Commentary

CBS Daytime: Less Soap, More Yapping, And The Oprah Factor

by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, July 23, 2010

There'll be more talk, less romance -- and no Oprah -- associated with CBS next year.

CBS is ready to start up a "View"-like talker featuring Julie Chen, veteran TV news journalist currently on "The Early Show" and "Big Brother" -- as well as actors/personalities Sara Gilbert, Sharon Osbourne, Holly Robinson Peete, Leah Remini, and Marissa Jaret Winokur.

All this is to replace the long-time CBS soap opera "As the World Turns." Gilbert developed the format for the new show, and will be its executive producer as well as a co-host.

The daytime afternoon is littered with lots of talk already -- syndication talkfests and those from cable networks add to the bunch. Syndication programming talk shows elicit their usual high-flying diversity of issues; cable talkers, right now, offer up plenty of news programming content.

But while everyone seems to be focusing on the demise of a longtime soap, there doesn't seem much discussion about the loss of a large number of gross ratings points as of September 2011. We speak of "The Oprah Winfrey Show," of course.

Perhaps one needs to add CBS' part in all of this. CBS' syndication division, CBS Television Distribution, was one of the key companies losing out on Winfrey's departure, as the show's distributor.

Syndication and network are still two different things to industry executive, but viewers don't really know the difference.

Here's another little difference between the two TV platforms, especially among top-flight daytime programming: the cost per thousand viewers (CPMs) to advertisers. "Oprah," as a syndicated show, got top-level pricing.

The new Chen-led CBS show looks to get mostly afternoon time slots -- generally assumed to get higher pricing than morning shows.

The CBS show probably won't compete exactly head-to-head with "The View," though some stations will ask for exceptions, hoping to free up some of the more-valuable later-afternoon time slots for their own wares. Still, critics will look to find ways to build drama and tension between the two similar network shows.

Good move for CBS? Oh, yeah -- and it probably didn't require much talking to come to a decision.

2 comments about "CBS Daytime: Less Soap, More Yapping, And The Oprah Factor".

Check to receive email when comments are posted.

Steve Beverly from Union Broadcasting System, July 23, 2010 at 3:41 p.m.
Not a doubt was in my mind that the Julie Chen hour would get the nod to replace "As the World Turns." Why not? She's Les Moonves' wife and Les has had absolutely no shame in how Chen has masqueraded as a journalist while continuing to host America's testament to immature adult behavior, "Big Brother."
I was an RTNDA Faculty Fellow in 2002. At a seminar in Washington with the entire Fellowship class present, I asked a CBS News producer how their morning news anchor could retain credibility as emcee of an embarrassing reality show. The answer I received: "No comment."
What kind of bets do you want to take that this show will be given a far longer period to prove itself than any of the other contenders? After all, when your husband runs the entire company.........
Reply

Sheldon Senzon from Senzon Media Marketing LLC, July 24, 2010 at 8:47 a.m.

Good post Wayne and yes Steve, you're so right in your Julie Chen/Les Moonves assessment.
For those of us who remember "The Tiffany Network", Mr. Paley must be spinning around in his grave. Thinking back it was CBS who recruited K-Mart to promote Fall Programming in the early 1980's. As I recall it was some sort of "watch and win" promotion, The Tiffany Network and K-Mart, got to love it.

The reality is we'll be seeing more of this type of programming; low budget, interchangeable talking heads and at best marginal ratings.