NBCU's The Steve Wilkos Show Secures Season Two

NBC Universal's The Steve Wilkos Show was renewed for season two, with clearances in more than 85% of the country, said Barry Wallach, president of NBCU Domestic Television Distribution, at the annual gathering of the National Association of Television Program Executives in Las Vegas Wednesday.

Station groups renewing the show include Tribune, Sinclair Broadcast Group, Fox, LIN TV and Sunbeam Television, with Tribune renewals including top-market stations WPIX New York, KTLA Los Angeles, WGN Chicago and WPHL Philadelphia. Top Sinclair stations picking up the show for season two include WTTA Tampa, Fla.; WNUV Baltimore; WTTE Columbus, Ohio; and WLFL Raleigh, N.C., and Fox-owned stations extending their deal include WFTC Minneapolis and KUTP Phoenix.

Wilkos tends to be paired with NBCU's Maury and Jerry Springer, giving stations consistent talk blocks in daytime that pull strong young-adult demographics.

The Steve Wilkos Show is taped in front of a live studio audience at WMAQ Chicago. Richard Dominick serves as the executive producer of both Steve Wilkos and Jerry Springer.

Paige Albiniak

Contributing editor Paige Albiniak has been covering the business of television for more than 25 years. She is a longtime contributor to Next TV, Broadcasting + Cable and Multichannel News. She concurrently serves as editorial director for The Global Entertainment Marketing Academy of Arts & Sciences (G.E.M.A.). She has written for such publications as TVNewsCheck, The New York Post, Variety, CBS Watch and more. Albiniak was B+C’s Los Angeles bureau chief from September 2002 to 2004, and an associate editor covering Congress and lobbying for the magazine in Washington, D.C., from January 1997 - September 2002.