For NBC Daytime, It Takes an iVillage

By Allison Romano -- Broadcasting & Cable, 5/15/2006 7:59:00 AM

As expected, NBC’s O&O stations will launch a new daytime show in December, but there is a twist: NBC’s newly acquired women’s Web site, iVillage, will be intimately involved.

The show, called iVillage Live, will air on NBC’s O&Os and be streamed on iVillage.com. The program will center on women’s issues, from parenting to beauty, and air live from Universal Studio’s in Orlando, Fla.

There is no word from NBC on talent yet, but, as B&C reported in March, a pilot shot last year was hosted by Access Hollywood weekend co-anchor Tony Potts.

The program will help fill a void in syndication left by cancelled shows including The Jane Pauley Show and Starting Over.

The majority of NBC’s O&Os could schedule the program at 10 a.m., where it would flow nicely out of Today. Several stations, including WTVJ Miami and WCAU Philadelphia, already run local entertainment and talk shows and provided a model for the new groupwide program.