By RODNEY HO/rho@ajc.com, originally filed January 28, 2015
11 Alive is dropping "Dr. Phil" at 5 p.m. starting March 2 and bringing back a local newscast at that hour.
But "Dr. Phil" fans shouldn't despair. The station was already showing repeats of the show at 3 p.m. Now, the first-run editions of his show that had been on at 5 will air at 3.
Brenda Wood will co-anchor the 5 p.m. news with DeMarco Morgan. As a result, her "Daily 11 at 7" will end and be replaced with "Wheel of Fortune," which will again be paired with "Jeopardy" at 7:30 p.m.
The station is also ending its noon news program and readjusting the schedule of its "pay for play" program "Atlanta and Company," which currently runs an hour at 11 a.m. and then an additional 30 minutes at 12:30 p.m. Now, the show hosted by Christine Pullara will run continuously from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., followed by a repeat of "Jeopardy."
11 Alive's general manager John Deushane said fewer people are watching local news in the middle of the day so they are transferring their efforts during that time frame online.
Over at sister station WATL, Gannett had previously aired "Wheel of Fortune" at 7 p.m. In its place, the station will run an additional episode of "The Andy Griffith Show." And at 6 p.m., a re-run of "Dr. Phil" will air instead of "Extra" and a "Jeopardy" repeat. Deushane feels "Dr. Phil" is a better fit for WATL, which also runs "Jerry Springer," "Maury" and "Steve Wilkos."
Plus, more Andy Griffith never hurts. "This show never seems to get old, especially in the South," he noted in an email.
Over the years, Atlanta broadcast stations have been adding more and more local news. 11 Alive was the only station left among the big four without a 5 p.m. news show. It was also the only station that had a 7 p.m. local news broadcast.
Paul Crawley, who worked at 11 Alive for 36 years until last year, recalls 11 Alive having a 5 p.m. newscast going back to the late 1970s. Deushane said the station moved "Dr. Phil" to the 5 p.m. slot in March, 2003 not long after its fall debut in 2002.
The NBC affiliate currently airs six hours of local news a day on weekdays including an hour of repeats at 3 a.m. The changes will keep the number of hours the same - just different times. Channel 2 Action News airs 7 hours, plus a 30 minute repeat overnight. CBS46 airs six and a half hours with no repeats.
Fox 5 airs 11 hours a day including two hours of repeats overnight. It's the only station of the four that airs a local morning show from 7 to 9 a.m. and has a 10 p.m. newscast as well.
11 Alive recently added a new news director Jennifer Rigby, replacing Ellen Crooke, who moved up in Gannett to become a regional news director.
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