It’s O-Day +1. The first day in 25 years stations across the country are not airing “The Oprah Winfrey Show.” In Chicago, which is O-town, “Windy City Live” took to the air at 9am, with video of …. Oprah. “As Oprah ends 25 years and says goodbye, we say hello, Chicago,” said hosts Val Warner and Ryan Chiaverini, then in unison, “This is the very first Windy City Live!”

In Philadelphia, in Oprah’s old slot, it’s the new “Action News at 4,” with the same WPVI theme music used since 1972. New newscasts also debuted in New York, Raleigh and Atlanta and will later today in several other markets as well.

As stations around the country prepare to launch newscasts in Oprah’s long-held time slot, many are questioning the thinking behind replacing a syndicated juggernaut with an expansion of local news.

Pointing to WABC, a recent article in the New York Post lays it out plainly:

“Oprah” cost the station $60,000 an episode, or as much as $1.2 million a month, and while the large audience brought in buckets of advertising cash, the station had to share it with a syndication agent.

With the local news, it may be losing the $50,000 “Oprah” commanded for a local 30-second spot for something like $2,000 a spot during its local news, but it gets to keep all of the fewer ad dollars that roll in.

And producing an hour of news isn’t quite as pricey as buying “Oprah.”

While Madison Avenue experts wonder if, say, WABC’s decision to air a 4 p.m. newscast will pay off, stations are hoping that a post-”Oprah” world will be a profitable one.

The season of lasts continues on TV. Tonight is Mary Hart‘s final “Entertainment Tonight.”

During the final show, which was taped yesterday, Hart was surprised by former co-hosts Bob Goen, Rob Weller, and John Tesh.

Hart, who has been with the show since 1982, will be replaced by former “Access Hollywood” host Nancy O’Dell, who is a former reporter at WPDE-TV in her native Myrtle Beach, later morning news anchor WCBD-TV in Charleston, before moving to Miami’s WTVJ where she was an anchor/reporter.

There was Katie Couric last night. Next week Oprah Winfrey signs off, and two weeks after that, Meredith Vieira says goodbye to “Today” viewers.

And while Hart has been with the show longest, she wasn’t there from the start. To the way-back YouTube machine!

Read more

Cox, Raycom, and Scripps, who combined own and/or operate 70 stations across the country, announced this week that they are joining forces to launch a new syndicated show that will attempt to “reach a new generation of news viewers.”

The hour-long show, titled “RightThisMinute,” will try and capture the attention of the younger generation by incorporating social media, citizen journalists, and using unconventional approaches to storytelling.

“All three of the station group owners are known for producing news that appeals to a broad local audience,” said Brian Lawlor, senior vice president of television for Scripps. “‘RightThisMinute’ extends our expertise to an entirely new generation of viewers who have come to expect an interactive experience when accessing relevant news and information.” Read more

Dr. Anna Marie Chwastiak, who left ABC-affiliate WMAR in 2001, is back on Baltimore TV.

NBC-affiliate WBAL has picked up Chwastiak’s half-hour syndicated show “Your Life with Dr. Anna Marie.”

“Maryland has long been my home base and now, finally, I am coming home,” she told The Baltimore Sun. “I am excited about returning to Baltimore TV.”

After leaving WMAR, Chwastiak started her own production company and began developing “Your Life,” which now airs on stations across the country.

As she was departing WMAR, Chwastiak stirred up controversy when she began negotiating strategic partnerships with many of the institutions she had been covering. Read more

Anderson Cooper has been a hot item on the syndication market.  With a flurry of deal-making in December, the Warner Bros. show “Anderson” is set to close out the year with commitments from at least 80 stations.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Warner Bros. doubled the amount of cleared stations in the past 10 days, making “Anderson” a definite Go and possibly signaling the first syndication hit in the post-Oprah landscape.

Warner Bros. announced in September that they had signed a deal with Cooper to produce a one-hour daytime strip that would debut in Fall 2011.  In making the announcement, Warner Bros. was confident that they had the right talent to capitalize on the programming hole left by Oprah.  Read more