EXCLUSIVE: New York staple Rosanna Scotto will have Jerry O’Connell as guest co-host on Fox 5’s Good Day New York next week. The stunt will serve dual purpose, I hear. In addition to O’Connell being a high-profile fill-in for the co-host chair alongside Scotto, which has been vacant since the recent departure of Curt Menefee, the third hour of the duo’s morning block will act as a trial run for a potential daily talk show headlined by Scotto and O’Connell for the Fox Television Stations, sources said.
The last hour of Good Day New York is well suited for that as it features lighter fare, including fashion, lifestyle and celebrities.
This is a modified (and more financially efficient) version of the model involving a multi-week test run on the Fox TV Stations for prospective talk shows that the major station group introduced in the late 2000s and employed through the 2010s. The top example of a talker that came out of the test runs is Debmar-Mercury’s The Wendy Williams Show, which ran on the Fox stations for 13 seasons. In summer 2019, the Fox stations also did a test run for Jerry O, a talk show hosted by O’Connell, which ultimately didn’t move forward.
In success, the Scotto-O’Connell talker would run across the Fox stations, which include Fox 5 as well as outlets in the top TV markets, including New York, Los Angeles and Chicago.
There is a vacancy in the Fox stations’ daytime lineup for next season as the group recently canceled The Wendy Williams Show‘s successor Sherri.
O’Connell, who has appeared with Scotto on Fox 5 as a guest a number of times, has extensive daytime talk show experience. He has been a frequent guest co-host on another talk show that originated as a morning program on a local New York station, Live with Kelly and Mark. He also was a co-host on CBS’ The Talk.
In addition to being a New York and Fox 5 institution, Scotto has a national profile from her frequent appearances on Fox News and Fox Business, including as a guest co-host on The Five.
Here is a promo of O’Connell’s Good Day New York stint: