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New England Oprah-Calypse

S

ssetta

WCVB already has plans for this coming September when Oprah Winfrey ends her long-running syndicated daytime talk show. But let's think of what other stations around New England could be doing.

In Providence, WJAR has aired her show at 4 pm (same time as WCVB) since the mid 90s. We know that on WCVB, the Ellen DeGeneres Show will be taking its place, but WJAR already airs Ellen at 3 pm, right before Oprah for the time being. So its hard to know what will happen on WPRI. But on a side note, the rival Dr. Phil show could move to WPRI at 4 pm, where it should be. I can't see "Judge Judy" doing well on a major affiliate like CBS.

Hartford, CT: I'm pretty sure WFSB has been the home of Oprah since the beginning, and for the most part, their schedule has been pretty much the same.

What are YOUR thoughts?
 
I believe Judy is in the midst of her second stint on WCBS/2 in New York. She was also on WNBC/4 for awhile, too.

It would not behoove WFSB to launch a 4 PM newscast once Oprah is gone.
 
For Portland, ME I'm thinking WGME 13 (CBS) which airs Oprah at 4pm will get the rights for Dr. Phil from WMTW 8 (ABC).
WMTW 8 will then probably air news at 5pm again to fill the void of Dr. Phil leaving.

Now here's my prediction for Bangor, ME. WABI 5 (CBS) which airs Oprah at 4pm might move Ellen from 10am to the 4pm slot. Then to fill 10am they might get the rights for Judge Judy from WVII 7 (ABC).
WVII 7 (ABC) would then move The People's Court from 5pm to 4pm to replace the void left by Judge Judy leaving. Then at 5pm they would create a newscast.

For Presque Isle CBS WAGM 8 which airs Oprah at 4pm might move Ellen from 10am to the 4pm slot. Then to fill 10am they might move The New Adventures of Old Christine from overnight to 10am and then at 10:30am maybe a gameshow like Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? or Who Wants to Be a Millonaire?

Why does Oprah air at 4pm in so many markets?
 
wpxt said:
Why does Oprah air at 4pm in so many markets?
Click to expand...

Because it's in the contract between the syndicator and the stations. Oprah is marketed as an afternoon show and can only air between 3p-6p local time (except for Chicago). By contract Dr. Phil, Dr. Oz and Rachel Ray (also produced by Oprah's Harpo productions) cannot run against it on another channel. 4PM became established back in the beginning because it was after network daytime programming ended and a lead-in to early news.

When Oprah first aired in Boston it was on WBZ @ 9a. As soon as the show took off they were in a position to demand better times, and to ensure it they put it in the contract.
 
Interesting point you make about Oprah being an afternoon show. I wonder why they never changed it in Chicago. But it also seems like in most markets, Ellen airs in the afternoon, which makes sense, so I wonder if the same thing will happen once Oprah leaves the airwaves.
 
wpxt said:
Now here's my prediction for Bangor, ME. WABI 5 (CBS) which airs Oprah at 4pm might move Ellen from 10am to the 4pm slot. Then to fill 10am they might get the rights for Judge Judy from WVII 7 (ABC).
WVII 7 (ABC) would then move The People's Court from 5pm to 4pm to replace the void left by Judge Judy leaving. Then at 5pm they would create a newscast.
Click to expand...

Doubtful, WVII is run on a shoe string budget and tapes their 11 and the 10 they air on their Fox station (and carries no other news, even on weekends)

Best case with that is WVII moves one of the shows from the Fox station or WABI picks up another talk show (I'm betting they could lure Dr. Phil away from WLBZ as it's not carried on co-owned WCSH in Portland)
 
You can just about bet on Judge Judy moving to the Oprah slot at 4PM on WGME; it's so dominant in its time slot that WCSH has given up trying to compete and filled the 3-3:30 PM time slot with Bewitched reruns and infomercials. I don't see WMTW making a move in the fall as the station doesn't have the news budget to air a midday or 5PM newscast.
 
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