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NEW YORK — (BUSINESS WIRE) — July 18, 2006 — Fox Television Stations and Twentieth Television announced today the launch of a new, live, national morning program, scheduled to begin airing in January 2007. The new show will originate from New York and will air on all the owned-and-operated Fox affiliates.
Hosted by Mike Jerrick and Juliet Huddy of FOX News Channel’s “DaySide,” the show will be live from 9-10 a.m., in most markets, and feature entertainment and general interest programming. Both anchors will continue their “DaySide” duties until Fall 2006.
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The full release:
Fox Television Stations and Twentieth Television to Launch National Morning Show; Program Will Debut in January 2007
NEW YORK — (BUSINESS WIRE) — July 18, 2006 — Fox Television Stations and Twentieth Television announced today the launch of a new, live, national morning program, scheduled to begin airing in January 2007. The new show will originate from New York and will air on all the owned-and-operated Fox affiliates.
Hosted by Mike Jerrick and Juliet Huddy of FOX News Channel’s “DaySide,” the show will be live from 9-10 a.m., in most markets, and feature entertainment and general interest programming. Both anchors will continue their “DaySide” duties until Fall 2006.
In making the announcement, Fox Television Stations CEO, Jack Abernethy, stated, “The timing is perfect for us to launch this program as the morning news blocks on our Fox stations are stronger than they’ve ever been. That strength, coupled with the changing face of the morning news landscape, convinced us that the time to take advantage of this opportunity is now.”
According to Bob Cook, President and COO of Twentieth Television, “We are extremely excited about bringing this national morning program to the Fox Television Stations and will look to build off the unprecedented success of their local morning news programs to create appointment viewing.” He continued, “The vibrant chemistry between Mike and Juliet will be a refreshing addition to the morning show arena.”
Jerrick, who is also a current guest co-host on WNYW-FOX 5 morning program, “Good Day New York,” joined FNC as weekend co-host of “FOX and Friends” in October 2002. He previously served as co-anchor of “Good Day Philadelphia,” WTXF-TV’s (FOX) morning news program. Huddy, joined FNC in March 1998 as a correspondent for the Miami bureau and also co-hosted the weekend edition of “FOX & Friends.” Prior to this, Huddy was a general assignment reporter for WAWS-TV (FOX) in Jacksonville, FL.
Dennis Swanson, President, Fox Television Stations, Operations, stated, “The stations are thrilled about this program as it furthers our strategy of creating original talk and news blocks in the mid-morning.”
The Fox Television Stations group, headed by Chairman Roger Ailes, is one of the nation’s largest owned-and-operated network broadcast groups, comprising 35 stations in 26 markets and covering nearly 45% of U.S. television homes. This includes five duopolies in the top 10 markets: New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas and Washington D.C.; as well as duopolies in Houston, Minneapolis, Phoenix and Orlando.
A leader in the U.S. program production and distribution arena, Twentieth Television provides a wide array of first-run and off-network programming, as well as feature film packages, to the syndication and cable marketplaces. First-run programs distributed by Twentieth Television include “Geraldo at Large,” the news strip hosted by Geraldo Rivera, and the popular court shows “Divorce Court” and “Judge Alex,” the number one new first-run program of the 2005-06 season. Twentieth Television also oversees the domestic sales of one of the most extensive libraries of off-net programming in the entertainment industry.