Logo

`Good Day’ goes regional

Nov 26, 2001  •  Post A Comment

Twentieth Television’s next syndicated project, “Good Day Live,” debuts next week with a new background and new format thanks to an influx of cash from the distributor.
Five stations are set to air the show Dec. 3 in the first phase of a slow rollout. Viewers familiar with “Good Day L.A.” will be exposed to a faster pace and segments not offered by the KTTV, Los Angeles, morning show on which the new syndie strip is based.
Early buzz has been positive from station reps looking for future pickups, with one executive quick to label “Good Day” a potential breakout show. “A strong contender to shake up daytime,” reads one pre-NATPE report.
“We’ll be adding an interview and demo area, which we never had before,” said Lisa Kridos, co-executive producer of both the upcoming show and “Good Day L.A.” “The hardest challenge will be going into markets where people aren’t familiar with the chemistry these three (co-hosts Steve Edwards, Jillian Barberie and Dorothy Lucey) have. So we’ll have to take these new elements and introduce them so it feels like part of this group.”
Gone on the syndicated version will be local news, weather and traffic. Instead, the strip will put more emphasis on celebrities, Ms. Kridos said, adding five- to six-minute interview segments while mixing in entertainment information with “anything from set visits on `Frasier’ to having the chopper fly over Cher’s or Aaron Spelling’s house.”
Stations taking part in the strip will have the opportunity to localize with reporters from other markets appearing daily.
Ms. Kridos said the tinkering should only strengthen what has become the top-rated morning news show in Los Angeles, taking first-place honors in all but one demo (women 25 to 54, second to KNBC-TV’s “Today” show) for the month of October. The biggest growth has come in the prime adults 18 to 34 segment of the audience, where the show is up 93 percent year to year (2.9 vs. 1.5) and is beating the ratings of L.A.’s other four morning news shows combined.
“This has definitely been a show that has grown on the audience,” Ms. Kridos said. “Our typical viewer has gone from being overwhelmed by the show to telling friends that they can’t stop watching it. That’s the kind of chemistry we can’t afford to lose.”
The show is set to debut on KTTV in Los Angeles, WAGA-TV in Atlanta, Phoenix’s KSAZ-TV, St. Louis’s KTVI-TV and KTBC-TV in Austin, Texas.