Complete Coverage: NATPE 2016
After signing star Wendy Williams through 2022, Debmar-Mercury has renewed The Wendy Willams Show through the 2019-20 TV season on the Fox Owned Television Stations, as well as on stations in the Media General and Cox groups, said Ira Bernstein and Mort Marcus, Debmar-Mercury co-presidents, on Tuesday. That brings the show’s total renewal clearances so far to more than 50% of the country.
Said Frank Cicha, senior VP of programming for the Fox Television Stations: "It’s for three more years? I thought it was longer!”
The renewal will take the series through its 11th season. During the November sweeps, Wendy finished either first or second in the key demo of women 25-54 in 55% of the U.S. and in 20 of the top-25 markets.
“Wendy’s across-the-board strength in the demo most important to advertisers has made this talk show an indispensable part of stations’ daytime schedules,” said Bernstein and Marcus in a statement. “With these renewals, our valuable station partners can be assured this key lynchpin of their lineups will continue for many years to come, especially when it comes to having a powerful and dependable entertainment lead-out from many of their important morning news blocks. None of this would be possible without Wendy’s extraordinary talent and ability to captivate millions of loyal viewers each day.”
Wendy Williams began as a summer test on the Fox stations in 2008 and entered national syndication the following fall.
