On January 6, 1975, ABC launched "AM America" in an attempt to compete with NBC's "Today". The program was hosted by Bill Beutel and Stephanie Edwards, with Peter Jennings reading the news (Jennings had been a replacement for Bob Kennedy; who had been scheduled to be the program's newsreader, but died two months before the premiere from bone cancer). Because the show could not find an audience against "Today" (and its anchor team of Jim Hartz and Barbara Walters), ABC sought a new approach. The network found that one of its affiliates, WEWS in Cleveland, Ohio, had been pre-empting "AM America" in favor of airing a locally produced show called "The Morning Exchange".