 11:30 expand their midday news (or, in Nashville, "Talk of the Town") to 11-12, then go along with the East Coast with network news at 12 (CT/PT). The question then becomes: what happens to the soaps? It looks to me like B&B is headed for the boneyard sometime in 2025, and the new Black-oriented soap The Gates is still on the drawing boards. Does Y&R go to 2/1? And a few other complications: there are CBS affiliates (WBTV Charlotte and WANF Atlanta among them) that start their news blocks at 3. That doesn't bode well as a potential timeslot for a soap; further, I don't see CBS giving up Let's Make A Deal, which seems to work just fine either at 10 AM or 3 PM. This is a truly complicated situation.

WPGA already dropped ABC one time, objecting to the content of some of the network's programs. I don't know if they'd find Fox to be any better.

I think the idea was to get a jump on All My Children and Days Of Our Lives; for a little over a year in 1980-81 all three soaps were on at 1 (ET). Ryan's Hope was beating Search For Tomorrow (still on CBS), and The Doctors on NBC was past its peak; CBS had to figure that neither was so formidable that they couldn't be taken. As for AMC and Days, well, they were among the most popular soaps, so it was more valuable to CBS to top both of them. By putting Y&R at 12:30, it would be in progress when AMC and Days came on, and its viewers would be less likely to change channels. Having Bold and the Beautiful at 1:30 was the same strategy; AMC and Days would be in progress, and CBS viewers would be less inclined to turn away. One thing I don't understand is why ABC doesn't do a split feed of GMA3. It airs at 1 (ET), noon everywhere else, and ABC affiliates in the earlier time zones have to run their news at 11 AM (WFAA Dallas, for example, was running All My Children at 11, followed by news at noon; GMA3 forced them to move the news to 11 so the network show could air at 12.) The Eastern time zone would still see GMA3 at 1 (like CBS's Eastern affiliates see Y&R at 12:30), but everyone else would have the choice of GMA3 at 11 and news at noon, or vice versa (like Y&R outside the Eastern time zone...11 or 11:30 AM).

In those markets where GL was moved to 10 AM it was getting hammered by General Hospital and had been for years. But there had also been the loss of several popular characters: some longtime fans stopped watching when Maureen Bauer (Ed's wife, if you know the show) was killed off because Procter & Gamble wanted to bring in Buzz Cooper, father of Frank and Harley and who had been MIA in Vietnam for years. (A focus group had told P&G that they didn't care either way if Maureen (Ellen Parker) was let go.) Then Michael Zaslow, who played Roger Thorpe, died in real life and his replacement lasted about a month. Finally Jerry ver Dorn (Ross Marler) walked in one morning and was handed his pink slip. Losing popular characters like these didn't help; fortunately the show didn't write out Josh and Reva. My own take on all this is that, after 72 years on radio and television, GL was out of stories. I don't doubt they'll get another year. However, if I were a CBS affiliate manager, I wouldn't dare drop either show but I'd be praying for the day I could expand my noon newscast to an hour and go head-to-head with the ABC, NBC, or even Fox affiliates from 12-1. I know, there are a few stations doing it (WLKY, KOTV, to name two) but right now I don't think many stations want to mess up viewing habits in the middle of the day.

I never watch soaps unless I'm somewhere where a TV is on. I was in such a place at lunchtime one day last week, and Y&R was on. I'm almost shocked at how Peter Bergman and Melody Thomas Scott have aged, and--along with Eric Braeden--they could be considered the stars of the show. Braeden says his cancer is in remission, but he's in his 80s so how many years does he have left? Over at B&B Katharine Kelly Lang definitely looks 63. And these people are identified with their respective shows! It makes me wonder just what will happen when they go--just like I wonder what will happen to Wheel of Fortune when Vanna goes. As for Drew, not only does he acknowledge that Bob Barker had TPIR before him, he'll even mention the host who had it even before that--Bill Cullen. I don't recall but once when Barker acknowledged Cullen at all, and that was when Cullen appeared to promote his short-lived game show Child's Play.

There is one station that airs "Y&R" at 4: WLKY Louisville. And I don't look for them to move it, because its 5 PM newscast is number one in the timeslot.

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?