By LYNN ELBER
AP Television Writer
Sept 21 2005
LOS ANGELES AP) - The recycled news magazine "A Current Affair," which ran for a decade its first time around, was canceled after less than eight months because it failed to win over viewers, its producer announced Wednesday.
The Twentieth Television series, which launched in March with host Tim Green, will be replaced by "Geraldo at Large," a half-hour news show with Fox News Channel's Geraldo Rivera. It's also from Twentieth, a Fox TV unit.
"A Current Affair" will air through October. Rivera's show will take over its time slots on Fox owned-and-operated stations in November.
"We are very proud of the effort put forth into 'A Current Affair,' which displayed some exceptional work but has not resonated with audiences in the larger markets as well as we would have liked," Bob Cook, Twentieth's president and chief operating officer, said in a statement.
The syndicated series first aired from 1986 to 1996 with Maury Povich and Maureen O'Boyle serving as anchors. The new show debuted last March with Green, a former NFL player, author and Fox Sports commentator.
"A Current Affair" reported on many entertainment, crime and gossip stories during its 10 years on the air. Before the new version launched, Green said it would "look more like it did at its inception," meaning less scandal.
"I heard people describe it as an everyman's `60 Minutes,'" Green told The Associated Press in January.
The New York-based "Geraldo at Large" will air live each weekday covering news stories with correspondents and field reporters, according to Twentieth Television.
The series will be a "strong complement to our local stations' newscasts," Jack Abernethy, chief executive officer of Fox Television Stations Inc., said in a statement.
Rivera, who joined Fox News Channel in 2001 and is a correspondent and host of the Saturday evening show "At Large," will remain with the channel, a spokeswoman said Wednesday. He signed a new four-year contract in June.
He caused some controversy as a war correspondent. The Pentagon asked that he be taken out of Iraq following a report during the war where he outlined planned troop movements in the sand. Rivera apologized and said it was inadvertent.
Before joining Fox News, Rivera hosted the syndicated talk show "The Geraldo Rivera Show" and CNBC's "Rivera Live" and worked at ABC. He has won Peabody and Emmy awards.
The Fox Television Station group includes 35 stations in 26 markets that cover nearly half of U.S. television homes.
Broadcasting & Cable
Affair Ending; Geraldo Returns
By Jim Benson -- Broadcasting & Cable, 9/21/2005 8:50:00 PM
Twentieth Television today announced the long-rumored cancellation of A Current Affair, which it will replace with Geraldo at Large, a live, first-run strip hosted by Fox News Channel's Geraldo Rivera.
The new show will be produced in New York and distributed by Twentieth Television. It will slot into A Current Affair's time periods on Fox's O&Os when Affair goes off the air next month.
Fox has been expected to give its owned stations a more Fox News-like branding given the success of its cable news net. Fox News Channel architect Roger Ailes took over the station group several weeks ago, following the departure of former News Corp. Deputy COO and Station Group Chairman Lachlan Murdoch.
"News is a key driver for the Fox owned-and-operated stations and Geraldo at Large will serve as a strong complement to our local stations' newscasts," said Jack Abernethy, CEO of Fox Television Stations, in a statement.
"We are very proud of the effort put forth into A Current Affair, which displayed some exceptional work but has not resonated with audiences in the larger markets as well as we would have liked," said Bob Cook, president and COO of Twentieth Television, in the release.
According to one source, Twentieth went so far as to reunite staffers from the 1980s version, from producers to secretaries, to try and recapture the magic of the original Affair.
The show, which has been on for 26 weeks through last Friday. It averaged a 2.5 rating/5 share weighted metered market average for primary runs. Averaging in all runs would have produced an even lower number. As is, the show was down 26% from its average lead-in and down 22% from its year-ago time period average.
In the biggest markets, the performance was even less impressive. In New York it was underperforming its 6:30 p.m. year-ago time period by 53%, and was down from its year-ago time period by 37% in L.A. and 48% in Chicago.