TVNewsRI 4 Posted June 25, 2010 Share Posted June 25, 2010 By Michael Malone -- Broadcasting & Cable, 6/24/2010 10:31:45 AM Media General's WJAR Providence offers a sneak peak at its new branded integration program The Unreal Deal this Saturday evening, and will air it weekly come September. The Unreal Deal gives vendors in DMA No. 53, including restaurants, jewelers and pet shops, a chance to showcase their goods and services. "Viewers will be exposed to businesses through the power of television and will be encouraged to log on to http://www.unrealdeal.tv to purchase discounted gift cards," WJAR said in a statement. Vendors will supply coupons to the station, which will sell them to viewers. The show debuts June 26th at 7:30 p.m.; it airs monthly throughout the summer before shifting to a weekly schedule come September. It's hosted by local Rhode Island personality Doreen Collins and produced by Video Excellence in Massachusetts. Across town, Fox affiliate WNAC offers area businesses a similar opportunity to tout their message on The Rhode Show, a daytime program. WJAR will also debut a 7 p.m. news Monday through Saturday in the fall; The Unreal Deal will follow the news on Saturdays. "The Unreal Deal is going to be fast-paced and fun and it will give local businesses the opportunity to be showcased for several minutes on NBC10 in a highly visible time period," says WJAR Digital Media and Marketing Director Kim Reis. "We are so excited about the premiere of the show and we feel that this could become ‘appointment television' for viewers looking for an ‘unreal deal' every Saturday." http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/454158-WJAR_Launches_Unreal_Deal_Product_Placement_Program.php I'm surprised that a Media General station is adding something. I'm also surprised that the 7 PM news will air on Saturday. I'm not looking forward to the glorified infomercial though...It sounds like it's going to be crap. As for "The Rhode Show" on WNAC, I think WPRI has done a good job with that: ratings are up, and it isn't bad. It also looks like it will be around for a while, given that they built a new set and hired talent for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
channel2 874 Posted June 25, 2010 Share Posted June 25, 2010 A lot of stations do glorified infomercials these days. KUSA in Denver has "Colorado and Company" (which has aired at 10AM since 2004; it bumped Montel Williams over to KDVR), and KCNC has "Haystack TV" (named after a directory site HaystackColorado.com; it has no set timeslot and usually airs abruptly in the middle of Rachael Ray or they will end their Noon newscast early for it). Media General probably started the whole thing. I'm no fan of it; why can't they produce non-news local programming that doesn't shill for local businesses? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mre29 1343 Posted June 26, 2010 Share Posted June 26, 2010 Hey, it's better than another Jerry Springer- or Maury Povich-type show. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JacksonTV 0 Posted June 27, 2010 Share Posted June 27, 2010 Media General probably started the whole thing. I'm no fan of it; why can't they produce non-news local programming that doesn't shill for local businesses? Yeah, I think WJTV has the same thing after its noon news. I don't like it either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
channel2 874 Posted June 28, 2010 Share Posted June 28, 2010 Hey, it's better than another Jerry Springer- or Maury Povich-type show. Most Big 3 network stations don't touch those shows, you know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eyewitness_news 5 Posted June 29, 2010 Share Posted June 29, 2010 Most Big 3 network stations don't touch those shows, you know. Not even WMAQ (an NBC O&O in Chicago), where "Jerry Springer" is based. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TennTV1983 756 Posted June 29, 2010 Share Posted June 29, 2010 Not even WMAQ (an NBC O&O in Chicago)' date=' where "Jerry Springer" used to be based (the show is now based in Connecticut).[/quote'] There. Fixed it for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jero23 105 Posted July 6, 2010 Share Posted July 6, 2010 Yeah, Media General is retarded as hell. I'm still reeling over how pathetic the news products of 2 former NBC O&Os (WVTM and WNCN) are nowadays. Also how they have stripped some of their smaller markets of their weekend news operations altogether (like WRBL in Columbus). Media General should just sell the majority of their stations to somebody else who can actually produce something other than glorified infomercials called local programming. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
channel2 874 Posted July 6, 2010 Share Posted July 6, 2010 But they won't do that. I would want that, perhaps because I hate Media General for churning out sub-standard garbage (and Local TV for wrecking KDVR even worse than it had been, but that's tangential). I wonder what NBC did with that money, anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mre29 1343 Posted July 7, 2010 Share Posted July 7, 2010 I wonder what NBC did with that money, anyway. Paid for more reality shows, of course. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jero23 105 Posted July 13, 2010 Share Posted July 13, 2010 But they won't do that. I would want that, perhaps because I hate Media General for churning out sub-standard garbage (and Local TV for wrecking KDVR even worse than it had been, but that's tangential). I wonder what NBC did with that money, anyway. I understand exactly how you feel about Local TV as well. I respect them for attempting to keep most of their former FOX O&Os in line with their former owners look, but hate how they are making all these stations jokes of themselves (worse than Newscorp could have even done to them). Meanwhile, Media General has straight trashed the majority of their stations to the point of never being able to actually compete in their market as respective news products. This is all the while they continue to build up WFLA-TV, WSPA-TV, WCMH-TV, and WJAR with the bells and whistles... Yeah, NBC used that cash to keep their lousy selves afloat until Comcast can complete the acquisition... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TVNewsRI 4 Posted July 14, 2010 Author Share Posted July 14, 2010 Trust me, they do not build up WJAR with bells and whistles. All they have done is trash it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jero23 105 Posted July 16, 2010 Share Posted July 16, 2010 Trust me, they do not build up WJAR with bells and whistles. All they have done is trash it. Yeah, I'm starting to hear rumors of that being the case with WJAR and WCMH-TV, which are the 2 that has fared far better than sister station and former NBC O&Os WVTM & WNCN. Both WVTM & WNCN does all solo-anchoring newscasts most weekdays... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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