WIOU

WIOU is an American television drama series, which aired on CBS in 1990 and 1991. The show is set in the news department of a fictional television station whose actual callsign is WNDY, but which is nicknamed WIOU by its staff because of the station's perennial financial struggles. The show stars John Shea as news director Hank Zaret. The cast also includes Mariette Hartley as executive producer Liz McVay, Harris Yulin and Helen Shaver as news anchors Neal Frazier and Kelby Robinson, Phil Morris as aggressive reporter Eddie Bock, Jayne Brook as reporter Ann Hudson, Kate McNeil as reporter Taylor Young, Dick Van Patten as aging weatherman Floyd Graham, and Wallace Langham as news intern Willis Teitelbaum. According to television researchers Tim Brooks and Earle Marsh, this program received such low ratings that although 18 episodes were actually produced, five were never aired upon the program's cancellation.

Directed by John Eisendrath, Kathryn Pratt, WIOU leans on a strong ensemble — Helen Shaver, Harris Yulin, Phil Morris — to carry a story that balances spectacle with character.

The series landed with audiences for its craft and performances, and remains one of the most talked-about drama titles of 1990.