THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, August 12, 1996 TAG: 9608100037
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: Larry Bonko
LENGTH: 83 lines
STARTING TODAY at 7 a.m., viewers tuned to WTKR will see more of the local talent (Ann Keffer and Kurt Williams) and less of the CBS marquee names (Mark McEwen) as the network changes its morning show for the 30th time in 42 years
Also beginning today at 9 a.m. on WTVZ is ``Fox After Breakfast,'' a live show with an ensemble cast that has evolved from the old unscripted, full-of-fun ``Breakfast Time'' on the fX cable channel.
Fox and CBS meet the new week with new programs in the a.m. - just in time to focus on the Republicans' national convention in San Diego.
At CBS, gone are co-hosts Harry Smith and Paula Zahn, and the studio audience that gave them their wake-up call. Who needs applause at 7 a.m.?
Arriving as new co-hosts are Clemson grad Jane Robelot and Jose Diaz-Balart, former European bureau chief for Telemundo, along with McEwen, who has moved up from weather reporter.
CBS hopes to hook viewers on ``This Morning'' by giving over more than half of the 7 to 8 a.m. hour to local affiliates, including WTKR in Norfolk. That pleases Channel 3 news director Barbara L. Hamm.
She has big plans for the approximately 30 minutes in the hour that is hers. There'll be the usual mix of news, weather, traffic and sports with Keffer, Williams, Pete Grigsby and Bob Matthews, plus more.
More, such as. . . ?
``Features,'' said Hamm.
That's all the blueprint she'll reveal as early-morning TV in Hampton Roads continues to change here in mid-summer. Recently, Carol Hoffman left WAVY for WVEC to co-anchor and revitalize Channel 13's wake-up newscast.
And starting today, WTVZ gets into the morning news game.
The latest makeover of the CBS morning newscast involves a stunt - giving 30 minutes or so of the 7 to 8 a.m. hour to affiliates to use as they see fit. (By 7 a.m., WTKR has already been on the air with 90 minutes of local news. Do viewers here want another dose of 30 minutes? Time and the November ratings will tell).
The 8 to 9 hour of ``CBS This Morning'' is to be conventional coverage, which is to say the talent at CBS will fill most of the 60 minutes with news, talk and interviews - a softer hour.
The first hour of ``Morning News'' features what executive producer Jim Murphy calls a ``rigid format of going back and forth between the local and network news, not unlike all-news radio.''
At this point, the CBS bosses will try anything short of having Murphy Brown read the headlines to jump-start the ratings at 7.
CBS has never challenged ABC's ``Good Morning America'' or ``Today'' on NBC for No. 1 - not even when Walter Cronkite co-hosted the morning broadcast with Dick Van Dyke in 1956. Not even when CBS tried Jimmy Dean and the Texas Wildcats in 1961. Not even when the co-hosts were Mariette Hartley, Phyllis George, Sally Quinn and Charlie Rose.
Never is a long time, said the CBS brass when they addressed TV reporters in Los Angeles not long ago.
``We've been jinxed,'' said CBS News president Andrew Heyward. ``And discouraged in the past.''
But this is a new day, with Westinghouse running CBS and determined to give the morning show another boost. CBS has spared no expense, even hiring Carly Simon to do the theme song.
``Nothing insanely loud,'' said Murphy.
McEwen is delighted to leave the weather behind and assume the role that Smith had for over seven years. ``I won't miss the weather maps.''
While McEwen, Robelot and Diaz-Balart are listed as co-hosts, it will be Robelot who will read the news on ``This Morning.'' She's shared air time with Smith and Zahn in the past.
``I won't be filling Paula's shoes because she took her shoes to a new job at CBS. I'll start in my own shoes,'' said Robelot.
Diaz-Balart said he wouldn't think of trying to fill Zahn's shoes. ``The heels would kill him,'' said Robelot.
``Fox After Breakfast'' brings back Bob the Puppet from fX's ``Breakfast Time,'' which ended its run in March, to share time on camera with co-hosts Tom Bergeron and Laurie Hibberd. Also returning from fX is the studio, which is a seven-room Manhattan apartment.
What's the difference in doing the one-hour show on the Fox network and the two-hour ``Breakfast Time'' on cable? ``We'll get to the point quicker,'' said Bergeron. ``And still have as much fun,'' chimed in Hibberd when they appeared on the television critics' press tour. ILLUSTRATION: Photos by TONY ESPARZA/CBS
Paula Zahn: off "This Morning"
Co-anchors for ``This Morning'' are, from left, Jose Diaz-Balart,
Jane Robelot and Mark McEwen. by CNB