Hedgecock’s TV Talk Show Lasts Only One Episode

After just one episode, KGTV (Channel 10) Wednesday canceled former Mayor Roger Hedgecock’s television talk show.

Channel 10 General Manager Ed Quinn said contract problems led to the station’s decision.

“We just weren’t able to come to an agreement, so we decided to go our separate ways,” Quinn said. He refused to comment on any specifics of the disagreement.

The decision is effective immediately. The show on animal rights scheduled to be taped tonight and aired Sunday has been canceled.

The Hedgecock show made its debut Sunday evening with a discussion of the controversial proposal to name the new convention center after slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. The program was generally panned by local critics.

An earlier attempt at a first show, focusing on problems at the border, was shelved. After the first taping, there was an almost complete turnover in the production staff, under the direction of Hedgecock’s former press secretary, Mel Buxbaum.

Buxbaum and Hedgecock were responsible for producing the show, for which Channel 10 was providing the facilities and technical staff.

After Sunday’s show, Channel 10 announced that it was interested in continuing the show on a weekly basis. But, contrary to published reports, a definite agreement had not been reached.

Creative control of the program, in addition to distribution of the profits, may have been among the points being negotiated.

“We simply couldn’t come to an agreement,” Buxbaum said Wednesday. “Obviously, we’re very disappointed.”

Hedgecock said Wednesday that he did not participate in the contract negotiations between Buxbaum’s InterNet Associates and Channel 10. Refusing to speculate on specifics of the contract disagreement, he said he didn’t know whether there was any possibility that he will be able to work with Channel 10 in the future.

“I don’t know if the door is closed or not,” Hedgecock said. “Certainly I think this particular door is closed.”