Why ABC Is Adding New Weekend Show To The View’s Daytime Schedule

The ladies of The View just returned from holiday break. Now, they’re experiencing another schedule shakeup. ABC announced they will add a weekend version of the daytime talk show.

Weekend Edition

The View currently airs Mondays through Fridays. However, fans will get to see more of television’s leading ladies. ABC announced the latest schedule shakeup that has fans buzzing. According to Variety, ABC News wants to expand the daytime talk show into a weekend edition.

The hour-long talk show will premiere the new program on Saturday, January 11. The Weekend: View is a shortened version of the daily talk show. The 30-minute program will will not air live on ABC. Rather, it will stream on ABC News Live.

This new program will still include the current panel, including Joy Behar, Sunny Hostin, Sara Haines, Alyssa Farah Griffin, and Ana Navarro. Whoopi Goldberg wasn’t featured in this lineup. She normally takes a break from the show on Fridays, which could be why she’s not joining the weekend edition.

Karin Gilford, senior vice president of Digital Media, ABC News Group and Disney Entertainment Networks, shared the reason behind this move. “It’s an opportunity for us to extend the conversation, give viewers more of what they love from the connection they feel for the show. We really think ‘Weekend View,’ in addition to what we’ve done on podcasting — we’ve always had a great short form and social presence for the show — is kind of the next frontier,” Gilford told Variety.

More Changes

That’s not the only change that’s shaking up the show. Gilford shared that they are seeking new ways to find new viewers. They want to explore the podcast realm, as well as YouTube. This will also include “new exclusive streaming content for the weekend on ABC News Live.”

However, the weekend edition won’t be as heavily focused on politics as the weekday program. It will have more a lifestyle focus, similar to GMA: Life. Still, the hosts will have a chance talk about the “hot topics'” and biggest pop culture moments of the week. It’ll also be an opportunity to talk about breaking news events outside of the political landscape.

“I think people like to hear what the hosts have to say about a variety of topics,” Gilford explained. “The weekends are also when everybody’s generally taking a break. So it’s an opportunity to highlight some of the stuff the show covers throughout the week, that’s maybe not always in some of those political arenas.”