WFLD finally launches 5 p.m. newscast
ABC’s game show block off to good start
Sorry, Cochran haters: As first reported by Robert Feder Monday, WGN-AM morning personality Steve Cochran has re-upped with the Tribune Media station through 2020. Cochran had been with the station off-and-on since 2000 but was off it in 2010 after being fired by former WGN program director, the late Kevin Metheny. Cochran returned in 2013, years after the Zell/Michaels/Metheny regime were swept out of power.
The move comes after WGN recently renewed program director’s Todd Manley’s contract through 2019. Afternoon personality Roe Conn is likely staying, and evening host Justin Kaufmann recently returned from a self-imposed hiatus.
Despite some vocal haters on social media, Cochran continues to be a hit for WGN Radio, finishing in third place overall. WGN is still a top ten station overall (though out of the top ten in some key demos) despite losing Cubs baseball after the 2014 season. Given all the turmoil WGN has been through the last few years, it is nice to see some stability at the Tribune Media-owned radio station – for a change.
What the world needs now is news…more news: A start date has finally been announced for Fox-owned WFLD’s long-awaited expansion to the 5 p.m. news period – July 5. As first reported by Robert Feder, WFLD’s anchor team for the new newscast is the same one at 9 p.m. – Jeff Herndon and Dawn Hasbrock. The newscast replaces two syndicated celebrity magazine shows, TMZ and Dish Nation – both now moves an hour earlier, to 4 p.m. and 4:30 p.m., respectively. TMZ had been in the 5 p.m. hour since 2007.
WFLD becomes the last Fox-owned station to launch a 5 p.m. newscast and was one of only two Fox affiliates in a top 20 market (Sinclair’s WPGH in Pittsburgh is the other) who didn’t program news in early fringe. By comparison, WGN-TV launched a half-hour 5:30 p.m. newscast in 2008 and expanded it to two hours from 4 to 6 p.m. over the years.
And WFLD isn’t the only station expanding news in early fringe – recently, Telemundo’s WSNS announced a news expansion to 4 p.m. as is sister NBCUniversal station WMAQ, who is also adding a 4 p.m. newscast soon – likely after the Summer Olympics is over. The Olympics may be the event WMAQ needs to finally knock WLS-TV from the top spot in news – WMAQ already leads WLS in the all-important 25-54 news demo in several time periods. WMAQ has not been Chicago’s news leader since at least the early 1970’s.
Despite tough competition on cable, ABC’s game show block featuring Celebrity Family Feud, and the revivals of The $100,000 Pyramid and Match Game are each off to a decent start Sunday night. The second season of Celebrity Family Feud earned a 1.6 adults 18-49 rating, with Pyramid notching a 1.7 in the same demo and Match Game drawing a 1.6. To the surprise of many, the block outdrew ABC’s regular-season average on Sunday.
Though the numbers were decent, cable dominated the evening with the season finale of Game of Thrones on HBO (4.4) and the BET Awards simulcast on multiple Viacom networks as a programming roadblock. Both also dominated the evening on social media.
It was a homecoming for Pyramid, which achieved much of its early success on ABC Daytime from 1974-80. Meanwhile, it was Match Game’s first appearance on ABC since 1991, and first overall since the much-criticized 1998-99 syndicated revival. The production values for both were slick and much improved from their previous version (especially Pyramid, whose last version on GSN was a flop.) The shows were a lot of fun and the hosts (Michael Strahan and Alex Baldwin, respectively) were cool.
So…. you think ABC”s “Fun and Games” block can extend to the regular TV season? Keep in mind a lot of folks still remember how Who Wants To Be A Millionaire and Deal or No Deal were over-programmed and crashed in the ratings, so it’s safe to say it’s not going to happen. However, a syndicated revival of both Pyramid and Match Game may not be out of the question, given the lack of new first-run product on stations, so stay tuned.
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Great media notes, as usual. Though I don’t listen to WGN Radio, I still think there has to be something that can turn that into a powerhouse again. They need some big draw talent, not necessarily a big name, but someone that will draw in listeners, even if it’s an unknown who is given a chance. Regarding, WFLD’s upcoming new 5 p.m. weekday news: will we have an over-saturation of news all on at the same time here in the Chicago market? When is enough enough? Though we haven’t seen any definitive scheduling plans for WGN-TV’s non-CW lineup, I am hoping it’s not all news. I’ve been looking at Channel 9’s fall schedule announcements from the 1960’s and 1970’s from the Chicago Tribune archives. In my opinion, WGN was very creative with scheduling back in the day with a mix of syndicated first-run shows, sitcom and drama reruns, local entertainment programming, news and sports. If there does get to be too much news in Chicago, maybe Channel 9 should consider having only two news blocks weekdays: 4 – 10 in the mornings and 4 – 10 in the evenings, turning over the current news time slots to non-news, quality syndicated or local programming. Finally, ABC’s “The $100,000 Pyramid” and “Match Game” were pleasantly surprising revivals. I was afraid they would be trash, but they brought back fond memories and paid respect to their respective versions from the 1970’s. I’d love to see new half hour strips of these two shows. The new “To Tell the Truth” isn’t so promising mainly because it’s all over the place. Anthony Anderson seems to mug for the attention, as he did on his guest appearance on this past Sunday’s premiere of “The $100,000 Pyramid.” Bring back something more like the original “TTTT.”
From the earliest starting point of his residency as senior supervisor, de Castro stated, Cochran’s commitment has gone a long ways past his presentation broadcasting live. He’s been an essential aspect of the executives’ internal circle.