The ABC-owned Chicago station WLS-TV, which has served as Oprah Winfrey’s flagship station, will replace "The Oprah Winfrey Show" with a live, local morning program that doesn’t even have a host yet, reports Chicago blogger Robert Feder
With the working title "Morning Rush," a three-minute demo tape won approval of the station’s ABC bosses, the story says. “Nothing has been decided yet in terms of the show’s hosts or set or look or name — except to say that we intend to make it live and local and fun," WLS president and general manager Emily Barr told Feder. The show will also have a studio audience, the story adds.
It had been thought that the station would replace "Oprah" with another syndicated program or a lifestyle program, the article says.
Hardly a surprise. Recall that Oprah was a live local show herself in Baltimore before she became a live local show in Chicago. Syndication came a few years *after* local success.
I expect many Oprah stations are looking at expanding local newscasts when she leaves…especially those that air Oprah at 4p/et.
No good opera plot can be sane, for people do not sing when they are feeling sensible.