Last September the E.W. Scripps Company dropped syndicated dinosaurs “Wheel of Fortune” and “Jeopardy” at some of its owned stations and replaced them with its own programming.
The station group developed two shows, “Let’s Ask America” a game show using Skype which it developed in conjunction Warner Bros. Telepictures and pop culture show “The List.” It then programmed seven of its owned stations with “Let’s Ask America” and six with “The List.” TVSpy checked in with Scripps to see how the shows were doing.
“We are very happy with the performance of both shows,” Robert Sullivan, vice president of content for Scripps told TVSpy. “Both have grown book to book in key demos since their launch last fall.”
According to numbers provided by Scripps, both shows have seen a steady increase in viewership since the first ratings period in October 2012.
“The List” has gone from a 2.5 to a 3.3 in household ratings and has seen a 50 percent ratings increase in Adults 18-49 and a 57 percent ratings increase in women 18-49 when it airs between 7:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. “Let’s Ask America” has brought in more women 25-54 than “Jeopardy” and beat “ET” in women 25-54 during the February book at WFTS in Tampa.
“We have to remember, these shows are only 6 months old and play in a highly competitive time period,” added Sullivan. “Having said that, their early performance is very encouraging.”
Scripps has plans to expand viewership of the shows in September 2013 by adding both “Let’s Ask America” and “The List” to its owned station WPTV in West Palm Beach and adding “Let’s Ask America” to its station in Detroit, WXYZ, where it will replace “Entertainment Tonight.”
“Let’s Ask America” now airs in 14 markets while “The List” still airs on the original six stations, airing in access on five of those stations and at 4:30 on KNXV in Phoenix.