Oprah leaves; what will KGO do?; KCBS' Bob Melrose best reporter?; Friday media pulse

KGO-TV, (ABC 7, SF) faces an important programming decision once the Oprah Winfrey show concludes play in Sept., 2011. Winfrey announced Thursday that she would end her successful syndicated talkie.

Like most ABC stations, the sudden void creates key decisions: program news, sign up a new independent talkie, (Tyra?) or develop broad-based local programming. Bet on news here in SF.

According to many sources, executives at the ABC stations that serve as Oprah's key station group have long said they will fill the time slots by expanding their local news. The ABC stations remain strong--even in today's tough environment--and are news leaders.

If ABC replaced the show with news, it could easily produce newscasts for much less than what it's paying for Oprah. Even if the ABC stations' ratings dropped in the Oprah time slots, the cost savings would likely make up for those declines.

KGO reportedly pays 240,000 per week in license fees for the show; KABC pays around $270,000.

Expect KGO to expand its local news and hope that ABC has a strong lead in at 3PM.

**KCBS' venerable and dependable Bob Melrose is the BEST reporter in the Bay Area, with a close nod to KTVU's Rita Williams.

Melrose, who has been at the CBS station since 1975, is the epitome of a hard-nosed street reporter who doesn't mind the audio grit of say, covering a major story in the Caldecott tunnel. Indeed, it was the fire inside the tunnel that killed four people in April of 1982 that was one of Melrose' signature performances; another that comes to mind was the Loma Prietta quake.

Then there's KTVU's Williams, who in a day when too much glitz and puff stories dominate local TV news, Williams no-nonsense, steady, pointed reporting is a welcome sight on a nightly basis. Williams network quality work is a testament to her craft--she could easily be a correspondent on 'Nightline and make it look easy.

**Sports note: the Big Game will not be available to Direct TV subscribers, so look for a local bar that caries Versus network if you're planning on watching Cal--Stanford and don't have Comcast.

Follow me on Twitter.