''American Journal'' (alternately titled ''American Journal: Coast to Coast'' for its final season; also known as ''AJ'') is a

syndicated television Broadcast syndication is the practice of content owners leasing the right to broadcast their content to other television stations or radio stations, without having an official broadcast network to air it on. It is common in the United States whe ...

newsmagazine A news magazine is a typed, printed, and published magazine, radio, or television program, usually published weekly, consisting of articles about current events. News magazines generally discuss stories in greater depth than newspapers or new ...

program that ran from 1993 to 1998. The series was distributed by

King World Productions King World Productions, Inc. (also known as King World Entertainment, King World Enterprises, or simply King World) was a production company and syndicator of television programming in the United States founded by Charles King (1912–72) that ...

. It was hosted by Nancy Glass from its fall 1993 launch until 1997, when siblings Michele Dabney Perez and former newscaster-turned-talk show host

Charles Perez Charles Dabney, known professionally as Charles Perez, is an American writer and television news reporter, anchor and talk show host. He served as the host of ''The Charles Perez Show'' from 1994 to 1996. Career Perez was in the news business ...

took over for the show's final season on air. The show's tagline was "Stories Worth Watching".

History

American Journal was created by King World as a companion to its ''

Inside Edition ''Inside Edition'' is an American tabloid television program that is distributed in Broadcast syndication, first-run syndication by CBS Media Ventures. Having premiered on January 9, 1989, it is the longest-running syndicated-newsmagazine progr ...

'' program and debuted on September 6, 1993. In early 1996, as an attempt to grow in the 18-34 demographic, the show tried then aborted plans to add an "Off the Hook" segment; King World would try again with "Team A.J." coverage strands in the fourth season helmed by Karen Duffy and Steve Santagati. By 1996, it was cleared on 124 stations serving 86 percent of the United States.Spring, Greg. "King World's 'AJ' gets hip to young viewers." ''Electronic Media'' July 15, 1996: 4-5. King World often packaged the series with an existing magazine distributed by the same syndicator, ''

'', which is still on the air today and has outlasted a number of in-house and outside competitors. The theme song throughout the show's run was an arrangement by Rick Krizman of the Shaker tune "

Simple Gifts "Simple Gifts" is a Shaker song written and composed in 1848, generally attributed to Elder Joseph Brackett from Alfred Shaker Village. It became widely known when Aaron Copland used its melody for the score of Martha Graham's ballet ''Appal ...

." In the show's final season, it had a 4.1 rating and 11 share (in February 1998). The low ratings were chalked up to a glut of similar programs, such as the since-cancelled '' A Current Affair'', and ''

Hard Copy In information handling, the U.S. Federal Standard 1037C (Glossary of Telecommunication Terms) defines a hard copy as a permanent reproduction, or copy, in the form of a physical object, of any media suitable for direct use by a person (in par ...

'' (which would be canceled after the 1998–99 season due to being aired in mostly low-rated or overnight time slots by that point), expanding

local news In journalism, local news refers to coverage of events, by the news, in a local context that would not be of interest to another locality, or otherwise be of national or international scope. Local news, in contrast to national or international new ...

(especially in the 5 p.m. hour) reducing the number of available evening time slots for the show, and the show's typical airing in a time slot opposite perennial ratings powerhouses '' Wheel of Fortune'' and ''

Jeopardy! ''Jeopardy!'' is an American television game show created by Merv Griffin. The show is a quiz competition that reverses the traditional question-and-answer format of many quiz shows. Rather than being given questions, contestants are instead g ...

'' (also distributed by King World). While King World already had commitments from stations serving 62 percent of the country to carry ''AJ'' in the fall of 1998, one year earlier, 11 of the stations owned by Belo picked up the syndicated ''

Hollywood Squares ''Hollywood Squares'' (originally ''The Hollywood Squares'', later stylized as ''H2: Hollywood Squares'') is an American game show in which two contestants compete in a game of tic-tac-toe to win cash and prizes. The show originally aired as a ...

'' for the fall of 1998; which would have displaced ''American Journal'' to overnight

graveyard slot A graveyard slot (or death slot) is a time period in which a television audience is very small compared to other times of the day, and therefore broadcast programming is considered far less important. Graveyard slots are usually situated in the ea ...

.Spring, Greg. "Strong 'Squares' to block 'American Journal'." ''Electronic Media'' October 20, 1997: 2. Faced with falling ratings and the potential loss of prime viewing slots, King World canceled the show after a five-year run.

On-air staff

Anchors

* Nancy Glass - main anchor (1993–1997) *Michele Dabney-Perez - co-anchor (1997–1998) *

- co-anchor (1997–1998)

Correspondents

Les Trent, New York; Stacey Gualandi, Los Angeles; Rhonda Guess, Los Angeles;

Kit Hoover Catherine "Kit" Hoover (born July 29, 1970) is an American Television presenter, television host, sports commentator, sportscaster and broadcast journalism, broadcast journalist currently serving as the anchor of ''Access Hollywood'', and co-host ...

, New York; Jonathan Karsh, Los Angeles.

References

External links

* {{Commons category, American Journal 1993 American television series debuts 1998 American television series endings 1990s American television news shows Entertainment news shows in the United States First-run syndicated television programs in the United States Television series by King World Productions American English-language television shows