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Monday, October 05, 2009

Will Dr. Phil return to Houston TV after 2011?

I told you at the start of the new TV season last month that Dr. Phil was no longer on KPRC Channel 2 in Houston. Now Broadcasting and Cable tells us a little more about Dr. Phil's Houston cancellation - it came from the bosses at Post Newsweek which owns Channel 2:

KPRC decided to remove Dr. Phil from its schedule due to disappointment with sliding ratings and disagreement over the show’s content, said Post-Newsweek President Alan Frank. The station is continuing to pay the show’s license fees, although it is not airing the show’s national commercials, which are sold by CTD and provide additional income to the syndicator.

“It’s out of desperation that I did this,” said Frank, who said he’s personally met with show star and executive producer Dr. Phil McGraw to try and get his concerns resolved. “I did everything but stand on my head to get [CBS’] attention over the years.”

In response, CTD says it’s puzzled by KPRC’s actions: "The facts are that KRPC has a contractual obligation to pay for the show through 2011,” said a company spokesman. “We have listened to the station's comments about the show and we are as proud of the content and direction as we've ever been. We are confused by the station's actions." READ MORE

So the way I read this is that Dr. Phil will not be on in Houston until the KPRC 2 contract runs out in 2011. It's hard to tell from the article though.

It was another doctor that replaced Dr. Phil. That would be Dr. Oz. According to Broadcasting and Cable, Dr. Oz is up 13% in its Houston time period versus August 2009. Dr. Oz has hit the ground running in Houston.  He was just here at a big medical event at Reliant Center.

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