For years on many local TV stations, afternoons at 4 were reserved for syndicated programs like Oprah, Ellen, Judge Judy, Family Feud, etc. Then, that time period was considered a programming beachhead that, hopefully, led viewers into the 5 and 6 p.m. local news. Since Oprah went off the air, there are probably many more […]
For years on many local TV stations, afternoons at 4 were reserved for syndicated programs like Oprah, Ellen, Judge Judy, Family Feud, etc.
Then, that time period was considered a programming beachhead that, hopefully, led viewers into the 5 and 6 p.m. local news.
Since Oprah went off the air, there are probably many more stations doing news at 4 p.m. than air syndicated programming.
I realize this isn’t exactly new.
In San Diego, for example, both the Fox (KSWB) and NBC (KNSD) have a 4 0’clock news.
Monday, KGTV joins the fray with a newscast called, The Now San Diego.
KGTV is the ABC affiliate owned by Scripps.
What can news viewers in San Diego expect that might be different?
“People know we’re a hard news station,” says Tiffani Lupenski, KGTV’s news director, “so our viewers can expect this to be us.”
“The presentation will be less formal, and the show will have the feel of non-stop breaking news. We’ll have live conversations from here in the newsroom. It will focus on what’s just in with live pictures that will feel like wall-to-wall coverage.”
Lupenski says she’s studied other 4 o’clock newscasts from around the country, and feels as if some of those shows were understaffed.
“One of the great things our company decided to do was to not cannibalize our 5 o’clock news for a 4 o’clock newscast,” says Stan Melton, KGTV’s creative services director.
“But rather hire a completely new team to produce, report and anchor The Now San Diego at 4pm, minimizing repetition. Our 4 p.m. news product will be completely different from our news at 5, as it differs from our 6 and 7 p.m. newscasts. We place a great deal of value in differentiating each of our newscasts for our audiences.”
How does having a 4 o’clock newscast change marketing tactics?
“The Now San Diego will receive a good deal of promo love since it is a new show,” says Melton.
“We’ll use in-show mentions in The Now San Diego to promote new topics in the 5 o’clock newscast.”
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