PelicanGuy 117 Posted March 7, 2007 Share Posted March 7, 2007 TV news options growing in Midlands * WACH move ‘changes the news game in Columbia’ By PAT BERMAN [email protected] Midlands TV viewers are getting more choices for local news in the coming months. * Fox affiliate WACH-57 will expand its 10 p.m. newscast to an hour this month and enter the morning-news fray later this spring. * WLTX-19 will add a 5 p.m. newscast in the fall. * And ETV will launch a weekly news magazine March 22. While local newscasts typically cost more to produce than the syndicated or national programming they replace, they also generate more local advertising dollars. The stations would not disclose specific numbers. The change at WACH comes after a 10-year news-gathering agreement with WIS-10 ends Sunday. General manager Scott McBride expects the station to make the shift to an hour for “WACH Fox News At 10” within 30 days. The news set and the on-air talent, including anchors Mike Woolfolk and Arielle Riposta, will remain the same, McBride said. The change was prompted by new ownership at WACH, he said. Barrington Broadcasting Corp. bought the Fox affiliate nearly a year ago from Raycom Media after Raycom bought WIS. Barrington has invested about $1.5 million in WACH’s news-gathering operation, McBride said. WIS general manager Mel Stebbins said WACH’s move “changes the news game in Columbia — there’s no question about that.” How that change will play out remains to be seen. “I’m not convinced in the long term that there’s room for four news operations in Columbia,” said former WIS news director Randy Covington, now director of USC’s Newsplex, a multimedia news laboratory. WACH’s half-hour 10 p.m. news broadcast is seen in an average of 17,005 households, according to the November Arbitron ratings, the latest available. NBC affiliate WIS had 37,412 households for its 11 p.m. newscast, far ahead of CBS affiliate WLTX with 25,319 and ABC affiliate WOLO-25 with 4,913. WOLO general manager Chris Bailey said WACH’s plan for a three-hour morning show might be difficult to launch from “a standing start.” But he also said “more local voices in the news market” could benefit all the stations. WLTX-19 general manager Rich O’Dell took a wait-and-see position on WACH’s move. Citing strength in the three older networks’ morning shows, including “Today” (NBC), “The Early Show” (CBS) and “Good Morning America” (ABC), O’Dell said WACH’s success will depend on “what they do with the show.” The start date for WLTX’s 5 p.m. newscast has not been set, but the anchor team is, with Darci Strickland and Andrea Mock, a former TV anchor from Toledo, Ohio. In a city “growing by leaps and bounds,” O’Dell said, “there is an absolute need” for a 5 p.m. newscast and the opportunity to cover more stories. “If we were a newspaper, it would be liking adding more pages to the paper,” he said. Ellen DeGeneres’ popular talk show will be moved back to 4 p.m., and Keith Ablow’s talk show will be dropped. Also on the news front, ETV will debut “The Big Picture,” a weekly news-magazine program, at 7:30 p.m. March 22. The premiere will feature five former S.C. governors interviewed by host Andrew Gobeil. Gobeil also will host a companion show on ETV radio from 9-10 a.m. Fridays. Reach Berman at (803) 771-8417. *********************************************** Also from Columbia: WIS morning personalities to depart By PAT BERMAN [email protected] WIS-10 chief meteorologist Ken Aucoin and morning newsman Scott Hawkins will be leaving the station within the next couple of months. Aucoin, 45, who has been with WIS about seven years, plans to retire from weather forecasting to write. His first book, “Jake And Friends Encounter Hurricane Katrina,” written with the help of his wife, Liz, will be published shortly. “We have three books in the works,” he said. He and his wife, a psychiatric nurse, plan to stay in Columbia. Hawkins, 34, who has co-anchored WIS’s sunrise newscast for five years, leaves for a public-relations job with the S.C. Forestry Commission. WIS news director Tina Luque Blacklocke said the station had not determined whether it will hire more people or rearrange schedules to fill the vacancies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert_d_ds 0 Posted March 22, 2007 Share Posted March 22, 2007 WACH used to have a news sharing agreement with WIS. That agreement ended recently, and WACH Fox is a total stand alone station and they are going down! You can really tell a big difference in the production values now that they are not associated with WIS. And its not good! I hate to toot WIS's horn, because I don't like them either, but WACH was definitely better when WIS was producing their news. I was also somewhat surprised to see WIS also losing some long-time personalities which is one of the stations that is able to keep people long term. I think this will enable longtime 2nd place CBS affiliate WLTX to make a move on WIS. They have been a very strong 2nd, and with all the shifts going on, I would like to see WIS unpearched!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PelicanGuy 117 Posted March 22, 2007 Author Share Posted March 22, 2007 Channel 19 did make some great gains on WIS in recent years and have really closed the gap, but I don't think they'll be able to grab first place.....yet. However, never underestimate Gannett. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert_d_ds 0 Posted April 24, 2007 Share Posted April 24, 2007 A lot of changes in the Columbia SC market taking place today...WACH started their new morning program today....and there are definitely some kinks to work out. The anchors seemed ok....but definitely some things to work out from a producing standpoint. Thats to be expected with a new show. WLTX debuted their new evening co-anchor tonight, and WIS cheif meteorologist is gone and long time evening meteorologist now does Sunrise and Midday. It will be interesting to see if any of these changes have any effect on the ratings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PelicanGuy 117 Posted April 24, 2007 Author Share Posted April 24, 2007 A lot of changes in the Columbia SC market taking place today...WACH started their new morning program today....and there are definitely some kinks to work out. The anchors seemed ok....but definitely some things to work out from a producing standpoint. Thats to be expected with a new show. WLTX debuted their new evening co-anchor tonight, and WIS cheif meteorologist is gone and long time evening meteorologist now does Sunrise and Midday. It will be interesting to see if any of these changes have any effect on the ratings. If Ben Tanner is doing Sunrise and Midday, then who's doing the evening newscast? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert_d_ds 0 Posted April 24, 2007 Share Posted April 24, 2007 If Ben Tanner is doing Sunrise and Midday, then who's doing the evening newscast? Brooks Garner....the weekend meterologist. According to the State newspaper, the station is in negotiations with him to be the weekday 5,6,7 & 11 meteorologist. A big gamble for a #1 station to go with a 25 year old to head up its evening weather. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PelicanGuy 117 Posted April 24, 2007 Author Share Posted April 24, 2007 That's crazy. Ben is so popular with the viewers Ken Aucoin agreed to switch shifts with Ben and do Sunrise and Midday while Ben did weekday evenings. Unless Ben wanted to change things up, that IS a big gamble by WIS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert_d_ds 0 Posted June 19, 2007 Share Posted June 19, 2007 A lot of changes in Columbia SC during May. WIS less one morning anchor. Weather changes all over the place at WIS. New co-anchor at WLTX. And new morning show at WACH. With all the changes, I wonder how the nielsen book turned out? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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