In a surprise move, CBS-owned WBBM-TV announced it is dropping its current morning show and has hired Mike North, Dan Jiggetts, and financial analyst Terry Savage to host Monsters and Money In The Morning, beginning on February 1.The program is scheduled to run from 5 to 7 a.m., leading-in to the network's Early Show.
The program once again reunites North and Jiggetts, who recently fronted Monsters In the Morning on Comcast SportsNet, which is ending its run at the end of this month. As you recall, Monsters was produced by North's production company and tied in with ChicagoSportsWebio.com, an Internet sports radio station. But it all became unglued in June when the financier in the web venture (David Hernandez) was arrested for operating a ponzi scheme.
The new show will feature North and Jiggetts discuss sports headlines, with Sun-Times columnist Terry Savage and CNBC host Mike Hegedus discussing financial matters. Susan Carson will handle news headlines and traffic, and Mary Kay Kleist handles the weather.
WBBM-AM (a CBS-owned sister station) is also expected to contribute to the new morning program.
General Manager Bruno Cohen stated the station wanted to target an underserved audience - those who are sports fans and those who want to keep up with their money and finances.
Currently, the station ranks last among households and in key demos in the 5 to 7 a.m. time slot.
Thought: Remember 12 months ago where yours truly said NBC moving Jay Leno to primetime as a weeknight strip was a good idea and predicted the move would work and provide an alternative to scripted dramas at 9pm?
Yeah, look how that turned out. Oh lordy, I'm not making that mistake again....
While Monsters and Money In The Morning seems to look good on paper, it's not likely to work, given North and Jiggetts did not draw an audience on Comcast SportsNet, and it's not likely they will draw one on WBBM-TV either.
But yours truly is interested in seeing how this project is executed, and it may not be as bad as people think. Then again, I said the same thing about Leno's show...
If Monsters and Money In The Morning fails (and it will), you think Channel 2 can hire Leno to front the morning show? We all know he'll be unemployed soon...
2 comments:
WBBM-Ch. 2 is blowing up its moribund morning show, replacing it with "Monsters and Money in the Morning," a hybrid news and talk program set to debut Feb. 1.
I love it--having Mike North on a financial show!
Remember this is the guy who claims to have been "defrauded" by David Hernandez even though they were friends for more than a decade, during which Hernandez was convicted of wire fraud!
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