CW VS. FOX7
KNVA TV (CW) is taking on KTBC TV (Fox 7) head to head with a 30-minute newscast at 9 p.m. seven days a week anchored by KXAN reporter Shannon Wolfson and supported by meteorologist Jim Spencer and the staff of KXAN TV’s (NBC) “Austin News”. The new newscast will air starting September 28, 2009.
KXAN/KXAM/KNVA/KBVO TV President and General Manager Eric Lassberg believes that they can do better in 30 minutes than what others do in an hour. “Our new 9 p.m. newscast on The CW Austin offers great local news coverage and the area’s most popular local weather forecast in 30 minutes, 7 days a week,” says Eric Lassberg, says in a prepared release. “It reflects our ongoing commitment to provide viewers with more options and convenience.”
Fox 7 staked its claim to the 9 O’clock time slot in 2000 after KTBC TV became a Fox owned-and-operated station in 1995. The new station, KEYE TV (previously KBVO) became CBS then. It will be the first time that Fox 7 has seen competition in that time slot from another broadcast TV station. Of course, News 8 offers news 24/7.
Wolfson, a rising star since she first arrived at KXAN three years ago, has been doing much of the anchoring on weekends for the past several weeks. A station spokesperson says Wolfson will continue to be a regular reporter for “Austin News” at 6 and 10 p.m. week nights on KXAN TV "Austin News". The KXAN news department will now serve both stations with a 30-minute break between newscasts.
It remains unclear who will anchor weekends on KXAN after September 28th. Weekend anchor David Scott has not been on the air since his July 17th arrest for DWI near his home in Lakeway. It is also not said who will anchor the weekend news on KNVA.
The 9 p.m. newscast on KNVA will be followed by episodes of The Office at 9:30 p.m. Monday through Sunday.
© Jim McNabb, 2009
(Photo of Shannon Wolfson Courtesy of KXAN TV)
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4 comments:
Seriously ... who's gonna watch this? I understand the desire to add news and create more spots, but this is gonna be lucky to do better than hashmarks most nights ... esp. on weekends.
a company with faltering evening ratings, and a questionable new 9pm Leno effort is going to put something on air that potentially pulls away from the Leno audience?
Really?
Let's define this. It's cheaper than programming. A very old and common effort used by sales people who have no knowledge of tv programming. I'll bet the evening tech team is hating a live show right before a live show.
Just to correct one point: David Scott was, in fact, on the air last night doing a live shot. But no, I haven't seen him anchoring on weekends since July.
Since Judge Mathis, the show that's on at 9 p.m. on KNVA, isn't in the top 50 or in top 100 for syndicated ad pricing and it's costs to the station are outweighed by the cost of producing its own local news broadcast, it's a no-brainer to give a local news program a shot.
Sure, the show may end up with hash marks in the Nielsen ratings, but it's worth a shot -- at least six months worth to see if it will generate viewership and the necessary revenue to make it a success.
Since the new show is using KXAN's news staff, there's no serious additional cost to the CW station to produce its own show.
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