It’s not unusual for TV stations to create their own programming. Mostly, these special programs are produced by the news department. Sometimes, it’s light-hearted, like a special in Jackson, Miss., that focused on unusual town names in the state. Many markets air investigative specials regularly. Like KTVI in St. Louis. Its locally-produced specials have covered […]
It’s not unusual for TV stations to create their own programming. Mostly, these special programs are produced by the news department.
Sometimes, it’s light-hearted, like a special in Jackson, Miss., that focused on unusual town names in the state.
Many markets air investigative specials regularly.
Like KTVI in St. Louis. Its locally-produced specials have covered stories about missing babies at a hospital, or the parallels between events in Selma 50 years ago, and Ferguson today.
Sometimes, the specials preempt network programming, like the special that revealed the results of six investigative stories by KNBC in L.A.
Or the special that aired on the NBC-owned KNTV San Francisco that traced that city’s role in the history of social causes.
In Greenville-Spartanburg, S.C.-Asheville, N.C., WYFF aired a special about the region’s Shoeless Joe Jackson, accused of being involved in fixing the World Series in 1919.
Or the fond look WRAL Raleigh, N.C., produced about the state’s popular former governor, Jim Hunt, which aired in prime access.
Sometimes, stations produce special programming that airs on the weekends, like the inspirational story about a little boy’s bike accident by Louisville’s WLKY.
In Arizona, every TV station in the state simultaneously aired a special about heroin produced by Arizona State University.
WGAL in Lancaster, Pa., regularly produces and airs town hall meetings.
KING in Seattle has a long-running comedy special that airs after Saturday Night Live.
What is new and unusual is when local TV stations produce regularly-scheduled, multi-episode, unscripted reality programming.
And why not? TV stations have the experienced television production staff and technical tools to do almost any kind of television show.
WTVO in Rockford, Ill., had great success airing a teen TV quiz show on Sundays.
Or The Valley, a half-hour teen reality show produced by WBDT, the CW affiliate in Dayton, Ohio.
The Valley aired eight episodes on Sunday nights, following six high school graduates as they prepare for the next big step in their lives.
In September, WVBT, the Media General-owned, Fox affiliate licensed to Virginia Beach but serving all of southeastern Virginia and the Outer Banks, is launching its own reality show called, I Got This.
I Got This follows 6 people who want to change their lives.
Increasingly, TV stations are looking to control their own programming destiny so as not to be held hostage by syndication.
“We view this as the next possibility for local broadcasting,” says Doug Davis, WVBT’s general manager.
“A local reality show with local characters, that tells a specific story locally.”
Davis says I Got This is slated to air 8 episodes on Mondays in prime access at 7:30.
“Putting it in prime access feels like the right fit,” says Davis. Prime access is usually the domain of syndicated programming.
“This is the next investment in what’s next for us.”
“Shooting starts on June 29 and will shoot straight through July and August,” says Stephanie Cooke, the show’s executive producer.
Cooke estimates shooting 8-10 hours of footage that will be edited down to 22 minutes for each episode, a Herculean task in reality television production.
Especially when you consider that Cooke already produces a daily weekday life-style show on WAVY, the NBC affiliate and sister station to WVBT in the market.
“It’s all about the story,” says Cooke, when asked what she’s looking for in I Got This.
“Where the people come from, who they are and what their story is. We’re looking for people who are characters, with a good story to tell.”
To market I Got This, Davis says he’ll “use both our TV stations and their existing websites, which is a pretty big megaphone. We’ll slowly introduce the characters this summer, before the show starts in September.”
Davis points out that the station’s owner, Media General, is very supportive of the initiative given that another Media General station, WBDT Dayton, Ohio, last year launched The Valley, a teen reality show.
“They had great success last year and are in Season 2,” says Davis. “Both shows are about journeys, but ours is a life journey, with a broader age and life experience of contestants.”
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