WBBM catching up to WLS @ 10

[312newswannabe 7]

and, WLS after Oprah (from today's trib)...

 

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/columnists/ct-biz-0417-phil-20110417,0,13719.column

 

WLS-Ch. 7 in makeover mode as Winfrey, soaps wind down

Overnight ratings show longtime local TV news leader slipping

Phil Rosenthal

 

Media

 

April 17, 2011

 

Oprah Winfrey on Friday morning, via Twitter, was lamenting "that last teq shot" the night before, having celebrated the New York upfront sales presentation for OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network, her cable venture with Discovery Communications.

 

Back in Chicago, inside of six weeks away from Winfrey's last original broadcast of "The Oprah Winfrey Show" after 25 seasons in syndication May 25 on WLS-Ch. 7, a different potential hangover loomed with the arrival of the overnight ratings.

 

WLS' vaunted news operation, this city's most-watched since the mid-1980s, on Thursday led longtime also-ran WBBM-Ch. 2 at 10 p.m. by just 7,000 homes. Among viewers age 25 to 54, closely watched by advertisers, WMAQ-Ch. 5 enjoyed a nominal advantage over WLS of one-tenth of a rating point.

 

Earlier Thursday, ABC announced the long-anticipated cancellation of two of its three soap operas. "All My Children" will end its run of more than 41 years in September, and "One Life to Live," which turns 43 this summer, dies in January. Their audience has been shrinking and aging for some time now. Yet, even with modest overall ratings here in Chicago, each also has been No. 1 in its respective time slot for WLS.

 

Add to that the imminent absence of Winfrey, a 9 a.m. weekday ratings juggernaut for Channel 7 ever since she made her "A.M. Chicago" debut in 1984, and the long-dominant station she's leaving behind to tend to her struggling new cable project appears more vulnerable than it has been in a generation.

 

"I'm not sure this is any bigger than some of the other challenges we've faced, certainly if you look at my tenure here," said Emily Barr, who this month marks her 14th anniversary as WLS' president and general manager. "We had to make changes early on when I first got here. The whole anchor team changed. Think about that."

 

Barr certainly has managed change as well as anyone in the market. Joe Ahern, who succeeded Dennis Swanson as WLS boss, kept it No. 1 for 12 years before Barr's arrival in 1997. But he left her a pair of anchors in Floyd Kalber and John Drury, who were much beloved in the market but both in their 70s. Her WLS managed seamless transitions to Alan Krashesky and Channel 5 import Ron Magers.

 

When Ahern landed at Channel 2 and, in 2003, hired away Diann Burns, Chicago's highest-paid anchor, WLS hardly noticed her absence thanks to Kathy Brock and Cheryl Burton. Joel Daly retired after 38 years as a WLS anchor in 2005, and again Channel 7 just pushed on.

 

Some of that, undoubtedly, can be attributed to the continued syndicated popularity of "Oprah," "Wheel of Fortune," "Jeopardy!" and the quality of Channel 7's news staff, which has delivered a more consistently solid product than the station's ABC's programming.

 

That Thursday 10 p.m. newscast, for example, drew an audience roughly 3 1/2 times the size of its prime-time lead-in, "Private Practice."

 

It also hasn't hurt over the years that rival stations have made serious blunders, such as WMAQ alienating viewers by trying to install Jerry Springer as a news commentator in the 1990s and WBBM making it virtually impossible to develop any loyalty to its newscasts by making no less than 11 anchor changes at 10 p.m. since 2000.

 

"We had to make changes and we did," said WLS' Barr, a one-time news editor who worked in St. Paul, Minn., Houston, Baltimore, and Raleigh-Durham, N.C., en route to Chicago. "We have faced raids on our staff. We have faced less-than-stellar programming from our network at times. We went through all of that. The thing I've always felt great about this station is we have always focused ourselves on what people want locally, and that's gone to news and local programming.

 

"Now, at a time when things are changing, we are adding an hour of local programming every day. We're going to embrace this community, and we're going to look for connections that I hope will continue to keep us No. 1."

 

That live local hour is "Windy City Live," an ambitious effort to fill the void left by Winfrey's exit from the 9 a.m. weekday slot. Like "190 North," which Barr launched in 1998, it's a commitment to local programming that helps WLS stand out no matter what happens beyond the Disney-owned ABC station's control.

 

The network, in announcing the end of "All My Children" and "One Life to Live," said the soaps will be replaced by shows closer in spirit to "The View," ABC's 14-year-old daily gabfest. "The Chew" is a food show. The other replacement, from the team behind NBC's "The Biggest Loser" and tentatively called "The Revolution," will trade in health and lifestyle makeovers.

 

"We are taking this bold step to expand our business because viewers are looking for different types of programming these days," Brian Frons, the Disney ABC/Television Group's daytime president, said in the announcement. "They are telling us there is room for informative, authentic and fun shows that are relatable, offer a wide variety of opinions and focus on 'real life' takeaways. A perfect example of this is 'The View,' and that factored into our decision."

 

Frons also noted the "enormous opportunity for the creation of ancillary businesses and growth," which makes the new entries sound more like sales vehicles than entertainment.

 

Some might recall it was Frons who, in the announcement of Disney's 2008 "At the Movies" divorce from the film critics Chicago Sun-Times' Roger Ebert and Richard Roeper, said that "with the addition of Ben Lyons and Ben Mankiewicz as our talented, charismatic new co-hosts, and exciting new segments planned, we're confident that audiences will be enjoying 'At the Movies' for many years to come."

 

Lyons and Mankiewicz were canned a year later. Disney's syndicated version of "At the Movies" was axed the year after that.

 

Change isn't easy, as Winfrey is finding with OWN, which has struggled to find its footing since its January launch but may benefit from Winfrey retiring her daytime show and no longer having to divide her focus.

 

"As of today, when I go back to work, I have 25 shows left," Winfrey told the ad buyers at the OWN presentation in New York, promising "a new era begins" this fall "when I get to devote my full attention and the full force of my team to OWN."

 

In the absence of Winfrey's full force, a new era will begin at WLS, as well. There will be fewer soap operas, but perhaps no less drama.

[24994J 5279]

In addition to this, there is bound to be some major personnel changes happening in within the next year or two. Three of the station's most popular personalities are coming to to retirement: Ron Magers (66), Linda Yu (64), and Jerry Taft (68). Also, most of their weekday line-up is aging. Whether it be anchors, meteorologists, sports reporters, even Roz Varon on traffic; most are approaching 50 years of age. In this day and age, 50 may mean nothing when talking longevity, but that certainly will not help them in the target demographic.

 

I hate to say it, but I think it's a question of months, not years, until ABC7 loses the 10pm ratings crown to CBS2.

 

BTW, if 'BBM gets their foot in the door in ratings, does anyone think they'll jump back into the 4/4:30pm news pool?

[lazynetjunkie 34]

BTW, if 'BBM gets their foot in the door in ratings, does anyone think they'll jump back into the 4/4:30pm news pool?

 

 

At this time, no.. If the 5, 6, 10, and mornings vastly improves, then maybe it would be a possibility. WBBM is no longer the joke in town.. Management there has gotten the station's act together and they are being viewed as a competitor again.

 

 

But I know for a fact that if they were to just jump back in the 4 or 4:30 pool now, the station will lose. It'll cost them more and won't take in as much money producing that newscast (talent and all) then they are putting into and taking in with Judge Judy. I know 2 full hours of Judge Judy in the afternoons seem like alot but they are pulling in some really decent numbers and it isn't something I can see them risking. If they were to pull one of the Judge Judy hour blocks and replace it with something else, I know it would be the 2PM hour (2 year old rerurns). Current management is doing an extremely well job of controlling what matters.. the money. They've really been doing a well balance of where to save and where to take risks which has vastly improved the station's overall profitability. It's something none of the station's previous management over the past 20 years have been able to accomplish. Currently, I think they would invest in another meteorologist, another sports reporter/anchor, expand their morning news to 4AM before bringing back the 4 or 4:30PM.

 

 

WLS has had their 4PM news for many many many years now so it has become a staple item on their station. For any other station to add 4PM now, it's a risk. The last thing CBS 2 wants is to show more instability. They did the 4PM back in 2003/2004 but it didn't work out as well as they would have liked. Dr. Phil didn't do as well in the 4PM hour either. Judge Judy does better at 4PM than either of those did. Why risk it? WBBM's focus is working on what they have right now.

[Jase 818]

In addition to this, there is bound to be some major personnel changes happening in within the next year or two. Three of the station's most popular personalities are coming to to retirement: Ron Magers (66), Linda Yu (64), and Jerry Taft (68). Also, most of their weekday line-up is aging. Whether it be anchors, meteorologists, sports reporters, even Roz Varon on traffic; most are approaching 50 years of age. In this day and age, 50 may mean nothing when talking longevity, but that certainly will not help them in the target demographic.

 

My guess is that they try to keep Magers and Yu locked in for at least 5 more yrs.. Jerry probably could work another 3 or 4 too. The biggest issue is who do you replace these people with and when? You don't want everybody to retire all at once (whether it's a few weeks/months apart).

 

That said, I would assume they have a game plan in the works given that most of their news team is near/at/over the 20 yr. mark at the station (Krashesky is at 29 yrs.). Barr has been lucky, but you're right, some major personnel changes are coming and who they hire over the next 5 years will be key to whether they stay on top @ 10, etc....

 

I'm glad that there's a growing sense of competition amongst the top three stations (WLS, WBBM and WMAQ).

[lazynetjunkie 34]

My guess is that they try to keep Magers and Yu locked in for at least 5 more yrs.. Jerry probably could work another 3 or 4 too. The biggest issue is who do you replace these people with and when? You don't want everybody to retire all at once (whether it's a few weeks/months apart).

 

That said, I would assume they have a game plan in the works given that most of their news team is near/at/over the 20 yr. mark at the station (Krashesky is at 29 yrs.). Barr has been lucky, but you're right, some major personnel changes are coming and who they hire over the next 5 years will be key to whether they stay on top @ 10, etc....

 

I'm glad that there's a growing sense of competition amongst the top three stations (WLS, WBBM and WMAQ).

 

 

I think Barr will surprise us with more excellent out of market hires plus some hires that somehow are still connected with Chicago. Like WBBM's current management, she's not a part of the Chicago newsroom buddy/buddy "I'll hire you because we.. worked together before, are drinking buddies, or friends" system. I know when she's searching, she's very secretive about it not letting anyone at the station know (even though some around there like to spread false rumors) so we likely won't know who would take whose place until right before it happens. Interviews are usually held in different parts of the building away from their newsroom/floor so people don't get ideas either..

 

The only promotion from within I can think of is Mike Caplan eventually taking Jerry's place. But thinking young is what I believe they're aiming for.. That was already the reasoning behind replacing voiceover Ron Rolland with Roger Rose.

 

 

The thing people should think about too is who will eventually replace Emily Barr? The way things are going, I wouldn't be surprised if she herself got a promotion within the company too..

[essentials 0]

Its amazing what Cohen/Kiernan have done.

They were given a lot to deal with when Ahern/Fowler got fired.

The irony is Cohen who's friends with Renda gave him Fowler!

Now she is trashing FOX.