WGN Debuting 4PM Newscast This Fall

[24994J 5276]

Because 54 hours a week is never enough.

 

http://www.robertfeder.com/2014/05/21/channel-9-to-add-4-p-m-newscast/

[MorningNews 1293]

Gotta love their dedication to news though.

[24994J 5276]

Oh yeah, I don't hate it, but they are really need a new set at some point. The current one has been in use for a decade, and is showing its age.

[Spring Rubber 611]

I think that very day would be the perfect day to debut a new set, unless of course they do the entire 4-6 pm block from the newsroom.

[MidwestTV 1173]

 

Oh yeah, I don't hate it, but they are really need a new set at some point. The current one has been in use for a decade, and is showing its age.

 

That set needed to go four years ago. It's old and it's tired. At this point I feel as if the only reason why it's still around is for identity's sake. You're in the third largest market in the nation, what are you doing keeping the same set for 10+ years? Have there even been any updates to it at all during that time?

[ns8401 846]

That set needed to go four years ago. It's old and it's tired. At this point I feel as if the only reason why it's still around is for identity's sake. You're in the third largest market in the nation, what are you doing keeping the same set for 10+ years? Have there even been any updates to it at all during that time?

WLS's set is 7 now, I'm not sure if that one had a mid-life refresh either. So that's 2 in the market that are ancient. I know 5's is newer, what about 2 and 32?

 

As for WGN getting a new set, while it is badly needed tribune has become lazy about refreshing WGN's look. Their graphics aren't really aging well either and they could use something better.

[24994J 5276]

WGN: built in 2004, with no major refreshes.

WLS: April 2006, TVs updated every few years.

WBBM: September 2008, frequently rearranged during first two years.

WFLD: May 2009, with no significant updates.

WMAQ: February 2012, anchor backdrop overhauled six months later.

[TJTWX 2]

IMO, I think they have way too much news. I don't think they need 2 hours of news at midday. 1 hour would do. But I do agree with 24994J that they need a new set or they should at least update the current set and that maybe this new 4pm hour news should be on WGN America. But that's just me...

[ns8401 846]

WGN: built in 2004, with no major refreshes.

WLS: April 2006, TVs updated every few years.

WBBM: September 2008, frequently rearranged during first two years.

WFLD: May 2009, with no significant updates.

WMAQ: February 2012, anchor backdrop overhauled six months later.

Both WGN and WLS could use new sets. TV updates barely count for much in the changes department. Does their upstairs studio still exist to use during rebuild? I know wood is no longer the in thing and it's glass that's hot now as a set design. WGN's may look dated but at the same time it uses a glass design which is interesting. 10 years is a long time though between refreshes. Adding a talk show and a 4pm newscast almost counts as a revamp of their daytime lineup at least, i'd be surprised if a different set was not part of it at some point. As for the 4pm itself, I hope it's in a studio, the newsroom thing is kinda tacky at least I think.

[24994J 5276]

The newsroom setting works for the 5pm show, but this all leaves me a little curious. If they go with the same anchors (Suppelsa and Duarte) at 4 as at 5, would they merge them together and revive the 'WGN Evening News'? I personally would rather they go fresh for the new hour. Even though it's been 6 years since he was removed from the then-noon news, I wish they'd re-give Tom Negovan a permanent seat at the desk.

 

Ideally, I'd like Tom and Micah at 4 (noon show reunion), with the 5 and 9 remaining. It gives a little variety in the line-up and gives a cool 4-to-5 toss opportunity. In the long run, I have no doubt that WGN will come through nicely on the concept, for they really succeed at playing with the traditional newscast format. The noon and 9 are straight newscasts, the same as they've been for 20-plus years. The 5 taking place in the newsroom switches things up nicely. The 11am hour uses a long-form news/talk format and we all know their success with the morning show.

[T.L. Hughes 751]

I would have pegged them adding a weekend 5:00 p.m. newscast before they did a 4:00 p.m. program, go figure.

 

The only issue here comes during baseball season next year; even if WGN doesn't strike some longshot renewal deal with the Cubs, they still will have OTA rights to the White Sox. As it stands, most games from either team pre-empt or delay some portion of its news schedule (except in the morning, of course): the Bulls and Blackhawks are less of an issue since whatever daytime games WGN is slated to air usually run during the weekend. In essence, even with just Sox games, the station will still carry a slew of weekday afternoon baseball games that are likely to abbreviate or pre-empt the new 4:00 p.m. show.

[24994J 5276]

 

I would have pegged them adding a weekend 5:00 p.m. newscast before they did a 4:00 p.m. program, go figure.

 

The only issue here comes during baseball season next year; even if WGN doesn't strike some longshot renewal deal with the Cubs, they still will have OTA rights to the White Sox. As it stands, most games from either team pre-empt or delay some portion of its news schedule (except in the morning, of course): the Bulls and Blackhawks are less of an issue since whatever daytime games WGN is slated to air usually run during the weekend. In essence, even with just Sox games, the station will still carry a slew of weekday afternoon baseball games that are likely to abbreviate or pre-empt the new 4:00 p.m. show.

 

I don't think they'll add a early weekend show until Robert Jordan hangs it up.

 

As for the baseball issue, I don't think it'll be one. Between now and the end of the season, there are only 4 weekday afternoon Sox games on 'GN. One is a 12:08 CT start, which would likely not be an issue, while another is at 2:45 CT, likely preempting the 5 o'clock news entirely. The others are 1:00 CT starts, and would probably yield a 4:30 start for the news.

 

HOWEVER, none of these four games take place after August 13th. The Cubs have 13 WGN day games remaining this year, with start times anywhere between 10:05AM CT (D.C. on July 4th) and 3:10 CT (midday in the west). A few of these will air in September.

[T.L. Hughes 751]

I don't think they'll add a early weekend show until Robert Jordan hangs it up.

 

As for the baseball issue, I don't think it'll be one. Between now and the end of the season, there are only 4 weekday afternoon Sox games on 'GN. One is a 12:08 CT start, which would likely not be an issue, while another is at 2:45 CT, likely preempting the 5 o'clock news entirely. The others are 1:00 CT starts, and would probably yield a 4:30 start for the news.

 

HOWEVER, none of these four games take place after August 13th. The Cubs have 13 WGN day games remaining this year, with start times anywhere between 10:05AM CT (D.C. on July 4th) and 3:10 CT (midday in the west). A few of these will air in September.

Interesting points, but I was talking about the 2015 MLB season; that schedule hasn't been released yet, so we don't know how many day games could pose a pre-emption issue for the 4:00 p.m. newscast next year. As you mention, game times for afternoon Cubs/White Sox games vary, so some could pre-empt and some might not unless the game goes into extra innings.

 

Also, if WGN did do an early weekend newscast before Bob Jordan retires (whenever he decides it's the right time to leave the anchor desk), they could promote someone from within the reporting staff or hire from outside to co-anchor the 5:00 show (the obvious time it would air) alongside Jackie Bange, and just have Bob co-anchor the 9:00 broadcast with Jackie. It'd be sort of similar to what they do on the weekday 5:00 news: Lourdes Duarte only anchors that program, while Mark Suppelsa and Micah Materre co-anchor (with Micah usually at the Tribune office on the early broadcast) on both the 5:00 and 9:00.

[Jase 818]

 

Gotta love their dedication to news though.

 

I wouldn't call it dedication. Honestly, its a poor way to program the channel. There isn't a need to have that much news on. A better mix of programming (newscasts/talk shows/syndicated shows, etc...) would be the way to go. As far as a new set, I doubt they do anything at all.

[CircleSeven 1944]

 

I wouldn't call it dedication. Honestly, its a poor way to program the channel. There isn't a need to have that much news on. A better mix of programming (newscasts/talk shows/syndicated shows, etc...) would be the way to go.

 

THANK YOU!!!!!

 

Your average viewer is not going to watch your station if you just have news on damn-near all the time, especially in timeslots where they would otherwise watch a non-news program.

 

Yes, it's important to have a newscast, I'm not contesting that. And I understand a newscast cost cheaper than a syndie show. But all of this endless hours of news, filling almost 35-40% of the full week's schedule is just an overkill. And I'm not talking just about Channel 9, I'm talking about stations that clock in 50 hours, 60+ hours, and how I feel about it, that's just too much.

[BehindNYNews 143]

Rather than another newscast, WGN should do something like Windy City Live or New York Live, etc...

[CircleSeven 1944]

 

Rather than another newscast, WGN should do something like Windy City Live or New York Live, etc...

 

It was mentioned earlier this week that they were mentioning about fill-in some sort of locally-produced show at 10am. But nothing official as of yet.

[24994J 5276]

If there's anybody in this town that I trust to overload the schedule with news and not kill their image and credibility, it's WGN. So, at least there's that.

[Jase 818]

 

If there's anybody in this town that I trust to overload the schedule with news and not kill their image and credibility, it's WGN. So, at least there's that.

 

Their image and credibility are not at play really. They, just like WMAQ and WLS, benefit from the fact that both WBBM and WFLD are poorly run and don't have an overall positive image. Rather than think 'outside the box' or take some creative programming risks, they go with adding yet another hour of news which is unfortunate.

[CircleSeven 1944]

 

Their image and credibility are not at play really. They, just like WMAQ and WLS, benefit from the fact that both WBBM and WFLD are poorly run and don't have an overall positive image. Rather than think 'outside the box' or take some creative programming risks, they go with adding yet another hour of news which is unfortunate.

 

Yep. And what's going to happen next time? Are they're going to follow this overgrowing trend like the other Trib stations expand and add a 6pm and maybe a 10pm? Just because you can, it doesn't mean you have too. And anyway, if they want to keep on boosting their newscast hours, why do they really need CLTV then?

 

What I'm trying to say is, Where is the balance? News is good but when you fill-in so many hours of news, is it really worth it? I don't care if your news program is credible and trustworthy to the most high, not everybody wants to see every big station having news at the same time, and they certainly don't want a newscasts at a very unconventional time. It's almost like these stations are expanding to take the easy way out, in lieu of picking up a syndicated show or try to produce a non-news program.

 

It would be interesting to see how the rating are for WXIN's 3.5 hour early evening news block (4-7:30pm).

[T.L. Hughes 751]

The thing is, trying a local program that isn't news can be a huge risk: case in point, KSBI. The station has had only a handful of its local programs stick around (namely the talk show Oklahoma Live!, the game show Mind Games, the music program Oklahoma Centennial Rodeo Opry, and the pet advice program Dog Talk; it remains to be seen whether another game show that debuted recently, Wild Card, will join them). They've had just as many shows cancelled as they have had continue onward since the station implemented its local programming strategy in 2010. At least by expanding local news programming, there is a bit less of a risk involved. Also, even though Tribune can afford to purchase more syndicated programming, many news-producing stations are expanding newscasts partly in an effort to trim programming costs.

[24994J 5276]

And say what you will about another hour of news, I and many others would take that (and just about anything else) over a second airing of Maury like WGN did for several years.

[ns8401 846]

And say what you will about another hour of news, I and many others would take that (and just about anything else) over a second airing of Maury like WGN did for several years.

What I don't get, and maybe being from Eastern Time does this, but why is it that all the stations don't do a full 2 hours of evening local news?(outside of ABC7 which of course does exactly that).

 

I've never understood how abc7 got that 4pm all to itself for 30 years.

[24994J 5276]

 

I've never understood how abc7 got that 4pm all to itself for 30 years.

 

You may need to look up some names, as I don't know how familiar you are with the station's history, but it likely goes something like this...

 

LONG STORY: Around 1980/81, the long-standing 3:30 movie was moved to 3, and a new 4:30 newscast was launched. Weekend anchor and rising star Mary Ann Childers was tapped as anchor initially alongside Paul Udell (who eventually moved west and I think ended up in Hawaii), and then the late sports director Tim Weigel. The show took on a lighter newsmagazine approach and I guess did okay in the ratings, for it aired for 3 or 4 years.

 

Longtime lead anchor Fahey Flynn passed away in August of 1983, sending the station into a frenzy as they decided how to replace him. Childers was promptly moved up to anchor with 15-year veteran Joel Daly. The team just didn't work, and the ratings took a dive. Within months, Daly was taken off the marquee broadcasts, and Weigel took his place. Daly, who was only in his late 40's at the time threatened to walk, but the station didn't want to lose the other half of their historic anchor pair, so his contract was renegotiated. By April of 1984, Daly was to front an expanded 4:30 news. In a first of its kind 4pm HARD newscast, he would keep a high profile role, but wouldn't have to sit beside Childers, as their chemistry didn't work. I will say, there's never been rumored "bad blood" between the two, but Daly has not had favorable views of the management at the time. He was initially paired off with a young Oprah Winfrey, but that only lasted a week or two, as Oprah wasn't anchor material.

 

Over at channel 5, I'm not sure if Linda Yu was demoted in favor of Carol Marin, or the former's exit led to the later's ascent, but either way Linda Yu moved to WLS, took her seat next to Joel, and their pairing held strong for 21 years. They've dominated the slot ever since, even after Joel retired in 2005.

 

By the way, the Weigel-Childers pairing dropped the station to third place behind Kurtis-Jacobson and Magers-Yu (then Marin). John Drury returned to the station in 1984 to helm the 10pm, and Floyd Kalber was poached out of near-retirement to solo anchor the 6pm news. Childers lasted until her 1994 firing, Kalber hung it up 1998 (then co-anchoring with Kathy Brock), and Drury retired in 2002 (with Diann Burns at his side).

 

SHORT STORY: Joel Daly got demoted. They expanded the 4:30 news to a whole hour at 4 to keep him around.

[Jess 1110]

And that 1983-84 revamp was when WLS commissioned the now-legendary update of "Tar Sequence" - News Series 2000.

 

As for news, I think if you differentiate it enough you can pull it off.

 

WTXF goes six hours in the morning, but they cut that block into two halves - 4-7 is the straight Fox 29 Morning News, 7-10 is the much wackier Good Day Philadelphia. And while it's not the best, WPVI succeeded in giving the 4pm a different feel than the 5 and 6. (I prefer WCAU's straight 2.5 hour news block though.)