EyeOpener (U.S. TV program)
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

''Eye Opener'' (sometimes ''EyeOpener'' or ''Eye Opener TV'') is an American syndicated morning news program produced by
Nexstar Media Group Nexstar Media Group, Inc. is an American publicly traded media company with headquarter offices in Irving, Texas; Midtown Manhattan; and Chicago, Illinois. The company is the largest television station owner in the United States, owning 197 te ...
that premiered on May 9, 2011 and ended on June 21, 2017. The program utilized a local/national hybrid format billed as a "provocative and unpredictable" combination of general and political news, health, entertainment, technology and opinion segments, mixed with humor and variety elements; stations carrying the program are given the option to provide news, weather and traffic inserts focusing on their local market each half-hour. At the show's conclusion, it was hosted by Laila Muhammad, Oliver Tull, Neeha Curtis, Hilary Kennedy, Allyn Hoang, Courtenay DeHoff and Kevin Roth, who was also the show's meteorologist.


History

The idea for the program was conceived by Tribune Company chief innovation officer Lee Abrams (who resigned in October 2010). In the spring of 2011, Tribune Broadcasting developed a concept for a morning news program intended for stations owned by the company that did not maintain existing news departments. The program, which was given the title ''Eye Opener'', would incorporate a local/national format (with the intent to syndicate the program to other markets) similar to that of morning news programs on the major broadcast television networks, with three-minute-long national segments conducted in a more free-form style. Steve Charlier, senior vice president of news at Tribune Broadcasting, described the program as a platform in which "comedy meets national news," designed to distinguish itself and stations carrying the program by offering a morning show that stands out from its traditionally formatted competitors. The program debuted as a test run on May 9, 2011 on Tribune-owned CW affiliate KIAH in Houston, Texas – which maintained a news department, but only carried twice-daily evening newscasts – replacing syndicated programs and
infomercial An infomercial is a form of television commercial that resembles regular TV programming yet is intended to promote or sell a product, service or idea. It generally includes a toll-free telephone number or website. Most often used as a form of dire ...
s in the two-hour timeslot (from 6:00 to 8:00 a.m.); the program's national segments – originally hosted by Kirby O'Connell, Sean Dowling and Adam Lee Campbell – were initially produced in studio facilities at the Tribune Tower in Chicago, which also serves as the corporate headquarters for the Tribune Company. The program was originally hosted by Kirby O’Connell, Sean Dowling (who served as news anchor) and Adam Lee Campbell (who handled consumer, technology and
pop culture Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop!, a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Albums * Pop (Gas al ...
-related reports), with the hosts appearing in more casual attire. In addition to news, health and parenting advice segments, the program initially also featured more irreverent and humorous features including a how-to segment conducted by a "hunky handyman" character named "Wrench," a commentary segment by
Roger Lodge Roger Lodge (born March 12, 1960) is an American TV game show host, game-show and sports-radio host and actor. He is known for hosting the syndicated dating show ''Blind Date (US TV series), Blind Date''. Lodge's acting credits include appearance ...
and a social media segment by "Monsignor Jebediah O'Flaherty," a character used as part of a segment lampooning celebrity tweets. On October 31, 2011, production of the program's national segments was relocated to the studios of Tribune's Dallas CW affiliate,
KDAF KDAF (channel 33) is a television station licensed to Dallas, Texas, United States, serving the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex with programming from The CW. It is owned and operated by network majority owner Nexstar Media Group (based in nearb ...
; the program largely overhauled its hosting staff with the relocation, with co-hosts Ellen Fox and Douglas Caballero, and sole holdover Dowling. The program concurrently began airing on KDAF and was also syndicated to fellow Tribune station, MyNetworkTV affiliate WPHL-TV in Philadelphia, later expanding to two of their sister stations – CW affiliates
KRCW-TV KRCW-TV (channel 32) is a television station licensed to Salem, Oregon, United States, serving as the CW outlet for the Portland area. It is owned and operated by network majority owner Nexstar Media Group alongside CBS affiliate KOIN (chann ...
in
Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...
and WSFL-TV in Miami (all three of which, unlike KDAF and KIAH, did not produce their own news programming) on January 2, 2012. These stations were chosen by Tribune for the initial national rollout of ''Eye Opener'' as they, as Charlier noted, "need to be growth markets" that also have a population skewing toward the program's 18-49 target audience, with plans to eventually syndicate the program to stations not owned by Tribune Broadcasting. By July 2012, in the Dallas, Philadelphia and Houston markets, ''Eye Opener'' saw an increase in viewers in the 25-54 demographic year-to-year in the program's scheduled time periods, whereas viewership in that demographic declined in Miami and Portland. In September 2012, ''Eye Opener'' began airing on MyNetworkTV affiliates KXNW in Fort Smith, Arkansas (which Tribune earlier acquired in November 2011) and WWMB in
Myrtle Beach, South Carolina Myrtle Beach is a resort city on the east coast of the United States in Horry County, South Carolina. It is located in the center of a long and continuous stretch of beach known as "The Grand Strand" in the northeastern part of the state. Its y ...
. ''Eye Opener'' expanded to weekends on September 20, 2014, with the premiere of an hour-long edition of Saturday and Sunday mornings on KDAF and KIAH.


Replacement by ''Morning Dose''

On June 15, 2017, Tribune Broadcasting announced the launch of ''Morning Dose'', a two-hour social media-focused morning show produced in partnership with Chicago-based digital content branding agency Dose, which will replace ''Eye Opener'' on the five Tribune stations carrying the latter program (KDAF, KIAH, WDCW, KRCW and WPHL), along with the group's Miami CW affiliate, WSFL-TV, on June 29. Hosted by Melissa Rycroft and
Gary Striewski Gary Lee Striewski (born January 11, 1987) is an anchor for ESPN best known for his work on '' SportsCenter'' and '' SportsCenter on Snapchat''. He graduated from Metropolitan State University of Denver in 2010. He is also a former sideline anchor ...
, with news segments anchored by Laila Muhammad (along with Hillary Kennedy, the only announced holdovers from ''Eye Opener''), the program featured a mix of news stories selected by Dose through its social storytelling and scientific trend methodology to " howcasethe content and advancing the stories that will drive the day’s social conversation.” On September 6, 2018, Tribune announced that ''Morning Dose'' would be cancelled effective October 19.


Affiliates

In August 2016, the ''Eye Opener'' website listed five stations, all of which are owned by
Nexstar Media Group Nexstar Media Group, Inc. is an American publicly traded media company with headquarter offices in Irving, Texas; Midtown Manhattan; and Chicago, Illinois. The company is the largest television station owner in the United States, owning 197 te ...
, that aired the program each weekday: * WPHL-TV/ Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (6:00-8:00 a.m. ET) * WDCW/ Washington, D.C. (6:00-8:00 a.m. ET) *
KDAF KDAF (channel 33) is a television station licensed to Dallas, Texas, United States, serving the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex with programming from The CW. It is owned and operated by network majority owner Nexstar Media Group (based in nearb ...
/ Dallas, Texas (5:00-8:00 a.m. CT) * KIAH/
Houston, Texas Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...
(5:00-8:00 a.m. CT) *
KRCW-TV KRCW-TV (channel 32) is a television station licensed to Salem, Oregon, United States, serving as the CW outlet for the Portland area. It is owned and operated by network majority owner Nexstar Media Group alongside CBS affiliate KOIN (chann ...
/ Portland, Oregon (6:00-8:00 a.m. PT)


See also

* ''
NewsFix ''NewsFix'' was an American television news program produced for CW affiliates KDAF in Dallas- Fort Worth, KIAH in Houston, Texas and WSFL-TV in Miami that originally premiered on March 19, 2011 on KIAH. The program – airing daily on the f ...
'' – a newsreel-style newscast airing on Tribune-owned KIAH in Houston and KDAF in Dallas-Fort Worth. * ''
The Daily Buzz ''The Daily Buzz'' (occasionally abbreviated ''"theDBZ"'') is a nationally syndicated news and infotainment program. The show premiered as a 3-hour weekday morning television show on September 16, 2002, initially airing on 10 stations owned and ...
'' – a similar syndicated morning program that ran from 2002 to 2015. * '' Independent Network News'' – a syndicated daily news program produced by Tribune that ran from 1980 to 1990, later known under the title ''USA Tonight''.


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Eye Opener (American TV series) Nexstar Media Group 2011 American television series debuts 2017 American television series endings 2010s American television news shows First-run syndicated television programs in the United States English-language television shows Television morning shows in the United States