Listen Live
St. Jude Radiothon 2024
CLOSE

Steve Harvey and Ted Harbert go way back — all the way to 1994, when Harbert, then president for entertainment at ABC, ordered a Harvey-led sitcom called “Me and the Boys.” The sitcom failed, as most do.

But in 2011, “when my name came across his desk, he remembered me,” Harvey said this month, sounding appreciative still.

At the time Mr. Harbert, the new chairman of NBC Broadcasting, needed ideas for his stations’ flagging daytime schedules. When his staff members handed him a page-and-a-half-long list of names of possible syndicated talk-show hosts, Harvey’s name stood out.

Today both men are thankful it did. Since its September debut “Steve Harvey” has been the surprise hit of daytime TV, averaging a rating of 0.9 among women ages 25 to 54. It’s been gathering steam, posting a 1.0 rating in February, enough to tie Katie Couric’s syndicated talk show for the first time. Harvey’s show is already posting a slight profit, according to Endemol, the company that produces it for NBC, which then sells it to stations across the country.

“Frankly,” Mr. Harbert said, “it’s hard to get real solid wins in the television business these days, and this is just a solid win.”

CLICK HERE to read story

article courtesy of Joy105.com

Leave a Reply