Goodbye Cookie Jar TV, Hello Dream Team

[nelsonincharlotte]

CBS is changing its Saturday morning E/I programming. This is the same company that produces ABC's and I believe one of the shows currently on ABC is changing networks.

http://variety.com/2013/tv/news/cbs...inment-for-saturday-morning-shows-1200567401/

 

[nathannah]

As I've said for years, it's time to put these regulations out of their misery. The only people who care about these shows are the low-effort producers who only do them as a stepping stone in their eventual career as a PA on Cheaters or WeTV dreck. The ABC Litton shows are better than they have any right to be (Claire Thomas's cooking show feels like it belongs as part of the ABC weekday daytime schedule, not Saturday morning filler), but if even CBS is throwing in the towel and basically saying 'hey, go ahead affiliates, through this in the 6am gutter because no kid's going to watch "Dr. Chris Pet Vet" (whose full name is Chris Brown and though not his fault, will throw off quite a few viewers), it's time to just reduce or junk them.

 

[Morgan Wick]

Blame parents groups that want to sanitize everything down to a level no kid would actually watch. PBS knows how to do educational shows that are actually entertaining, but the networks can't do that without collecting tons of money from toy makers they're no longer allowed to do. Never mind that Transformers, the epitome of the "30-minute toy commercial", is today the height of 80s nostalgia...

All these regulations do is accelerate the decline of broadcast and the ascendancy of cable.

 

[neomedia]

So will Recipe Rehab air on both ABC and CBS if not what is ABC replacing it with?

 

[MarcB]

Although this show airs in syndication and not in the Litton Package ABC runs, "Now Eat This with Rocco DiSpirito " is an example of a fine E/I program.

 

[Joe_Capitano]

...but if even CBS is throwing in the towel and basically saying 'hey, go ahead affiliates, through this in the 6am gutter because no kid's going to watch "Dr. Chris Pet Vet" ...

One problem with that: the FCC mandates that the required three hours air between 8 AM and 10 PM. One can only throw so much into the early morning graveyard.

 

[William_Yeager]

Could ABC use ESPN's SportScience for E/I? It might have to be slowed down to be understandable to children, but it puts biology and physics (usually just the latter) in some very real terms.

 

[umfan]

Without these regulations, we'd have more informercials in many of these spots. The regs need to stay.

 

[Mario500]

These new programs planned for the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) would have suited the Learning Channel (TLC) better if only they had not lost their original focus and format.

 

[Joseph_Gallant]

Without these regulations, we'd have more infomercials in many of these spots. The regs need to stay.

In smaller markets, yes. If the "E/I" rules were to be repealed (or tossed out by the courts; I could see some TV station groups---but not the networks---trying to get the courts to repeal them claiming those rules interfere with a TV station's rights to program what they want when they want to program it), I would expect that ABC, CBS, and NBC will each turn back two to three hours of airtime on Saturday mornings to local affiliates, with ABC/CBS/NBC stations in smaller markets going the infomercial route.

The Saturday editions of the network morning shows would be the only thing ABC, CBS, or NBC would program on Saturday mornings.

But in medium, large, and major markets, Saturday mornings would suddenly become news, news, and more news. I can see a scenario where most East Coast ABC/CBS/NBC stations (again, except for small market stations) would air two hours of local news from 6 to 8 A.M. EDT/EST, then a two-hour Saturday edition of a network morning news/infotainment show from 8 to 10 A.M. EDT, then two more hours of local news from 10 A.M. to 12 Noon EDT/EST.