The Morning Exchange was a daily morning TV show that aired on WEWS-TV Channel 5 in Cleveland, Ohio from 1972 to 1999. The program is widely regarded as one of the most successful local programs in the history of US television. On a typical day in the 1970s, over 2/3 of all TV sets in Cleveland were tuned to The Morning Exchange. In 1975, the Morning Exchange format served as the basis for the creation of ABC's Good Morning America. WEWS-TV, NewsChannel5 is the local ABC network affiliate in Cleveland, Ohio. ... Nickname: The Forest City Motto: Progress and Prosperity Official website: www. ... 1972 (MCMLXXII) was a leap year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1972 calendar). ... 1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ... The 1970s decade refers to the years from 1971 to 1980, inclusive. ... 1975 (MCMLXXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1975 calendar). ... The American Broadcasting Company (ABC) is a television and radio network in the United States. ... Good Morning America or GMA is the weekday morning news talk show of the American Broadcasting Company television network (ABC). ...

History

The Morning Exchange changed the face of morning television. The Morning Exchange was the first morning show to use a "living room" set. The format also was the first to establish the now familiar concept of news and weather at the top and bottom of the hour. The remainder of the time was used for discussing general interest/entertainment topics. In a 2006 interview, Ken Lowe, the CEO of Scripps-Howard Broadcasting said, "The Morning Exchange was a huge risk that Don [Perris] took at the time. A lot of people thought that he was out of his mind when he suggested a morning show of that nature. Of course, we all know that [the show's format] went on to become [the standard for all of today's network morning shows.]" Griffith talked about the ground-breaking format in a 2006 interview saying, "We talked about death, sexuality, dealing with career choices, how to establish long lasting relationships, we talked about all those kinds of things that are just routine now, but [at the time] we were pioneers." 2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

The show, originally called The Alan Douglas Morning Exchange, was created by Donald L. Perris and William F. Baker as an alternative to the solely news-based morning shows at the time. Originally, when the show debuted, a traditional news desk set was used and the show was hosted by Alan Douglas. Don Webster was the announcer and did some of the show's interviews and Joel Rose read the news. In March of 1972, Don Webster briefly left the station and he was replaced by Liz Richards who became a co-host and the weather presenter. In July, Douglas left the station and was replaced by Fred Griffith, a member of the station's news department since 1966. The choice of Griffith as a co-host of the show was only meant to be temporary, but Griffith remained a co-host throughout the remainder of the program's history. 1972 (MCMLXXII) was a leap year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1972 calendar). ... 1966 (MCMLXVI) was a common year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1966 calendar). ...

In August of 1972, a decision was made to replace the news desk set with a set that resembled a suburban living room and Griffith, Richards, and Rose would instead recline on couches. Producers felt that this would make viewers feel more relaxed and comfortable. This idea proved to be correct and the format became more relaxed as the hosts developed chemistry on screen. As a result, many viewers felt that the TV set was an extension of their own living room and that the personalities were a part of their family. Morning Exchange quickly became extremely popular, with an average of 67% of television viewers tuning in each day. 1972 (MCMLXXII) was a leap year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1972 calendar). ...

The format was so successful that ABC used The Morning Exchange as the pilot for the nationally broadcast Good Morning America, replacing the struggling A.M. America. The format quickly caught on and soon GMA topped The Today Show on NBC. Soon thereafter, both NBC and CBS adopted the format for their morning shows. Good Morning America or GMA is the weekday morning news talk show of the American Broadcasting Company television network (ABC). ... Good Morning America or GMA is the weekday morning news talk show of the American Broadcasting Company television network (ABC). ... Today is an American morning news and talk show airing weekday mornings on the NBC television network. ... NBC, the National Broadcasting Company, is an American television and radio network based in New York Citys Rockefeller Center. ... NBC, the National Broadcasting Company, is an American television and radio network based in New York Citys Rockefeller Center. ... CBS (an abbreviation for Columbia Broadcasting System, the former legal name of the network) is one of the largest television networks, and formerly one of the largest radio networks, in the United States. ...

A promotional photo of The Morning Exchange cast from the 80s. (Back: Jenny Crimm, Fred Griffith, weatherman Dan Maly, Front: Joel Rose, Lee Jordan)

On March 16, 1979 in an emotional episode, a tear-filled Richards left the show in order to care for her children. She was replaced by Jan Jones. Jones became a consultant for WEWS in 1983 and left the show. In 1984, Rose took a new job in Boston. Randi Hall became the new co-host of show for a year and a half. The news segment updates were now delivered by either Jenny Crimm or Lou Maglio. However, unlike Rose, Crimm and Maglio simply read the news and were not co-hosts. Lee Jordan became the new co-host shortly after Hall left. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (836x923, 64 KB) Summary Promotional Photo from the 1980s of WEWSs The Morning Exchange Licensing This is a copyrighted image that has been released by a company or organization to promote their work or product in the media, such... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (836x923, 64 KB) Summary Promotional Photo from the 1980s of WEWSs The Morning Exchange Licensing This is a copyrighted image that has been released by a company or organization to promote their work or product in the media, such... This page refers to the year 1979. ... 1983 (MCMLXXXIII) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1984 (MCMLXXXIV) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

From 1976 - 1982 and then again from 1988 through the show's end, Lynda Hirsch provided recaps and previews of television soap operas. She developed such a reputation on the show, she was given her own national syndicated newspaper column. 1976 (MCMLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 1976 calendar). ... 1982 (MCMLXXXII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1988 (MCMLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

David Moss (now with Cleveland station WJW) was Morning Exchange's entertainment reporter from 1985 - 1993. In 1990 John Loufman (now with Cleveland station WOIO) joined the cast and provided weather reports and a number of live shots. In 1993, both Maglio and Moss left the show for new positions at WJW, while Loufman left for WKYC (and later, WJW). Loufman was replaced by Mark Johnson. Later in 1993, Lee Jordan moved from the co-host position of Morning Exchange to a position in WEWS's news department. She would later go on to become a co-host of the afternoon news program Live On Five, replacing longtime anchor Wilma Smith - who also went to WJW. Jordan was replaced by former WKYC anchor Connie Dieken. WJW, also known on-air as FOX8, is a television station in Cleveland, Ohio, broadcasting on VHF channel 8. ... This article is about the year. ... 1993 (MCMXCIII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar and marked the Beginning of the International Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination (1993-2003). ... This article is about the year. ... WOIO, Clevelands CBS19 is a television station in Cleveland, Ohio. ... 1993 (MCMXCIII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar and marked the Beginning of the International Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination (1993-2003). ... WJW, also known on-air as FOX8, is a television station in Cleveland, Ohio, broadcasting on VHF channel 8. ... WKYC-TV is Clevelands affiliate for NBC and is owned by Gannett. ... WJW, also known on-air as FOX8, is a television station in Cleveland, Ohio, broadcasting on VHF channel 8. ... 1993 (MCMXCIII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar and marked the Beginning of the International Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination (1993-2003). ... WJW, also known on-air as FOX8, is a television station in Cleveland, Ohio, broadcasting on VHF channel 8. ... WKYC-TV is Clevelands affiliate for NBC and is owned by Gannett. ...

Morning Exchange's Decline

The "beginning of the end" for The Morning Exchange came in 1994. WEWS had, since 1978, aired just one hour of Good Morning America from 7 to 8 a.m. and then The Morning Exchange from 8 to 10 a.m.. ABC, struggling with the mid-90s decline of Good Morning America, could not pitch to sponsors that the show was broadcast in the top 25 markets. The only market not broadcasting the full show was Cleveland, at the time the 13th largest market. Therefore, ABC stuck a deal with Scripps-Howard, giving the company a large kickback in exchange for broadcasting the full 2 hours of GMA. 1994 (MCMXCIV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International year of the Family. ... 1978 (MCMLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (the link is to a full 1978 calendar). ... Scripps Center, the corporate headquarters in Cincinnati, Ohio. ...

That move was devastating to The Morning Exchange. It was pushed back to 9-11 a.m., missing the commuter rush hour crowd. Additionally, the show's original target audience, stay-at-home women, had nearly disappeared since the show's debut as more women entered the workforce. Rush hour at Tokyo Station, Yamanote Line A rush hour is a part of the day with busy traffic and hence traffic congestion on the roads and crowded public transport; normally the two periods in a day when people are travelling to or from work or school. ...

Fred Griffith signs off from the Morning Exchange one final time on the program's last broadcast on September 10, 1999.

In 1997, WEWS began to air Live with Regis and Kathie Lee from 9-10 a.m. and The Morning Exchange from 10 a.m.-noon. However, it was interrupted half way through with the then 30-minute Martha Stewart show. Image File history File links This is a screen capture from The Morning Exchange on September 10, 1999. ... Image File history File links This is a screen capture from The Morning Exchange on September 10, 1999. ... 1997 (MCMXCVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Categories: TV Spin-offs | Television talk shows | Television stubs ... Martha Stewart (born August 3, 1941) is a business magnate, entrepreneur, and home-making advocate. ...

The logo of Today's Morning Exchange

In 1998, major changes occurred when the show's title was changed to Today's Morning Exchange and reduced to one hour in an atempt to save the decining show. Fred Griffith, was "demoted" to a simple field reporter and Mark Johnson took his place, along with former FOX 8 in the Morning host Robin Swoboda. The resulting show was far from the program viewers were used to and ratings suffered even more. Image File history File links WewsTodaysMx. ... Image File history File links WewsTodaysMx. ... 1998 (MCMXCVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. ... WJW, also known on-air as FOX8, is a television station in Cleveland, Ohio, broadcasting on VHF channel 8. ...

In 1999, WEWS announced that after 27 years, The Morning Exchange would be going off the air. The last program featured "MX Moments" from over the years as well as live interviews with some of the hosts of morning shows that used the MX format, including Good Morning America and Live with Regis. When Charles Gibson of GMA came on, he told Fred Griffith, "How very odd," referring to the fact that The Morning Exchange helped to create Good Morning America and now essentially, GMA led to the downfall of MX. 1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ... Charles Gibson Charles (Charlie) Gibson (born March 9, 1943) is an American television journalist, best known as co-host of Good Morning America on ABC from January 1987 to May 1998 and from January 1999 to the present. ...

External link

• Morning Exchange To Go Off The Air Sept. 10 - NewsNet5.com, June 29, 1999 - Announcement of the program's cancellation