And there it is. In the middle of this pandemic, it might be time to see the bigger picture.
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National Emergency-Broadcast Network Coverage
- Thread starter Prescott Joe
- Start date
No, I'm just sick of how 90% of society acts like everyone has to drop everything for Jeopardy! because it's the "king of game shows", but its companion, WOF, which for decades was viewed as equally popular and important, is now treated like its redheaded stepchild by comparison.
The only good thing is that they chose a week where WOF doesn't have new episodes, but this will still likely lead to a record-low ratings week for the show, which used to be #1 in game shows but hasn't beat or tied its companion show in months.
Yes, the pandemic is super important, but I don't like how it's okay to think that Jeopardy! is more important than it, but if someone gave a hoot about WOF, they'd be eaten alive.
That's because Jep has developed a much larger and vocal audience than Wheel. Especially true, when you consider Alex' health challenges. Beyond being a much more cerebral game show, people tune in to see how Alex is doing. Wheel serves a much more simple audience.
Here's the thing--this weird "redheaded stepchild" thing is entirely imaginary. First, it is its own show. Yes, we know how they are interconnected, but stations make independent decisions based on a multitude of legitimate business factors. They don't look at things through the lens of needing to treat things "equally," because things aren't equal. That's life. Jeopardy gets bumped, by news, by local specials, by sports. And just because it happens X number if times with Wheel in Sheboygan means that it has any bearing on what happens in Ottumwa. Conveniently overlooked in the rants is that Jeopardy gets lower visibility time slots in a big swath of the country day in and day out, by virtue of Central time zone realities.
The fact is Jeopardy has continuity. It has held up with ratings better. That's just life.
The fact is Jeopardy has continuity. It has held up with ratings better. That's just life.
In my area Jeopardy is more likely to be pre-empted because of news conferences since it comes on at 11 AM on WBBJ in Jackson, TN and 3:30 PM on WREG in Memphis. But I understand that lives are more important and it's not the end of the world if I miss it. But it would be good if the latest episodes of Jeopardy and Wheel were available through on demand programming somehow.
That would be great. Tough to do with syndication contracts. But notice no one is howling about how “unfair” that scenario is.
See this thread. The reason Wheel of Fortune is the show being bumped is because it is in reruns this week. https://www.radiodiscussions.com/sh...s-Tonight-Encores-at-7-30-ET-PT-all-this-week
Because the original week was pulled (it was sponsored by Carnival). It's obvious. If I was at an affiliate that aired Wheel this week, we'd expand the news and TELL our viewers that "Wheel of Fortune will not be seen this week due to the fact that it's reruns and we have important Coronavirus information to report on." Use that 7:00/7:30 timeslot to your LOCAL advantage.
KNDO/KNDU/KHQ have already expanded their newscasts to the 6:30P timeslot because of the world that we live in right now. It's preempted Feud for days on end, but I don't complain. They are in reruns too. Besides I rarely watch it nowadays.
They also pulled a different week of episodes because it was travel related I think. America's Game episodes will air next week which weren't supposed to be on until May, and those episodes were taped audience-less right at the start of the COVID outbreak.
Hey, maybe they dusted the confetti cannon off. We can only hope someone solves a puzzle and Pat reveals $100,000 in that envelope. We've waited long enough!
KNDO/KNDU/KHQ have already expanded their newscasts to the 6:30P timeslot because of the world that we live in right now. It's preempted Feud for days on end, but I don't complain. They are in reruns too. Besides I rarely watch it nowadays.
They also pulled a different week of episodes because it was travel related I think. America's Game episodes will air next week which weren't supposed to be on until May, and those episodes were taped audience-less right at the start of the COVID outbreak.
Hey, maybe they dusted the confetti cannon off. We can only hope someone solves a puzzle and Pat reveals $100,000 in that envelope. We've waited long enough!
The reasons why
The networks don't carry the entire White House News conference because of when it is held. The president deliberately holds them during the 5 and 6pm hour on the east coast which is when the local stations and networks carry their newscasts. He wants to preempt those news programs and wants everyone to watch him instead. They also don't carry them all because the president constantly spits out false information to the American people which usually has to be clarified or corrected later by his aides and by medical professionals who actually know what they're talking about. It's a publicity show for him and nothing more.
The networks don't carry the entire White House News conference because of when it is held. The president deliberately holds them during the 5 and 6pm hour on the east coast which is when the local stations and networks carry their newscasts. He wants to preempt those news programs and wants everyone to watch him instead. They also don't carry them all because the president constantly spits out false information to the American people which usually has to be clarified or corrected later by his aides and by medical professionals who actually know what they're talking about. It's a publicity show for him and nothing more.
Carnival may have been a sponsor for your local station, but not for the syndicated show.
Well this is what WheelRob wrote on the Buy a Vowel Boards...
"Due to the heavy impact of COVID-19 on the cruising industry, Carnival Week of Fun!, which taped February 27 and was scheduled to air March 30-April 3, has been pulled and replaced with reruns from Season 36's Spa Getaway week (October 8-12, 2018). This will be the first of what will likely be several mid-season rerun weeks caused by the virus pandemic."
So unless they used the name Carnival as generic, the Carnival cruise line bought some promotion and probably had some prizes on a wedge that week.
I would think they would run them in summer, but possibly not until season 38, many months late, but whatever.
"Due to the heavy impact of COVID-19 on the cruising industry, Carnival Week of Fun!, which taped February 27 and was scheduled to air March 30-April 3, has been pulled and replaced with reruns from Season 36's Spa Getaway week (October 8-12, 2018). This will be the first of what will likely be several mid-season rerun weeks caused by the virus pandemic."
So unless they used the name Carnival as generic, the Carnival cruise line bought some promotion and probably had some prizes on a wedge that week.
I would think they would run them in summer, but possibly not until season 38, many months late, but whatever.
The episodes themselves were promotional tie-ins with Carnival. They did the same thing back in 2016. Another week in partnership with Collette Vacations has been shelved and replaced with reruns as well.
JeeperOne
Banned
One thing is for sure & is shades of what one would expect from a week like what we had in the wake of 9/11...
...COVID 19 specials which would normally be seen in prometime are being show in daytime & are HEAVILY promoted on air
Normally specials that are put on during the day would simply be streamed online or made available on demand. But with almost everyone staying at home, I'm sure there's very little difference between daytime & primetime viewership
As such, networks & local stations are figuring why not air them?? With more people wanting to be kept up to date on COVID 19 rather than the latest happenings in Port Charles or Salem as those can be moved to a subchannel or duo station or simply aired later (Like late night as some NBC stations do with the 3rd or 4th hour of "today"), they're taking to the airwaves no matter what the development is
...COVID 19 specials which would normally be seen in prometime are being show in daytime & are HEAVILY promoted on air
Normally specials that are put on during the day would simply be streamed online or made available on demand. But with almost everyone staying at home, I'm sure there's very little difference between daytime & primetime viewership
As such, networks & local stations are figuring why not air them?? With more people wanting to be kept up to date on COVID 19 rather than the latest happenings in Port Charles or Salem as those can be moved to a subchannel or duo station or simply aired later (Like late night as some NBC stations do with the 3rd or 4th hour of "today"), they're taking to the airwaves no matter what the development is
Most people are still working their regular hours. Just a lot of the white collar folks whose work primarily involves a telephone and a computer are working from home.
Wheel also did promotional tie-ins with Henderson Park Inn in Destin, FL, a client of an agency I used to work for
That was probably for a South Florida week that already aired this past February.
https://www.latimes.com/entertainme...4-07/lester-holt-coronavirus-evening-news-nbc
Here is a profile on Lester Holt's handling of COVID-19 coverage at NBC News
Here is a profile on Lester Holt's handling of COVID-19 coverage at NBC News
As I recall, all network programming and even "Jeopardy!" were pre-empted for weeks.
Which reminds me. Can a person watch those episodes now?
There's no place to put this, but for several days NBC dramas were showing the regular credits like TV series used to, with the regular theme music, rather than standardized credits with a preview of the next episode.
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