Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, April 8, 1994 TAG: 9404080208
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By GAIL SHISTER KNIGHT-RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
``Trying to fake your body into going to bed at 7 or 8 is very difficult,'' says ``This Morning's'' co-anchor. ``It's still light outside and you're padding around your hotel room in your underwear, trying to say to yourself, `It's late at night. It's late at night.'''
Weird hours are nothing new for Smith, a Dawn Patrol-er since joining CBS in 1986. Going live from an earlier time zone, however, is a tougher haul.
``It's not easy being in sync, but you can fake it for five days,'' says Smith, 42, who with his wife, CBS Sports' Andrea Joyce, has two children, Jake, 4, and Grady, 5 months. ``The beauty of my job is I only have to be awake two hours a day. I can fall apart right after the show.''
Smith, co-anchor Paula Zahn and weatherguy Mark McEwen will anchor ``This Morning'' from five California locations May 9 to 13. First up: Yosemite National Park, followed by Sacramento, Los Angeles, San Diego and Monterey. It's the first week-long jaunt for the trio since ``This Morning'' visited Italy and France in May 1990.
How intense is the rivalry among morning shows? Minutes after CBS announced its ``sweeps'' trip, ABC's ``Good Morning America'' unveiled a jaunt to Alaska for the following week. Among the planned festivities: Charlie Gibson skiing the Mendenhall Glacier. (It's all downhill after that, Charlie.)
``If you recall,'' said the ``GMA'' spokeswoman, ``we did a bus trip to Northern California in ``November.''
The CBS spokeswoman responded: ``Yeah, but we won't be a picture postcard. We'll report stories from all over the state.'' (``GMA'' is produced by ABC Entertainment, ``This Morning'' by CBS News.)
This much is beyond dispute: It will take more than a road trip to lift ``This Morning'' from the Nielsen basement.
In the January-through-March quarterly figures, ``This Morning'' averaged a 3.5 rating and 14 percent audience share, excluding two weeks of Winter Olympics coverage. ``GMA'' had a 4.6/19 and NBC's ``Today'' a 4.4/18. (Each rating point equals 942,000 TV homes.)
The good news for CBS is that ratings are up 9 percent from the same period last year, a remarkable achievement given that affiliates in such major markets as Atlanta, Detroit and Boston don't even carry ``This Morning.''
It airs instead on less-powerful independent stations.
``It's frustrating to be in third,'' says Smith. ``Just think what our ratings would be if we were carried on all our affiliates. The key to our improvement is that Paula, Mark and I have always gotten along well, but now we get along better than ever.''
Speaking of getting along, Smith says he could do the ayem shift for three or four more years, no problem. After that, ``who knows? I can think about that later.'' Smith has 18 months remaining on his four-year contract. Unlike most network types, he has no agent.
``Why should I? I've never seen a reason to have one. I don't think I need an advocate. I feel I'll get the deal I want. I don't mind talking to management about money. Having an agent might make sense for other people. It doesn't make sense for me.''
Talk to America
Think you're the next Phil, Oprah, Sally or Montel?
You can prove it by trying out for America's Talking, an all-talk cable network to launch July 4. NBC-owned ``A-T'' is sponsoring auditions in 10 cities to find an unknown talk-show host.
Each wannabe must supply a VHS tape. The national winner will receive a one-year contract with ``A-T.'' For more info: (800) 988-8255.
Short stuff
NBC has renewed ``Law & Order'' for next season. Expect an announcement next month that Sam Waterston has joined the cast, replacing Michael Moriarty ... Steven Stark, a pop-culture commentator for National Public Radio, debuts Thursday as a weekly pundit on CNN's ``Showbiz Today.'' ``Showbiz'' airs live at 5:30 p.m. weekdays ... Producer Don Mischer has signed a long-term, nonexclusive deal with ABC that includes a series commitment and development of additional shows ... Former CBS News Paris correspondent David Andelman has been named a Washington correspondent for CNBC. Andelman replaces Donald Van de Mark, now corporate communications boss for QVC.
by CNB