By Debbie Mitchell
Last Friday there was news in the world of daytime talk shows. Viewers got their first glimpse of the first video promoting Katie, Katie Couric's upcoming fall talk show set to debut in September. Critics and viewers are holding their breath, waiting to see if Katie Couric claims the throne left by Oprah Winfrey, the queen of daytime talk. At 55 years old, fun loving news anchor Couric is reinventing herself yet again, this time in the world of syndication on another network, Disney ABC - at a time when conflict television is on the rise.
While viewers have seen Couric as an anchor capable of doing both hard and soft news interviews, and light lifestyle features, the question remains what will she have to do to keep the daytime talk show audience interested. In today's television climate, where reality calamity rules, will Katie's wholesome persona and stories be enough, a la Ellen DeGeneres or Oprah or will Couric be forced to add guests with a little conflict also known as drama resolution to her show formula in order get the ratings.
I mention drama resolution because last Friday was also the day, NBCUniversal’s Stamford Media Center announced the syndicated talk show franchises Maury, The Jerry Springer Show and The Steve Wilkos Show have all been sold through September 2016 to a number of station groups. Maury who has been on the air for 14 seasons along with The Jerry Springer Show and The Steve Wilkos Show continue to be three of the highest-rated talk shows in all of daytime television. Most people will not admit to watching these daytime talk shows, where the stories, usually end up with guests yelling or brawling on the stage and the show host or body guards trying to break it up. The kind of shows that one friend recently described as "leaves you shaking like a crack baby" once it's over and you've seen it up close and personal.
GERALDO RIVERA BREAKS HIS NOSE - SKINHEAD BRAWL 1988
During my days as a talk show producer on Geraldo, almost 20 years ago, drama resolution stories were new to daytime television. Viewers had never seen anything like it on air. They tuned in to see, the "triangle"(3 sides of the story was a must) story unfold. In the hour, a wife learns that her husband is having an affair, cue, bring out mistress to meet wife, next cue bring out "secret" baby mistress has with husband. All hell breaks loose. Or, son is engaged to his beautiful fiancee, cue bring out his father who tells him he has been sleeping with his son's fiancee. You get the picture. The crazier the better. It wasn't pretty but the ratings went through the roof. Fast forward to today, reality television is doing exactly what daytime talk shows introduced years ago, creating chaos. Thanks to the success of the Real Housewives, Mob Wives and Basketball Wives franchise, drama resolution is back and ratings show viewers love it.
Today, daytime talk show producers are faced with the challenge of trying to locate, book, and produce an authentic "conflict" guests or store that have never been told or that have a new twist. For producers, drama resolution shows are probably the hardest to work on. If you are not paying your daytime guests, then you are convincing them to tell their crazy, dysfunctional stories for free on national television. In addition, to tell the whole story, you need the entire cast of characters to be a part of the appearance. Bookings are best done closest to air date, since if given too much time, people change their minds and pull out of their television appearance commitment. Producers are left to beg, prod, cry and beg some more to get their guests back on the show. Tough job!!!
The daytime talk show bar is high, in not necessarily a good way- viewers expect, no, demand so much more to be entertained. If conflict television delivers the ratings, will Katie have to consider leaving a bit of it's wholesomeness behind?
Which hour of daytime talk do you prefer ?
TV/Social Media Producer Debbie Mitchell is an Emmy nominated producer who is a member of the Producers Guild of America (PGA) and is currently a member of the James Beard Broadcast and New Media Awards Committee. If you are a brand interested in blogger outreach campaigns, a blogger or personality interested in television placement follow Debbie Mitchell @TVProducerDeb or contact TheBloggerConnection.com.
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