Halftime for TXA21 prime-time news, with the 8 to 9 p.m. hour being dropped
09/02/11 11:00 AM
By ED BARK
No joke. The 8 to 9 p.m. hour of TXA21 News: First in Prime will be supplanted in September by the syndicated version of America's Funniest Home Videos.
That will leave a 7 to 7:30 p.m. edition anchored by Keith Garvin, followed by a half-hour sports program with Gina Miller. Tracy Kornet, who has been co-anchoring First in Prime, will remain behind the desk on sister station CBS11's weekday 4 p.m. newscast, with Garvin continuing as co-anchor. Kornet also will fill in on the TXA21 newscast when Garvin is unavailable, director of communications Lori Conrad said Friday.
The First in Prime newscast debuted Sept. 18, 2006 on TXA21, and had been two hours in length since that time. But ratings were problematic and seemingly stagnant. In the four-week May ratings "sweeps," the 7 p.m. hour averaged just 13,851 total viewers while the 8 p.m. hour had 20,777.
The revamped TXA21 prime-time schedule will take effect on Sept. 12th, with other changes also announced Friday.
A new court show, Last Shot with Judge Gunn, will run from 3 to 4 p.m. weekdays, starting on Sept. 26th. TXA21 is adding America's Court with Judge Ross from noon to 1 p.m., beginning Sept. 5th. That will give the station six consecutive hours of judge 'n' jury shows (noon to 6 p.m.). That smashes rival Fox4's run of four straight hours of courtroom melodrama in the 1 to 5 p.m. bloc.
In late night, TXA21 will premiere a weekday reality dating show at 10 p.m. It's called Excused, and is hosted by Iliza Shlesinger, the Season 6 winner of NBC's Last Comic Standing. Launch date is Sept. 12th. And syndicated repeats of FX's It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia will run from midnight to 12:30 a.m., starting Sept. 19th.
No joke. The 8 to 9 p.m. hour of TXA21 News: First in Prime will be supplanted in September by the syndicated version of America's Funniest Home Videos.
That will leave a 7 to 7:30 p.m. edition anchored by Keith Garvin, followed by a half-hour sports program with Gina Miller. Tracy Kornet, who has been co-anchoring First in Prime, will remain behind the desk on sister station CBS11's weekday 4 p.m. newscast, with Garvin continuing as co-anchor. Kornet also will fill in on the TXA21 newscast when Garvin is unavailable, director of communications Lori Conrad said Friday.
The First in Prime newscast debuted Sept. 18, 2006 on TXA21, and had been two hours in length since that time. But ratings were problematic and seemingly stagnant. In the four-week May ratings "sweeps," the 7 p.m. hour averaged just 13,851 total viewers while the 8 p.m. hour had 20,777.
The revamped TXA21 prime-time schedule will take effect on Sept. 12th, with other changes also announced Friday.
A new court show, Last Shot with Judge Gunn, will run from 3 to 4 p.m. weekdays, starting on Sept. 26th. TXA21 is adding America's Court with Judge Ross from noon to 1 p.m., beginning Sept. 5th. That will give the station six consecutive hours of judge 'n' jury shows (noon to 6 p.m.). That smashes rival Fox4's run of four straight hours of courtroom melodrama in the 1 to 5 p.m. bloc.
In late night, TXA21 will premiere a weekday reality dating show at 10 p.m. It's called Excused, and is hosted by Iliza Shlesinger, the Season 6 winner of NBC's Last Comic Standing. Launch date is Sept. 12th. And syndicated repeats of FX's It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia will run from midnight to 12:30 a.m., starting Sept. 19th.