EyeOpener (U.S. TV program)
EyeOpener is an American syndicated morning news program produced by Tribune Broadcasting that premiered on May 9, 2011. The program utilizes a local/national hybrid format billed as a "provocative and unpredictable" combination of general and political news, health, entertainment, technology and opinion segments, mixed with humor and variety elements; stations carrying the program are given the option to provide news, weather and traffic inserts focusing on their local market each half-hour. As of 2015, the program is currently hosted by Oliver Tull and Brooke Thomas, with Kevin Roth serving as news anchor for the program's national update rundown segment "Need to Know".
History
The idea for the program was conceived by Tribune Company chief innovation officer Lee Abrams (who resigned in October 2010 following employee complaints surrounding an inappropriate company-wide e-mail). In the spring of 2011, Tribune Broadcasting developed a concept for a morning news program intended for stations owned by the company that did not maintain existing news departments. The program, which was given the title EyeOpener, would incorporate a local/national format (with the intent to syndicate the program to other markets) similar to that of morning news programs on the major broadcast television networks, with three-minute-long national segments conducted in a more free-form style. Steve Charlier, senior vice president of news at Tribune Broadcasting, described the program as a platform in which "comedy meets national news," designed to distinguish itself and stations carrying the program by offering a morning show that stands out from its traditionally formatted competitors.
