'Anderson' Not Made For Pix (In New YorK)

Anderson ‘Not Good Fit’ for WPIX, Leaving for WNYW in 2012

By Jerry Barmash on November 11, 2011 9:09 AM

Anderson Cooper is leaving his New York syndication home. Cooper, the popular CNN prime time host by night, who started his much anticipated talk show by day this fall, will say goodbye to WPIX/Channel 11, and hello to WNYW/Channel 5 in September.

WPIX, which debuted a 5 p.m. newscast anchored by Jodi Applegate on the same day Anderson launched, clearly was banking on inheriting the audience from his lead-in.

“We’re big fans of Anderson, but unfortunately the show is not a good fit for the station,” a WPIX spokeperson tells FishbowlNY.

Expounding on not being the right fit for Channel 11, the spokesperson added that with the various “conflict talk shows” in the morning, it wasn’t a “good fit” for their “daytime structure.”

Further fueling the poor fit theory, Anderson has not performed well in the first two weeks of the current November sweeps. Anderson, in figures obtained by WPIX, had a .5 Household rating, while Adults 25 to 54 registered a .3. By contrast, syndicated talker Bill Cunningham, who airs 1 p.m. on WPIX, notched a 1.1 Household rating and .5 Adults 25 to 54.

The station, though, is “thrilled [Cooper] found a new home.” Until that happens, Channel 11 will remain “status quo” at 5 p.m. As for the vacated 4 p.m. slot, WPIX says a replacement for the Cooper program will be announced soon.

Photo courtesy of wikipedia.com