ROANOKE, Va. — A Virginia television station is replacing "The Andy Griffith Show" after a successful 35-year syndication run.
The Roanoke Times reports that WDBJ-TV is moving the Mayberry-set sitcom to another channel it owns and replacing it with a new local newscast.
The show, which stopped making new episodes in the 60s, is still the Roanoke area's most-watched program at 5:30 p.m. and has bested a number of competing programs over the years, including "Oprah" and "Inside Edition." WDBJ first aired in syndication on its channel in 1984.
WDBJ launched a sister channel, WZBJ, in August. That channel will start airing four episodes of Andy Griffith in a row from 5 p.m. through 7 p.m. each weekday starting in April.
