Local Late Night Show Exits Stage Right

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All good things must come to an end.

That's the case with WCAX-TV's locally-run and produced “Late Night Saturday,” hosted by Tim Kavanagh, a WCAX salesman, actor and standup comic.

Kavanagh emailed friends and supporters over the weekend to dispense the bad news. There will be no season four. At least not this fall. Kavanagh said tapings for the weekly show are being suspended indefinitely.

"The turbulent state of our economy has claimed many victims and our locally-produced show is now one of them," he wrote. "In the three years and 100 episodes that we produced, we witnessed a show that went from an idea to becoming a well-respected, well-viewed and an internationally award-winning program."

Kavanagh said he was proud of the show's accomplishments, and that it helped keep up WCAX-TV's tradition as a local broadcaster.

"LNS managed to remind the local industry what broadcast was intended to be ... local," he wrote. "My hope is that with the success of LNS, local programming will make a TV comeback for all to enjoy."

For now, Kavanagh told fans, the show will technically remain on the air. It will run previously recorded episodes and the crew is working on a few new episodes. Those new shows will mainly be highlight reels from its 100 episodes.

Station Vice President of Operations Alex Martin said the decision to put the show on hiatus was a difficult one for the family-owned affiliate.

"The decision was hard to come to because local programming is something we pride ourselves on, but those kinds of shows, in particular, are resource-intensive to produce," said Martin. "We just couldn't justify it from an economic standpoint, which is too bad because Tim is a great personality and he did a lot of great things with the show."

Back in June, the show got a nice mention in Better Homes & Gardens. LNS was plugged as one of a few shows where you can hear the words, “live before a studio audience!” And, in Burlington there's no line to get in as there are in LA or NYC.

“It all makes for a small-town version of a big-time TV talk show, complete with Kavanagh picking a viewer to be his on-stage sidekick for a night,” noted BH&G.

The show taped every other week inside Alumni Auditorium at Champlain College since late 2006. LNS just aired its 100th episode on May 16, capping its third season on the air.

Comments

[Amber LeMay]

Tim and LNS presented and supported local talent - the show will be missed. http://houseoflemay.blog-city.com/good_night_to_late_night_saturday.htm

[mae roberts]

I am very sad about this show closing, We need Tim, what a wonderful man to represent us, what could I do to help bring it back. I will bring people, Could we interview Ceo and have them take on a musical challenge with bait for another Ceo to fun compete or something to help people enjoy people. I will help. Tim we love you and need you. We could even help all families adapt to have it not be a burden. Let me help. Let's be home!