Factor, Jane Divorced from Slots

After two weeks on the air, the off-NBC syndicated version of  Fear Factor has been downgraded in Charlotte, N.C. (market No. 28).

WAXN is moving it from 5-6 p.m. to 11 p.m.-midnight, trading time periods with back-to-back episodes of Divorce Court, which had previously aired in the afternoons on the station.

"Fear Factor was not performing up to our expectations," said station president and GM Lee Armstrong, "so we thought we would move it to where it would do better."

Divorce Court got an upgrade in Jacksonville, Fla. (market No. 52), as well, also at the expense of an NBC Universal show, this time Jane Pauley. Both Charlotte and Jacksonville are Nielsen metered markets.

Starting Oct. 11, Gannettt NBC affiliate WTLV will move Pauley out of the 4 p.m. news lead-in spot to make way for back-to-back Divorce Courts, with Pauley taking Court's previous 3-4 p.m. slot.

WTLV President and GM Ken Tonning says the move is to help strengthen his news lead-in and to give Pauley a better chance up against less competition than the Ellen/Oprah one-two punch she was facing at 4-5 p.m.

John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.