Don't Quit, Anderson

Channel 12 To Air New Talk Show

Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Jeff Derderian, GoLocalProv Media Critic

Channel 12 will be saying goodbye to the 700-Club this September and debuting a new day-time talk show in its place in the 9am time slot.

Anderson Cooper -- of CNN night time fame will now be joining the ranks of others who have made a mark in day-time TV like Regis & Kelly, Oprah, Donahue and Montel Williams.

The hard news guy from CNN will be exposing a different side when he hits the airwaves. As you may know, Cooper, has made a career of traveling to dangerous parts of the world with nothing more than a hand-held camera to do some hard hitting reporting. He deserves credit for the kind of journalism he does for sure. What he’ll do during the day on his talk show remains to be seen exactly. For WPRI Channel 12 it is a nice addition to the lineup – nothing against the 700-Club, but I literally don’t know anyone who watches that show.

Given AC’s (short for Anderson Cooper) strong news brand let’s hope it’s not just about mother’s who date their daughter’s boyfriend type of programming.

“Personal Stories”

Jay Howell, General Manager for Channel 12 says AC is a unique talent and has the chance to really build what he calls a valuable daytime franchise. Howell is clear to say the show won’t be all hard news which in the time-frame makes sense given the demographics of the 9am audience in Southern New England. “It will be a broad based talk show in the lineage of Oprah and Donahue....AC will cover personal stories about the things people are talking about…pop culture and celebrity interviews”.

Tough Fight Ahead

Cooper won’t find an easy road to ratings success around these parts. The main reason is that Regis & Kelly which airs on Channel 10 at 9am has a strong hold on viewership. That said, change is coming to that show as well when good ol’ Regis retires later this year.

Anthony Galvez, Professor of Communications at Rhode Island College tells GoLocal getting audience share, at least in the beginning, will be a hard fought battle for Cooper who should focus on two key areas. “If the program is to be successful it will depend on the caliber of guests he is able to get and also he needs to engage in social media to help build a new audience.” The point being is that if Cooper doesn’t do anything different to attract new viewers there is a good chance the show may fail. Trying to steal, for example, just Regis & Kelly viewers would be the wrong way to go. There is too much dominance there already.

Will There Ever Be Another Oprah?

In media circles, the buzz words relate to the “post Oprah” world now. No doubt she was the most successful talk show hosts ever to be on TV but can anyone ever come close? “No, I don’t think we’ll ever see someone get that kind of audience…there are too many different programs for people to watch” said Galvez.

But one person who hopes you will be watching come the fall goes by two initials rather than Oprah’s one -- let’s see if AC can make the switch from hard news guy at night to lighter talk during the day.

My advice would be, AC, don’t quit the night gig just yet.

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Don't Quit your night gig, Anderson, but not because of what Mr. Derderian says, but because YOU don't want to -- which is the real truth.