A era ends tonight....

[brianhenke]

Today marks an end of an era, as six (or seven) Scripps stations air their final episode of Wheel of Fortune.
 
    At least one of these stations - WCPO in Cincinnati - has aired the show since it debuted in syndication in 1983.
(I was in high school then!). I remember CINCINNATI OHIO as a Bonus Round puzzle, and CINCINNATI REDS as a puzzle during Ohio Week (from the Ohio State Fair) in 1997 and again on April 15, 2010. As I stated earlier here, WXIX (Fox19) takes over Wheel and J! come September.
 
    The stations - in Cincinnati, Cleveland, Phoenix, Baltimore, Tampa-St. Petersburg, and Tulsa - will air Let's Ask America and The List as Wheel and J! replacements starting in September.
 
   Brian

[Offshored2007]

And in October, all these stations will regret the decision Scripps made for them.

[clemon79]

And in October, all these stations will regret the decision Scripps made for them.

Not if they're operating at a greater profit than they were before.

[Don Howard]

WCPO in Cincinnati - has aired the show since it debuted in syndication in 1983.

As has WEWS-TV in Cleveland. WOF replaced The New You Asked For It on August 29th with a week of shows from the Ohio State Fair and made its official debut on September 5th on that channel at the 7:00 hour.
Wikipedia insists that the premiere was on September 19th and I tried a couple of times to change it to the 5th, but then somebody came along later and changed it back so I gave up.

[J.R.]

Today marks an end of an era, as six (or seven) Scripps stations air their final episode of Wheel of Fortune.

And in October, all these stations will regret the decision Scripps made for them.

Will grief counseling be available during this period of tragedy?

[PYLdude]

And in October, all these stations will regret the decision Scripps made for them.

Not if they're operating at a greater profit than they were before.

...at the expense of ratings, which I'm sure will result in lost ad dollars.

[TLEberle]

And in October, all these stations will regret the decision Scripps made for them.

Not if they're operating at a greater profit than they were before.

...at the expense of ratings, which I'm sure will result in lost ad dollars.

Which is why you don't look at the gross, you look at the delta. If you are making more profit with Option B than A, then you change from A to B.

[clemon79]

Which is why you don't look at the gross, you look at the delta. If you are making more profit with Option B than A, then you change from A to B.

This precisely.

[WarioBarker]

WCPO in Cincinnati - has aired the show since it debuted in syndication in 1983.

As has WEWS-TV in Cleveland. WOF replaced The New You Asked For It on August 29th with a week of shows from the Ohio State Fair and made its official debut on September 5th on that channel at the 7:00 hour.

I'm a bit confused -- Wheel did road shows before 1988?

Wikipedia insists that the premiere was on September 19th and I tried a couple of times to change it to the 5th, but then somebody came along later and changed it back so I gave up.

For the record, most stations debuted the show on September 12 or 19, mostly the latter. Makes me wonder just when they began taping (had to have been after they replaced Thicke's music with Merv's; from what I've read, that began August .

[Vahan_Nisanian]

It might have been in June or July 1983, as far as taping is concerned. Not sure about airing.

Check out this interesting account from a former Syndie Wheel contestant. He seems to imply that the syndicated edition started production in the summer of 1983. According to his recollection, he was on the 52nd episode of season 1:

http://www.schindler.org/jepwheel.htm

[Jimmy Owen]

In Flint, we got the first week of syndie WOF in late August 83.

[aaron sica]

   At least one of these stations - WCPO in Cincinnati - has aired the show since it debuted in syndication in 1983.

I believe WMAR in Baltimore has also aired the show since Fall 1983 as well.....

[jjman920]

I remember reading how in the 1980's WMAR, which was an NBC affiliate at the time, dropped Johnny Carson in favor of Alan Thicke. Yeah. This is reminding me of that.

I guess there are times when you've got to go out on a limb.

I'll probably still turn it on Channel 210 come this September.