A story in the NY Daily News points to WPLG’s successful transition away from news at 5pm and other stations around the US that are looking to Miami to save their dwindling ratings at that time slot. WNBC and WTVJ both owned by NBC being ones, of more to come, to copy the idea of replacing news at 5pm with entertainment.
The article raises doubt on whether copying Miami will work in the NY and other markets giving the obligatory quotes from a news consultant who says research shows viewers tend to look for entertainment at 7pm. But stations should put something compelling nonetheless. Of course.
NY Daily News – The nation’s stations look to stay alive at 5
Shaving the 5pm newscasts at NBC affiliates is just part of that NBC 2.0 thing so it won’t be long it spreads. And not just to NBC stations
As disturbing as it is that other markets are looking here again for TV news ideas, I do think that ultimately news may wind up shifting to the 6-8 PM block. With the painfully long rush hour commutes out there, I don’t think that there’s as much of a news audience at home at 5pm like there used to.
Even though WPEC-TV 12 still has their 5PM & 5:30 newscasts, they were the first in the South Florida markets to start the 7PM newscast trend. It’s a great idea! Most of the time I’m not home until after 6, so this way I can still catch up on the local news. Both WPLG and WTJV are giving up their 5PM hour for entertainment (PLG did that last fall I believe) but only WTVJ will be producing a 7PM cast in the Miami area starting this fall. Maybe WPLG will follow. What will be interesting is if WPEC will ever turn over the 5 or 5:30 newscast to entertainment…then the complete trend is following.
I guess to be continued…
I’ll make a bet now. Sometime in the near future, WSVN will go four hours of locally produced content from 4 to 8 pm. Not that any of it is legit journalism, but my guess is you’ll see news from 4 to 7:30, then “Deco Drive” at 7:30. There is a market for earlier news and the late rush hour arrivals would love news at 7, so that’s my guess.