End of a local television era as Channel 7 cancels 'AM Buffalo'

Buffalo, NY (WBEN) It's been a fixture on Channel 7's schedule for nearly six decades. But now, WKBW-TV has sent AM Buffalo into the sunset, cancelling the longtime morning program.

Through the years, AM Buffalo has welcomed guests from Hollywood stars to national and local politicians, a 'must stop' on any media tour through Buffalo.

The longtime program debuted in 1964 as "Dialing for Dollars."

WBBZ's John Di Sciullo described it as a local game show with public service commitments being fulfilled in other segments. "The late Liz Dribben said it was like 'The Today Show' meets 'The Price is Right,'" says Di Sciullo, who joined the show as producer in 1983. A viewer could win a cash prize by watching and, Di Sciullo says, every big city had such a local morning show with a similar format.

Di Sciullo says morning audiences were becoming smarter and wanted more than just a game element, leading to the new title "AM Buffalo" in 1978. "From there, they decided that it would become topic driven, not just the game, although they still had the jackpot call element," he notes.

Di Sciullo recalls one breakthrough topic AM Buffalo addressed that left a lasting impact. "Back when anorexia and bulimia were in the news, people tried to figure out what this was all about. A lot of people were very hesitant to even talk about that challenge that they may have had," says Di Sciullo. He decided with hosts Brian Kahle and Cindy Abbott they would do a whole hour about eating disorders. "We invited a studio audience and people willingly came to Channel 7, about 20-25 people and they talked about their concerns and we had a nutritionist and a doctor." He says a year later, the Anorexia and Bulimia association of Western New York was formed as a result of that show.

Senior Radio host Linda Pellegrino hosted "AM Buffalo" for 31 years. "It was a wonderful experience," she says. "We treated 'AM Buffalo' basically like a very loved child. It needed to be nurtured. It needed to be taken care of, and it needed to be supported. We had excellent people in front and behind the camera, and we had a big support from the station as far as promotion," adds Pellegrino.

Pellegrino says the show evolved into sponsored segments into the new millennium. "We hated it at first, because that wasn't who we were. But we understood that this was going to be the new landscape, so to speak. And so what we did was that we try to make it where if you are going to be on AM Buffalo, you are paying for a segment, what does the audience get out of it?," notes Pellegrino. She says the show would go out for the paid segment to where the service was, "showing everybody where this place was and what they had. So we felt like we were doing them a service."

Pellegrino says she has fond memories of celebrities stopping by "AM Buffalo." She says her fondest memory is meeting Doc Severinsen, the former "Tonight Show" bandleader. "When he came to town, before he would go and work with the Philharmonic he would come to 'AM Buffalo,'" says Pellegrino. She also was delighted to know Sarah Ferguson would ask for her personally during her visits to WNY.

Di Sciullo recalls fondly Regis Philbin. "We flew Regis In to appear on 'AM Buffalo.' We recorded a full hour with him. We gave him the key to the city. He appeared at the gourmet gala for the March of Dimes. He truly was one of the most engaging, affable, funny, sincere people. He'd talk to the crew, talk with the audience, talk to the talent, just the greatest guy ... he was my perfect guest," says Di Sciullo.

Is there a market for an "AM Buffalo" type program? Di Sciullo says audiences are changing. "The audiences are getting older for traditional media like radio and television. And the younger audiences are digital, online, Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok, they're getting their entertainment and their information in different ways. And it's my understanding that the station is going to take the digital platform and create some content that would be relevant and attract that younger audience," says Di Sciullo.

Pellegrino says the market is there. "The opportunity is there," she believes. "It's up to you as as the production to have people watch you and to do something that's going to enrich their lives, enrich, inform, entertain. That's what we always put in front of what we were doing. Does it fill those niches for the audience."

Emily Lampa and Mercedes Wilson currently host "AM Buffalo."