Koon: gma/Daybreak "Tends to Grow on You"

Arkansas Times writer David Koon recently wrote an article about the nearly one month old, all female,(except Jason Harper) gma/Daybreak on KATV. In the article KATV News Director Dandy Dixon says "the change has been in the works for several months and is the brainchild of himself and Channel 7 general manager Dale Nicholson."

Dixon says, “We liked the idea of having two traditional broadcasters … but then to have two kind of non-broadcasters,” Dixon said. “It just happened that the two that we thought jelled the best happened to be women.” By going outside the field of broadcast pros for talent, Dixon said, he hopes the show will offer a different and interesting perspective. Asked if he thinks the all-female show might scare off the male audience, Dixon said, “From a content standpoint, the show shouldn’t alienate anybody.”

And on the subject of complaints Dixon has this to say: “I’ve gotten a lot of good comments on it and there’s some people who don’t like it,” Dixon said. “Part of the complaints are that they say it’s a bunch of women sitting around, but I think if they’d watch the program they’d see that that’s not what it is.”

Arkansas Times writer David Koons wrote this review of the program:

So, how is it? While clearly still a work in progress, for the most part the new “Daybreak” is surprisingly informative and fun. Does it seem like an awful lot of heads trying to fill a very small screen? Sure. But after watching the show for a while — and a few cups of coffee — the truth is: It tends to grow on you. While Mayo still seems a little stiff, Capri a little over-caffeinated and Kondo a little silent (I’m assuming that, like most print folks, Kondo thinks of exactly the right thing to say in a given situation just about four-and-a-half hours after the situation is over), their impromptu chats are getting more and more impromptu as the weeks roll on, giving the show pretty much the feel that Dixon and Co. seem to have been aiming for: like you’ve stumbled into an early morning coffee klatch — something KATV might build on by not having the quartet constantly bounce back and forth between the central desk and the more relaxed coffee-table-and-easy-chairs set.

On the downside, both Kondo and Capri (while both sincere and genuine, even laughing it off when they flub a line) need to go home, turn on the closed-captioning on their TVs, and read the dialogue until it doesn’t sound like they’re reading the dialogue. (I can’t gripe too much here, as the thought of reading something from a teleprompter gives me the out-and-out willies — which is why the only time you’ll ever see me on TV is when I inevitably get my turn, as all Arkansans eventually will, to tell a soaking-wet reporter that “the tornader sounded just like a freight train.”)

In the end, the success or failure of the new “Daybreak” will depend on whether people can get over their “View”-phobia and take a chance on it; which in turn depends on whether or not the four principals can continue coalescing into something resembling a group of friends who happen to work on the same TV show. In a situation so dependent on chemistry, the idea that these four are anything other than best pals might well sink the ship. For now, however, steady as she goes.

The complete article can be found HERE.

I guess the viewers will be the real judge and we'll all be able to see what they think when the ratings come out.