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A creaky Wheel promo from its days on NBC5 (28 years later it's still winning its time period)

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
WFAA-TV (Channel 8) isn’t the only D-FW station to let Wheel of Fortune go to a competitor.

KXAS-TV (Channel 5) used to have it, too -- also in the weekday 6:30 p.m. -- before WFAA took it away with a higher bid. As proof, below is a 1987 promo that really creaks 28 years later.

WFAA, then owned by Belo Corp., dumped Wheel a decade ago -- in favor of Entertainment Tonight -- because it wanted a show with younger audience appeal. That hasn’t quite worked out.

On CBS11 since 2005, Wheel won its time period in the recent February “sweeps” in both total viewers and advertiser-coveted 18-to-49-year-olds. It averaged 306,856 total viewers and 47,307 in the key younger demographic. The runner-ups were NBC5’s Extra and Gannett8’s Entertainment Tonight in total viewers (118,558 each) and Fox4’s Access Hollywood with 18-to-49-year-olds (40,999).

Wheel also ran first among 25-to-54-year-olds with 68,158 compared to second place Access Hollywood’s 47,414.

OK, history lesson’s over. Here’s that very dated promotional video.



Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net