The Jane Pauley Show has been moved out of early-fringe time periods in a number of markets. Fair enough: After a healthy debut this summer, the show has struggled to find and keep viewers. But getting dissed by WISH Indianapolis last week was a low blow.
That’s the station, after all, where Pauley, an Indianapolis native, got her start in broadcasting in 1972 before her eventual move to Today fame on NBC. WISH was disappointed in the NBC Universal syndicated talker because of its recent sweeps performance in the key early-fringe 4-5 p.m. slot—a 1.4 rating average for fourth place in the time period.
Stations count on those early-fringe shows to deliver as large an audience as possible to the station’s daytime newscasts. Even though Pauley’s long Dateline experience proves she can play outside the breakfast hours, there must be something about Jane in chatting mode that makes people want to break out the Cheerios.
WISH moved the show to 9 a.m., and Program Director Rick Thedwall echoes the sentiments of many station executives when he says, "It feels more like a morning show."
