RadioMatthew.com » Start Here

Daytime Emmy Award winner Montel Williams has been shown the door by CBS, wrapping up seventeen years in nationwide talk syndication broadcasting.

CBS Television Distribution decided in January not to renew the talk show after a controversial appearance on Fox News by Williams in which he criticized the lack of media exposure on the Iraq War in the wake of sensationalized news stories, such as the death of actor Heath Ledger. Following the appearance, many key Fox-owned television stations that had carried the show in syndication decided to opt-out of next season’s renewal.

The announcement came shortly after by CBS. Stations that had already signed on for next year’s show will instead be shown a “Best Of” series until the end of the Fall 2008-Spring 2009 television season. The show will be offered on an all-cash basis next season, which is favorable to local stations carrying the show since they’ve previously had to barter for as little as three minutes of ad time during the show’s timeslot.

Only one television station in California—KTTV Fox 11 in Los Angeles—both carries The Montel Williams Show and is a Fox owned-and-operated station. KTVU Fox 2 in Oakland is a network affiliate, but is operated by Cox Broadcasting, and therefore will likely carry the “Best Of” series next season. Local affiliate KOVR, a CBS owned-and-operated station, will also likely carry the “Best Of” series.

The Montel Williams Show will air its final episode May 16th.