CircleSeven 1944 Posted February 8, 2013 Share Posted February 8, 2013 Feder posted yesterday that WLS has cancelled its longtime local entertainment program 190 North. The new President & GM at Channel 7 John Idler stated that he cited "economic challenges facing our industry". And stated that ratings took a significant hit after the expansion of the Sunday Night 10pm news back in November 2011, moving the showtime to 11pm. The last episode will air on March 31st. This doesn't make any damn sense. This is very sad news. I had a bad feeling from the get-go when the replacement comes, that this person would make changes left and right. So far, many of the changes were very cosmetic, as he says he wanted to boost its promotion & marketing (like they haven't promoted their product many times already with the constant news promos). Idler got rid of Tom Hebel. Luckily Hebel is in Florida at WFLA. But you take a local show like 190 North off the air. I wouldn't be shocked if Windy City Live be the next casualty when Live With Kelly & Michael comes to Channel 7 this coming fall. I'm shocked they haven't stated any further info about that, since many shows are announcing their fall plans already. I know Janet is closing it on three decades at Channel 7 but I wouldn't even feel bad if she leaves the station after all of this, because this is absolutely pitiful. Making drastic changes like this will only drive folks away from your product. There's already been some small cosmetic changes happening here & there. But I have a feeling the worst of his plans is yet to come to fruition. We just have to watch and see. But to me at this point, any future news coming from Idler will not be good news, unless if it really benefits the station on the long run and I don't feel it happening, at least right now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
24994J 5269 Posted February 8, 2013 Share Posted February 8, 2013 I'm not dumping all the blame on Idler for this one. As you said, the writing has been on the wall since November 2011 when the Sunday news was expanded, but this was done under Emily Barr, several months before Idler came aboard. And, I'll admit it, the show was a caricature of it's former self. Over the last few years, they tried WAAAAAY too hard to reach the young, hip crowd. The final "cast" of the show was 2 parts dreadful. Mark Nilsson and (especially) Eva Saha were merely cheap knock-offs of Lou Canellis and Michelle Allegria. Over on WGN, "Chicago's Best" its (indirect) competition, and "190N" lost. As for "WCL", I'm not sure about its future. 190's ouster definitely frees up some finances that could be put towards the morning show which, let's face it, is a bigger money-maker (albeit more expensive to produce). I'm still not convinced that "Live" will be on in the daytime hours. The network has wanted WLS to carry the show for years, but I don't think there were any specifics as to when it has to air. My guess is that ABC 7 is going to do just about everything in their power to keep the 9am slot local, waiting to see the network's daytime line-up for the fall. In terms of promos, I like what I see. Are they on the border of excessive? Perhaps, but it shows that the station is serious about retaining its number one status. Let's face it, over the last decade (at least) they've become way too comfortable with the lead. They haven't had to promote as much, advertise as much, jam the product down your throat as much. Now that the other stations in town have gained some ground, with one notable exception, WLS is forced to up their game...and the game they're playing is pretty damn good. The product coming out of the promo departments at the four other stations range from horrendous to okay. CBS 2's is consistent, but rather bland. FOX is FOX. WGN is pretty good, but getting kinda stale. And NBC 5 is hit or miss. ABC 7 was in the same boat as 2 and 5, but have made changes recently for the better. It has become tradition around here to start speculating about when the image of the station is going to be changed, and we usually end up being overly-optimistic (wrong). However, seeing the latest batch of promos, I'm beginning to think that the proverbial sh*t is about to hit the fan. It's merely a guess, but I'd say we're within weeks, not months of a big change. We may not like it at first, but if there's any station capable of using its head and putting out a consistent and quality product, it's WLS. Personally, I can't wait to see what's ahead! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ABC 7 Denver 1552 Posted February 8, 2013 Share Posted February 8, 2013 I'm not dumping all the blame on Idler for this one. As you said, the writing has been on the wall since November 2011 when the Sunday news was expanded, but this was done under Emily Barr, several months before Idler came aboard. And, I'll admit it, the show was a caricature of it's former self. Over the last few years, they tried WAAAAAY too hard to reach the young, hip crowd. The final "cast" of the show was 2 parts dreadful. Mark Nilsson and (especially) Eva Saha were merely cheap knock-offs of Lou Canellis and Michelle Allegria. Over on WGN, "Chicago's Best" its (indirect) competition, and "190N" lost. As for "WCL", I'm not sure about its future. 190's ouster definitely frees up some finances that could be put towards the morning show which, let's face it, is a bigger money-maker (albeit more expensive to produce). I'm still not convinced that "Live" will be on in the daytime hours. The network has wanted WLS to carry the show for years, but I don't think there were any specifics as to when it has to air. My guess is that ABC 7 is going to do just about everything in their power to keep the 9am slot local, waiting to see the network's daytime line-up for the fall. In terms of promos, I like what I see. Are they on the border of excessive? Perhaps, but it shows that the station is serious about retaining its number one status. Let's face it, over the last decade (at least) they've become way too comfortable with the lead. They haven't had to promote as much, advertise as much, jam the product down your throat as much. Now that the other stations in town have gained some ground, with one notable exception, WLS is forced to up their game...and the game they're playing is pretty damn good. The product coming out of the promo departments at the four other stations range from horrendous to okay. CBS 2's is consistent, but rather bland. FOX is FOX. WGN is pretty good, but getting kinda stale. And NBC 5 is hit or miss. ABC 7 was in the same boat as 2 and 5, but have made changes recently for the better. It has become tradition around here to start speculating about when the image of the station is going to be changed, and we usually end up being overly-optimistic (wrong). However, seeing the latest batch of promos, I'm beginning to think that the proverbial sh*t is about to hit the fan. It's merely a guess, but I'd say we're within weeks, not months of a big change. We may not like it at first, but if there's any station capable of using its head and putting out a consistent and quality product, it's WLS. Personally, I can't wait to see what's ahead! Would losing News Series 2000, the current graphics and logo count? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weeters 1805 Posted February 8, 2013 Share Posted February 8, 2013 If I had to make a bet I'd say that we're probably hurtling towards a total overhaul from the graphics to the music to the set. There's no point in airing "Live" any time other than daytime. Advertisers aren't going to want to spend the big bucks for airtime during a daytime talk show airing at 1:05AM. There's probably a lot more money to be made airing the parent company's programming than paying the producers, editors, hosts, and crew of WCL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
24994J 5269 Posted February 8, 2013 Share Posted February 8, 2013 Would losing News Series 2000, the current graphics and logo count? I'm not sure what you mean...count as what? If I had to make a bet I'd say that we're probably hurtling towards a total overhaul from the graphics to the music to the set. There's no point in airing "Live" any time other than daytime. Advertisers aren't going to want to spend the big bucks for airtime during a daytime talk show airing at 1:05AM. There's probably a lot more money to be made airing the parent company's programming than paying the producers, editors, hosts, and crew of WCL. The last time they had it, they aired it at midnight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CircleSeven 1944 Posted February 8, 2013 Author Share Posted February 8, 2013 I'm not sure what you mean...count as what? The last time they had it, they aired it at midnight. No they didn't. Channel 7 aired Live! at 1:10am the last time they had it, after the 10pm rebroadcast at 12:35am. Remember WLS started airing Oprah repeats at 11:05pm (starting in the Fall 1996) after Nightline, bumping Bill Maher's Politically Incorrect to 12:05am, then the 10pm repeat, then Regis, then WNN at 2:10am. Channel 7 had it for three years at the wee hours of the morning until channel 9 got it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
24994J 5269 Posted February 8, 2013 Share Posted February 8, 2013 No they didn't. Channel 7 aired Live! at 1:10am the last time they had it, after the 10pm rebroadcast at 12:35am. Remember WLS started airing Oprah repeats at 11:05pm (starting in the Fall 1996) after Nightline, bumping Bill Maher's Politically Incorrect to 12:05am, then the 10pm repeat, then Regis, then WNN at 2:10am. Channel 7 had it for three years at the wee hours of the morning until channel 9 got it. My mistake...either way, it was late. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CircleSeven 1944 Posted February 8, 2013 Author Share Posted February 8, 2013 My mistake...either way, it was late. No harm was done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TVNewsLover 727 Posted February 8, 2013 Share Posted February 8, 2013 It will not be aired at midnight. Why would Disney allow it to go from being aired at 9am on WGN to midnight or later on WLS, regardless of whether they own the station or not! Count on it being at 9am and WCL being moved or cancelled. WCL could be cut to a half hour and air at 11:30am. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CircleSeven 1944 Posted March 22, 2013 Author Share Posted March 22, 2013 The station already taped its final program back on Tuesday. It will be aired one week from this Sunday. The station posted pics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Action Newsroom 1149 Posted March 22, 2013 Share Posted March 22, 2013 It will not be aired at midnight. Why would Disney allow it to go from being aired at 9am on WGN to midnight or later on WLS, regardless of whether they own the station or not! Count on it being at 9am and WCL being moved or cancelled. WCL could be cut to a half hour and air at 11:30am. WPVI used to air a similar show, AM Philadelphia, in the morning hours the 70s, 80s and early 90s before it name change in 1996 to AM Live and the station moving it to midnight under the title "Philly After Dark" for its last few years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TVNewsLover 727 Posted March 23, 2013 Share Posted March 23, 2013 WPVI used to air a similar show' date=' [i']AM Philadelphia[/i], in the morning hours the 70s, 80s and early 90s before it name change in 1996 to AM Live and the station moving it to midnight under the title "Philly After Dark" for its last few years. Not sure if you misunderstood but I was referring to Kelly and mike not airing after midnight, not WCL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Action Newsroom 1149 Posted March 23, 2013 Share Posted March 23, 2013 Not sure if you misunderstood but I was referring to Kelly and mike not airing after midnight, not WCL. I guess I have missundertood. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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