Saturday, February 16, 2008

Get "Better" at night

WTMJ-TV in Milwaukee and several other stations are scheduled to air a live, one-hour syndicated special originating from Las Vegas on March 18 called Better at Night, celebrating Better TV's first year on the air.

Better TV airs at 3 p.m. weekdays on the NBC affiliate, and airs on stations primarily owned by Meredith (such as KCTV in Kansas City) and Journal, which owns WTMJ and WGBA-TV in Green Bay, among others.

Better has been touted as an alternative programming initiative, in which stations airing the show can contribute local material to the show to air in their individual markets, a la PM Magazine, which was a popular prime-access staple in the 1970's and 1980's. Better takes its name from Meredith's Better Home and Gardens magazine. The program has been renewed for a second season in about 20 markets.

While Better is not likely to arrive at a Chicago outlet anytime soon (unless WPWR decides to replace the exiting Montel with it), its concept is a good one, and one that is better (no pun intended) for stations' bottom line - especially those who hate shelling out expensive licensing fees for first-run syndicated programming.

Maybe that's why they call it Better TV.

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