As I wrote yesterday there’s going to be news at 4pm, at least for WSVN when they lose Judge Judy. The Sun Sentinel too has the story about WPLG dropping their newscast in favor of Dr. Phil which is pretty much a rehash of the Miami Herald wrote, I was hoping for some opinion from Tom Jicha but there was none.
Sun Sentinel
Channel 10 TV to abandon two newscasts in favor of Dr. Phil
Miami Herald
WPLG to drop 5 o’clock news, alter afternoon lineup
Channel 10 TV to abandon two newscasts in favor of Dr. Phil
By Tom Jicha
TV/Radio WriterNovember 18, 2004
In a move some will interpret as another sign of the apocalypse, WPLG-Ch. 10 is abandoning its 5 and 5:30 p.m. newscasts in favor of Dr. Phil.
The shift from local news to a nationally syndicated entertainment program will not take place until the fall of 2006, when Dr. Phil’s contractual obligations to its current Miami-Fort Lauderdale home, WFOR-Ch. 4, are fulfilled. WPLG also has obtained the rights to Judge Judy, the toughest challenger Oprah has ever faced, from WSVN-Ch. 7 for the fall of 2006. The acquisitions will be paired in a powerhouse late-afternoon lineup with Judge Judy from 4 to 5 and Dr. Phil from 5 to 6 p.m.
It is conceivable that Judge Judy’s strong lead-in combined with the popularity of Dr. Phil could produce ratings that will overwhelm rival 5 and 5:30 newscasts. The two entertainment programs also will generate a lead-in likely to bolster WPLG’s 6 p.m. news to clear supremacy. In an imitative medium, these developments could lead competitors to seek out their own entertainment alternatives to news.
A similar dynamic triggered WPLG’s decision, according to the station’s vice president and general manager Dave Boylan. He noted that ratings for 5 p.m. newcasts are driven by their entertainment lead-ins. When WPLG had Oprah at 4 p.m., it handily won at 5, 5:30 and 6 p.m. However, it let the queen of daytime slip away to WFOR in 1999. With a succession of less-popular alternatives — Judge Joe Brown currently — WPLG has fallen well behind WFOR and WSVN between 5 and 6 p.m. However, by 6 p.m., when the audience is populated with people coming home from work as opposed to those who have been home watching afternoon TV, WPLG often wins the time period.
In the short term, the machinations probably will not lead to a net loss of early evening news. Bob Leider, general manager of WSVN, said one of the reasons his station did not get into a bidding war to retain Judge Judy is that it is considering an expansion of news to the 4 p.m. hour. News is the signature of WSVN, Leider said, and with the continuing fragmentation of the audience to national programming on cable, local news is an area in which WSVN can continue to be distinctive.
Michael Colleran, general manager of WFOR, also put a positive spin for his station on WPLG’s move. “There will be one less player for news, which is what we are most anxious to grow as a station.”
Renewing Dr. Phil would have been a poor business decision, Colleran said. Syndicator King World sought a multiyear deal at a hefty price. Ironically, WFOR, as part of the CBS family, and King World are both owned by Viacom. However, each entity is mandated to generate maximum profits for the parent company, so King World sold Dr. Phil to the highest bidder.
The replacement of late-afternoon news by entertainment is not indicative of a de-emphasis of news at WPLG, which is owned by Post-Newsweek, Boylan said. The station is merely shifting emphasis toward other parts of the day, primarily early morning, where 5 and 5:30 newscasts, which didn’t exist a few years ago, will have their staffing enhanced. WPLG also will introduce a series of locally produced prime-time documentaries , Boylan said.
The goal is to present at least one of these news programs a month, Boylan said.
Tom Jicha can be reached at tjicha@sun-sentinel.com.
Posted on Wed, Nov. 17, 2004
Click here to find out more!Channel 10 to add Dr. Phil, drop 5 p.m. news
BY CHRISTINA HOAG
choag@herald.com
WPLG-TV ABC 10 is ditching its 5 p.m. newscast and replacing it with top-rated Dr. Phil, which the station is taking over from WFOR-TV CBS 4.
And in a further move to strengthen its afternoon lineup, WPLG has acquired the popular Judge Judy, currently aired on WSVN-TV FOX 7. WPLG has it slotted for 4 p.m. to precede “Dr. Phil.”
The new schedule will take effect in the fall of 2006, when the contracts with Dr. Phil and Judge Judy start, said WPLG General Manager Dave Boylan, who broke the news to the station’s staff at a meeting on Tuesday.
”It puts us in an enviable position. These are appointment shows,” he said.
Both WSVN and WFOR said that WPLG’s moves will allow them a bigger platform to showcase themselves as more committed to local news.
”We like Dr. Phil but it would have been a bad business decision for the cost of maintaining the show,” said Michael Colleran, president of WFOR, with whom The Herald has a news partnership. “We also saw it as an opportunity to have one less news player in the local marketplace.”
Robert Leider, executive vice president and general manager of WSVN, said his station chose not to renew Judge Judy.
”Our whole premise is news-based,” he said. ”News has been so successful for us, so that will be a top option” to replace Judge Judy, which currently airs at 4 p.m. opposite Oprah.
Boylan said WPLG is far from abandoning its commitment to local news coverage.
Besides boosting advertising revenue, the new line-up should give WPLG a strong lead-in audience to its 6 p.m. newscast and hopefully cement it in that slot as No. 1 among English-language stations, Boylan said.
Leadership of the coveted six o’clock news is a tight race among the four English-language network affiliates, typically decided by small rating-point margins that often change from sweep to sweep.
South Florida’s overall top station is Spanish-language Univisión, which enjoys a large ratings margin over its English-language counterparts.
WPLG’s 5 p.m. newscast, meanwhile, is a ratings laggard, hindered by its lead-in, the Jane Pauley Show, which does not have the draw of WFOR’s Oprah or WSVN’s Judge Judy.
”Five o’clock admittedly has been challenged since Oprah moved from our station to FOR” in 1999, Boylan said.
In fact, overall South Florida viewership of 5 o’clock news is low. Here, two-thirds of viewers watch news in the morning as compared to one-third at 5 p.m.
Boylan said he decided it was thus more worthwhile to continue beefing up WPLG’s morning news, which recently acquired a helicopter and additional reporters and writers, than continue the 5 p.m. news.
The station will also produce a monthly special investigative news show to supplement local coverage.
”It’s a redeployment of news resources into areas that make a lot of sense,” he said.
What a disgrace–again. The 5 and 5:30 p.m. newscasts were a matter of pride for Channel 10, since they were the first station in the market to originate them. Don’t tell me that even more people aren’t going to lose their jobs, though considering what a wreck Boylan has made of the station, they’re going to be the lucky ones.
KCBS 2 in LA showed a promo yesterday that they have acquired “Dr. Phil” from KNBC 4 and will air it at 4 p.m. KCBS 2 in my opinion is one of the best newscasts in LA. Currently KCBS 2 has a 4 p.m. newscast that KNBC 4 does not. However I believe that KNBC 4 is shifting their schedule around and airing “Ellen” in the morning and the new Martha Stewart show in the afternoon. I do not believe that KNBC 4 will re-launch their 4 p.m. newscast. I will update you in September when the change goes into effect. By the way KABC 7 is another station with a 4 p.m. newscast.