It's Not the Talent
/Tegna’s WUSA has been trying to make a splash with Anchors that they believe will draw in viewers.
WUSA hired away popular Anchor Annie Yu from WTTG. The Tegna station then added Allison Symore, also formally from WTTG.
Now, WUSA just added Wisdom Martin (again from WTTG) to their morning program, “Get Up DC.”
Despite the publicity push by WUSA, in Martin’s first week, WUSA’s morning show has not been able to crack 4th place in the ratings.
In the 25-54 demo, they barely dipped their toe into 3rd place for small parts of the early morning.
You would think that Tegna and WUSA would figure out that the problem does not lie with the talent. You could have Jane Pauly and Bryant Gumble in their prime hosting that show, and it would still tank in the ratings.
FTVLive has watched “Get Up DC” and I can tell you, that the show is not produced very well. Viewers don’t give a crap about the “question of the morning.”
Viewers want real news, what the weather is going to be like, and are there any traffic problems they need to know about.
WUSA is serving up a fluff sandwich in the morning when viewers are looking for meat.
It’s time for WUSA to stop hoping that talent will bring in viewers and start focusing on the product that are putting out to the viewers.