Lloyd Bucher

WJZY’s Queen City News Hometown initiative takes the 5 p.m. news on the road every Wednesday. You can say you’re the hometown station, but being out in neighborhoods doing the news speaks volumes.

WJZY, Nexstar’s Fox affiliate in Charlotte, N.C., is undergoing a makeover. The station has “meandered as a bottom station for a long time,” says Lloyd Bucher, WJZY’s new GM, but Nexstar sees an opportunity to change that.

The spot teases some big changes coming to the station in January. Stay tuned here on Market Share for more specifics about the changes in January.

WPTV, the Scripps NBC affiliate in West Palm Beach, Fla., launched a half hour newscast at 7 p.m. and debuted a brand-new set on the opening day of the Tokyo Olympics.

For the past 23 years, WPTV’s Chief Meteorologist Steve Weagle spends 5 days on a bike riding down coast of Florida to raise awareness for hurricane preparedness and funds for the American Red Cross. This year’s ride was virtual and featured live looks from different locations around the community.

TV stations help their local communities countless ways, year after year. These days, the need for food, warm clothes, toys, and Thanksgiving turkeys is much greater because of the pandemic. And stations are responding to the need.

Perhaps a significant step toward real equality could begin with televised dialogues, conversations, interactions and discussions so racial inequality gets exposed to thousands of people in communities all over the U.S., and a path to equality begins to emerge.

WPTV provided viewers with weather coverage of Isaias for more than 20 hours all while staying safe and socially distanced. Due to the virus, everything from food planning to sleeping arrangements at the station had to be modified.

The holiday season will be a bit brighter for those in need, thanks in part to two WPTV community initiatives.

“Thank you for coverage during Hurricane Dorian. The calm, practical, truthful, sage educational advice and professional coverage is very much appreciated. No doubt you and our community/state agencies have guided millions in the most organized, well-coordinated efforts I’ve seen in my four decades of living in Florida,” is how one viewer characterized WPTV’s coverage.