As CBS Cancels Syndie 'Probst', Affiliates Scramble to Fill Slot in Fall of '13

[AaronQ 259]

Is there a contractual requirement that Wheel and Jeopardy air together, on the same network, in the same hour?

WCNC-TV in Charlotte, NC broadcast both Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy at 7 &7:30pm

[ABC 7 Denver 1554]

WCNC-TV in Charlotte, NC broadcast both Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy at 7 &7:30pm

Here in Denver, KMGH broadcasts both Wheel and Jeopardy at 6 and 6:30 pm. This is the only way I've seen it across the country! 2 shows, same hour (but different blocks).

[CircleSeven 1944]

Is there a contractual requirement that Wheel and Jeopardy air together, on the same network, in the same hour?

They are no contractual requirements that deep. Typically cities in the Central & Mountain time zone, Jeopardy is usually aired at an earlier timeslot before the news then Wheel of Fortune at 6:30pm. They are some markets like Nashville that don't have both shows on the same station. WKRN (which is the only one that don't have a 6:30pm newscast, unlike WSMV & WTVF which does) air Wheel at 6:30pm and Jeopardy is aired on WZTV Fox 17.

 

They are two other markets that I know that airs Jeopardy at 6pm/CT. WVUE Fox 8 in New Orleans and WDJT CBS 58 in Milwaukee. Both air Wheel afterwards. But this practice is obviously not typical because many in the Central & Mountain timezone regularly air a 6pm newscast. Good thing WVUE have a two hour newscast as a lead in.

 

Even though they prefer to air a program at a certain timeslot or a station to have both shows, it doesn't mean its contractually obligated. When KTVK 3 brought back Wheel & Jeopardy back after KNXV dropped it this season (I think Scripps made a huge mistake in doing so), they air the program right at primetime hour (7pm). And this season, look at where many stations have moved Family Feud to a much later timeslot, right near the where Jeopardy & Wheel air their shows.

[Twigz1 9]

First post, love the site. I have been mulling over this for a while (maybe 2 days after "Probst" premiered ;-P ), but I had a feeling that crap would be canceled, was just a matter of time. Of course, "Probst" airs here in NYC on WNBC 4 at 2PM, to go with the "Steve/Ellen" cluster at 3 & 4. I don't know for sure, just me thinking out loud, but maybe the Queen Latifah Show has a place at 4 next year instead of 2 here....even though Sony (who is producing QL) has made a strict deal with all the CBS O&Os. I'm just not sure where her show would fit in WCBS;s schedule...none of the syndies they air now are going away, all the Daytime stuff has been cleared for next year, the only place other than 4 where this would make sense is 'LNY 55.

 

In regards to the last question, a talk show/game show network which showed old and new stuff would be cool...maybe a digi-net, a .2 or .3, frankly I'm tired of the old movie channels.

[24994J 5276]

Is there a contractual requirement that Wheel and Jeopardy air together, on the same network, in the same hour?

The only MAJOR restriction says that, should they air on different stations, they must not be on at the same time. However, 90% (unscientific) of all stations have both, versus one or the other.

 

Chicago probably has one of the largest time slot difference in term of the Griffin twins...Jeopardy! at 2:30 (3:30 for the first 28 years) and Wheel at 6:30.

[bhratbrat 423]

At one time KHOU was airing Wheel at 6:30 and Jeopardy sometime in the 11:30 block

[CircleSeven 1944]

Actually, if you live in Dallas, KTVT airs Jeopardy, after The Price is Right at 11am. I'm not sure if its the same day show or yesterdays because they also air Jeopardy at 6pm on its sister station KTXA.

 

Oprah had a similar practice that her other produced shows (Dr. Phil, Rachael Ray, Dr. Oz) cannot be aired at the same time her talk show was on. Notice many stations had Dr. Phil on at 5pm while Oprah was on at 4pm. And when her show was done on May 25, 2011, both Dr. Phil & Dr. Oz moved to the 4pm slot quick.

[TVNewsLover 727]

First post, love the site. I have been mulling over this for a while (maybe 2 days after "Probst" premiered ;-P ), but I had a feeling that crap would be canceled, was just a matter of time. Of course, "Probst" airs here in NYC on WNBC 4 at 2PM, to go with the "Steve/Ellen" cluster at 3 & 4. I don't know for sure, just me thinking out loud, but maybe the Queen Latifah Show has a place at 4 next year instead of 2 here....even though Sony (who is producing QL) has made a strict deal with all the CBS O&Os. I'm just not sure where her show would fit in WCBS;s schedule...none of the syndies they air now are going away, all the Daytime stuff has been cleared for next year, the only place other than 4 where this would make sense is 'LNY 55.

 

In regards to the last question, a talk show/game show network which showed old and new stuff would be cool...maybe a digi-net, a .2 or .3, frankly I'm tired of the old movie channels.

In cases where a CBS O&O airs Dr. Phil, Judge Judy, and The Doctors, Queen Latifah will likely replace The Doctors which will be moved over to the sister station. I think that'll happen with WCBS and WLNY. Could WNBC possibly start a 4pm newscast?

[CircleSeven 1944]

In cases where a CBS O&O airs Dr. Phil, Judge Judy, and The Doctors, Queen Latifah will likely replace The Doctors which will be moved over to the sister station. I think that'll happen with WCBS and WLNY. Could WNBC possibly start a 4pm newscast?

 

WNBC could have a 4pm show if they move Steve & Ellen an hour earlier, but why should they and Ellen gets really good numbers at 4pm?

[ABC 7 Denver 1554]

It seems like many shows are still trying to fill the niche left open when Oprah left the air. Each show has it's specialty. The Doctors and Doctor Oz focus on medical/health issues. Dr. Phil focuses on mental health. Rachael Ray and The Chew focus on cooking and lighthearted conversation. Katie Couric is a C grade knock off of Oprah. The Talk and The View focus on tabloid, gossip and parenting(?). (What is Ellen's focus?) It's been more than a year and a half and there hasn't been a show brought in that completely fills the holes left open Oprah's talk show behemoth.

 

In complete honesty, I have never been a talk show viewer. I watched Ellen on rare occasions, but I care more for good fully scripted and post-produced stuff. What did Oprah do that Dr. Phil can't? Was she a new breed of talk show host and had a dynamic format that could reach a lot of people? In other words, what made Oprah so special (besides the massive gifts she gave) that we are still looking for a suitable replacement?

 

A few other questions: Any thought unto what Queen Latifah's show will encompass?

Will Meredith Viera's show fill the news and investigative niche which we believed Couric was going to fill?

[Twigz1 9]

It seems like many shows are still trying to fill the niche left open when Oprah left the air. Each show has it's specialty. The Doctors and Doctor Oz focus on medical/health issues. Dr. Phil focuses on mental health. Rachael Ray and The Chew focus on cooking and lighthearted conversation. Katie Couric is a C grade knock off of Oprah. The Talk and The View focus on tabloid, gossip and parenting(?). (What is Ellen's focus?) It's been more than a year and a half and there hasn't been a show brought in that completely fills the holes left open Oprah's talk show behemoth.

 

In complete honesty, I have never been a talk show viewer. I watched Ellen on rare occasions, but I care more for good fully scripted and post-produced stuff. What did Oprah do that Dr. Phil can't? Was she a new breed of talk show host and had a dynamic format that could reach a lot of people? In other words, what made Oprah so special (besides the massive gifts she gave) that we are still looking for a suitable replacement?

 

A few other questions: Any thought unto what Queen Latifah's show will encompass?

Will Meredith Viera's show fill the news and investigative niche which we believed Couric was going to fill?

Oprah was really a rarity in TV at the time it became really big because the topics would vary each day; one day there'd be a story about a murder, the next day there would be sports stars trying to dunk on a kid basketball hoop. So each day you'd watch and go through a journey with her (at least that's what she called it once). I think that is what "Katie" is trying to do (to some degree of success) and what "The New Ricki Lake" tried to do but failed at miserably. Dr. Phil for the most part is serious in tone, so his viewers have come to expect that pretty much every day.

 

From what I have heard from interviews she has done and other articles, the QL Show is supposed to be "Ellen 2.0", lots of fun, celebrity guests, games, that kind of thing. Not sure about Meredith Viera, but I see her show if all goes through being more the "Dateline" realm. It might have to be picked up a bit for a daytime audience but I believe that is her niche and it could work.

[WXmanTim 88]

Oprah was really a rarity in TV at the time it became really big because the topics would vary each day; one day there'd be a story about a murder, the next day there would be sports stars trying to dunk on a kid basketball hoop.

Phil Donahue was doing (or similar) that long before Oprah came on the scene.

 

But Oprah's show was pretty big right out of the gate (1984 on WLS and 1986 nationwide). I think mainly because of her personality and enthusiasm. At first, her show was fairly tabloid-based (nowhere near the extent that Jerry Springer is or Geraldo Rivera was) but dealt with taboo-type topics and conflicts between family/friends/lovers etc. Occasionally, she would mix it up with other topics as well.

 

I think the big turning point was when she lost like 100 pounds or something and trotted out the wagon full of beef fat to illustrate her point, it made her story relatable to everyone.

 

It wasn't until the mid-90s that she stopped doing the tabloid format and went toward more celebrity & real-life issues based topics (mostly in response to the extreme tabloid format of Maury & Jerry (and Jenny Jones, Ricki Lake, Sally Jesse Raphael, etc) were doing. Amazingly her audience followed her right along for the track change.

 

But yes, there is a HUGE vacuum when she left. If syndicators and stations are still comparing the current crop of shows to Oprah's ratings as a baseline, they're going to continue to be disappointed. If ABC/Disney and their affiliates expected Katie Couric to match Oprah's ratings right out of the gate, they're morons. Oprah launched when there were fewer channels and choices on TV and her ratings grew as her popularity grew.

 

Right now I don't think there's anyone whose show is going to garner near the ratings, acclaim or stature Oprah had.

[PelicanGuy 117]

Probst is the lead-in to WVUE's noon newscast in New Orleans and airs at noon on WBRL in Baton Rouge. How in the hell did HE get a show in the first place?

 

I'm not sure what WVUE will do since they have their fair share of talk shows (Rachel Ray, Katie) judge shows (Joe Brown, Judge Judy) and game shows (Jeopardy, WOF).

[justin2kx 229]

Probst is the lead-in to WVUE's noon newscast in New Orleans and airs at noon on WBRL in Baton Rouge. How in the hell did HE get a show in the first place?

 

I'm not sure what WVUE will do since they have their fair share of talk shows (Rachel Ray, Katie) judge shows (Joe Brown, Judge Judy) and game shows (Jeopardy, WOF).

Well, pelicanguy, ask yourself (or anyone else here for that matter) How in the hell did he get the show in the first place?

[BehindNYNews 143]

WNBC could have a 4pm show if they move Steve & Ellen an hour earlier, but why should they and Ellen gets really good numbers at 4pm?

WNBC copied WABC with an hour at 11pm on Sundays, I would not be surprised if they copied a 4pm newscast but what do they do when Merideth Viera starts her show?

 

If my memory serves me, and I may be wrong but Judge Judy is #1, EWN First at 4 is #2 and Ellen #3 in NYC in total viewers, is that correct? Also, anyone know the order in Key Demo, thanks.

[TVNewsLover 727]

WNBC copied WABC with an hour at 11pm on Sundays, I would not be surprised if they copied a 4pm newscast but what do they do when Merideth Viera starts her show?

That's the perfect thing with news. It could be used as a filler until Meredith's show debuts.

[ABC 7 Denver 1554]

That's the perfect thing with news. It could be used as a filler until Meredith's show debuts.

But that's not what we want it to be. We want high quality journalism that can stand on it's own two feet and is no substitution for other programs!

[Twigz1 9]

That's the perfect thing with news. It could be used as a filler until Meredith's show debuts.

Just not sure if they want to move Ellen to some other slot. I remember early on in her show they moved her slot at 11AM for an experiment, which failed miserably. Her place is at 4pm. Now if WNBC wanted to do an hour of straight news at noon....THAT would be interesting. Has that ever been done in NY? Don't think so.

[Rusty Muck 4167]

I was refering to Probst show, thus moving it to the graveyard slot. I remember almost a decade prior, before Rachael Ray started her show, channel 2 aired the Judge Judy repeats from a few seasons ago on the 2pm hour, then airing the current season's show at 3pm. Fast forward to just probably three seasons ago, move the new Judy shows at 4pm (now to go inline with WCBS & now KCBS) to have it as a lead-in for the 5pm news.

 

I think the only other station that aired the Judy repeats daily was KIII 3 in Corpus Christi. I think it was in 2010.

WJW Fox 8 aired the hour of Judy repeats from May 2010 (after they unceremoniously dumped Access Hollywood Live) up until last September, at 11am. It has been replaced with the hour of Joe Brown when WJW went with the talk combo of Probst/Ricki/Harvey in the 1pm-4pm block, ending nearly a decade of virtually nothing but courtroom shows on their entire daytime lineup.

 

Of course, WJW still airs the full hour of new Judy shows at 4pm daily, as they have since 2002.

 

As for the holes left by Probst and Ricki, they might fill it again with the Judy repeats and a combination of off-network sitcoms that will be displaced by Arsenio Hall's late-night revival come September.