WBREEYEWITNESSNEWS 1 Posted November 10, 2009 Posted November 10, 2009 Today at 7:11 AM WBRE takes over Fox News at 10 Station signs deal to produce newscast, which has been handled by WNEP for almost 19 years. By Andrew M. Seder [email protected] Times Leader Staff Writer WILKES-BARRE -- WBRE-TV, Channel 28, has signed a multi-year deal with WOLF-TV to produce the Fox 56 News at 10. The Jan. 1 newscast will be the first under the agreement. e The WBRE Eyewitness News Team includes Andy Mehalshick, Candice Kelly and Drew Speier. The deal also calls for what has been a 30-minute program to expand to one hour. The 11 p.m. news team for WBRE’s Eyewitness News broadcast will handle duties for the 10 p.m. news on Fox. WNEP-TV, Channel 16, the ABC affiliate for Northeastern Pennsylvania, has handled the duties of producing and staffing the 10 p.m. news on Fox since 1991. It is the oldest relationship of its kind in the country. WNEP General Manager Chuck Morgan said WNEP made the decision to terminate the deal so it could continue to produce a 10 p.m. live news show that will air on its WNEP2 starting Jan. 1. “This is something we’ve been considering for quite a while,” Morgan said. “Doing the news on WOLF was a good opportunity at the time. But our first goal is to do our news on our own station. For many years, we didn’t have that opportunity. Now we do. The success of the 7 to 9 a.m. news on WNEP2 has proven that our sister station is a viable second channel. It just makes sense to continue that success by bringing our 10 o’clock news home.” Jon Cadman, general manager of WOLF, praised the long-time partnership. “Our years with WNEP were great,” he said, adding he looks forward to the new chapter of 10 p.m. news in Northeastern Pennsylvania. He said WBRE’s production will have “a new set, a new look and new graphics.” He said he anticipates “a Foxifying” of the news, noting it will carry more Fox News content, more tie-ins with Fox programs and will go after the key Fox demographic of 18-49-year-olds. Melissa Sgroi, the chairwoman of the Communications Department at Misericordia University and a former anchor for WYOU-TV, said “Fox News is very popular” and the expanded new 10 o’clock news will take advantage of that. She said she’s curious to see how WBRE and WOLF format the news hour, including whether the sports and news will be handled in the first half hour or the last or perhaps both. Nexstar Broadcasting Group, Inc. owns WBRE, an NBC affiliate, and has similar agreements with Fox stations across the country. Cadman pointed to those successful relationships as something that gives him confidence the deal will work here. Lou Abitabilo, WBRE’s general manager, said the multi-year deal is “a win-win for both stations.” He said that using the WBRE news at 11 p.m. studio team for the 10 p.m. Fox broadcast will introduce the WBRE personalities to a new audience that might decide to tune in to other WBRE newscasts to see people they’re familiar with. Abitabilo said he is not concerned about people watching the 10 p.m. news and losing viewers from NBC’s 10 p.m. programming, which is the Jay Leno show Monday through Friday. “Those who want entertainment programming will watch an entertainment show,” Abitabilo said.
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.