Local affiliate stations from around the country are giving the thumbs-up to a syndicated daily talk show with CNN news anchor Anderson Cooper.
In the past 10 days, some 40 stations have inked for “Anderson” for their schedules this fall, making the New York-based show a firm go for the upcoming season. They come on the heels of launch clearances with Tribune’s WPIX in New York and Fox outlets in L.A., Chicago and Boston.
The show is being pitched as stylistically like the smart, provocative talk once provided by Phil Donahue but emotionally more like what Oprah Winfrey delivers. (Winfrey exits syndication after the current season to launch her cable channel, OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network.)
Key stations that have signed up include KTVU (San Francisco), WXIA (Atlanta), WDIV (Detroit), KPHO (Phoenix), WFTS (Tampa, Fla.), KTVD/KUSA (Denver), WOIO (Cleveland), KDNL (St. Louis) and WPXI (Pittsburgh).
Altogether, as the TV biz gears up for the TV industry’s annual NATPE trade show in Miami (January 24-26), “Anderson” will come to town with at least 80 stations cleared, representing 70% of the country.
Like gabbers Winfrey and Donahue, Cooper will target women looking to be informed and entertained, gain perspective and stay connected to the world around them.
He previously told The Hollywood Reporter that the show would not track hard news as he does on CNN but rather would focus on water-cooler topics — the big celebrity interview one day, the personal story behind the headlines the next. There also will be undercover investigations and hidden-camera experiments. Cooper also said interactivity would be emphasized in order to involve viewers at home as well as those in the studio audience.
