Tamron Hall is Ready to Return to Daytime
Updated: Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2019, 9:39 a.m. ET
Tamron Hall is coming to daytime TV this fall with a new one-hour talker that will be all about having complex conversations with guests over a wide range of topics while keeping the tone fun and refreshing.
“At one point in time, I was doing the Today Show, MSNBC, hosting Macy’s Fourth of July Fireworks and appearing on Running Wild with Bear Grylls,” said Hall, who also still hosts Deadline: Crime on Investigation Discovery. “When I thought about what I wanted to do next, it seemed logical to bring all of those things to one spot. I love all of the things I have done in television, why not try to bring all of them to one show?”
Disney’s new daytime talker starring former Today host Hall is cleared for fall with more than 70% of the country sold, Disney announced on the eve of NATPE 2019 in Miami. Bill Geddie, who created The View with Barbara Walters and served as its executive producer for many years, will executive produce, Disney said Tuesday.
Related: Geddie Named Executive Producer of New Hall Show
The one-hour strip will launch on the eight ABC owned television stations -- WABC New York; KABC Los Angeles; WLS Chicago; WPVI Philadelphia; KGO San Francisco; KTRK Houston; WTVD Raleigh-Durham, N. C.; and KFSN Fresno, Calif. -- representing 23% of the U.S. The show also is launching on stations from Hearst Television, Cox Media Group, Sinclair Broadcast Group, the E.W. Scripps Co., Meredith Corp., Tribune, Gray, Nexstar and more.
“There will be certain elements included in this show that have been successful in daytime for decades. A show like this is currently missing in daytime and we think there’s an opportunity to connect with audiences,” said Jed Cohen, executive vice president and general sales manager, U.S. content sales and distribution, Walt Disney Direct-to-Consumer & International.
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While there are still plenty of talk shows on the air – from CBS Television Distribution’s Dr. Phil to Warner Bros.’ The Real – there’s currently no show that’s primarily focused on having real, in-depth conversations with its guests. Shows such as Warner Bros.’ Ellen DeGeneres and Disney’s Live with Kelly and Ryan typically have fun conversations with celebrities, while Phil remains in the realm of advice. Other shows, such as Sony Pictures Television’s Dr. Oz and CTD’s The Doctors, help viewers make better choices about their lives.
Tamron Hall is intended to offer wide-ranging, interesting conversations as well as other lifestyle segments typically found in daytime. That could mean spending an hour on a single topic or discussing several things over the course of an episode.
“What most of the [shows] out there have in common are variety and a lighter energy. We think we can be that while also being compelling and informative,” said Hall. “When you think about traditional daytime television, the kind we all fell in love with, in the course of five days you laughed with someone, cried with someone, maybe bought a book and learned something. Right now, we believe there’s not one show that’s doing that.”
While the choice of where to air the show is up to TV stations, Tamron Hall will primarily air in daytime between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., and it will often lead out of Live or air in the early afternoon, said Cohen.
“I think there’s a lot of energy out there right now,” said Cohen. “There are holes, there are needs and thus, there are opportunities. There’s still confidence and belief in the business and for the right show and the right host, people are still willing to make investments in the daypart and in the business.”
Hall enters the daytime marketplace in what is shaping out to be the most crowded season in years, with NBC launching Kelly Clarkson, Fox debuting 25 Words orLess starring Meredith Vieira, Sony and Tribune partnering on a talk show starring inspirational speaker and life coach Mel Robbins and several more.
The show will shoot in New York City.
Contributing editor Paige Albiniak has been covering the business of television for more than 25 years. She is a longtime contributor to Next TV, Broadcasting + Cable and Multichannel News. She concurrently serves as editorial director for The Global Entertainment Marketing Academy of Arts & Sciences (G.E.M.A.). She has written for such publications as TVNewsCheck, The New York Post, Variety, CBS Watch and more. Albiniak was B+C’s Los Angeles bureau chief from September 2002 to 2004, and an associate editor covering Congress and lobbying for the magazine in Washington, D.C., from January 1997 - September 2002.