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WABC to launch 4pm news


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Just an update - latest I've heard is that it's leaning towards Lori Stokes joining David Novarro at 4PM (remaining with Ken Rosato at noon) and Michelle Charlesworth joining Ken at 4:30AM weekdays. Toni Yates becoming the weekend morning anchor.

 

Me personally - I don't know if messing around with the morning show is a good idea. The show has been on the top for a while now, it would really be a shame to mess with the chemistry there. I would rather just see one of the current evening women add 4PM to their duties. Lori does well in the AM with Ken and Bill Evans.

 

 

In my opinion, that would be a bad for two main reasons.

 

First, as mentioned, the morning show has been on top of the ratings for a while now and certainly Lori has been a huge part of the success of the morning news.

 

Secondly, there's no job security anchoring the 4pm news. What happens if the 4pm news fails and in a year or two is replaced with a syndicated show? They won't just give Lori back her old position and demote everyone else back to their former positions. Lori would be stuck anchoring the noon news and struggling to find a spot somewhere else to justify her salary.

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In my opinion, that would be a bad for two main reasons.

 

First, as mentioned, the morning show has been on top of the ratings for a while now and certainly Lori has been a huge part of the success of the morning news.

 

Secondly, there's no job security anchoring the 4pm news. What happens if the 4pm news fails and in a year or two is replaced with a syndicated show? They won't just give Lori back her old position and demote everyone else back to their former positions. Lori would be stuck anchoring the noon news and struggling to find a spot somewhere else to justify her salary.

 

Very valid points - however Lori and her agent aren't stupid.... I am sure that if she were forced to move to 4PM against her wishes to help fuel the show, she would have a clause put in her modified contract that if the 4PM show were to be replaced by a syndie, that she would retain her salary with just the noon show and filling in, or get her spot back in the mornings. There are plenty of ways it could be spun.

 

My money is still on one of the evening women getting the 4pm show...

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Just an update - latest I've heard is that it's leaning towards Lori Stokes joining David Novarro at 4PM (remaining with Ken Rosato at noon) and Michelle Charlesworth joining Ken at 4:30AM weekdays. Toni Yates becoming the weekend morning anchor.

 

Me personally - I don't know if messing around with the morning show is a good idea. The show has been on the top for a while now, it would really be a shame to mess with the chemistry there. I would rather just see one of the current evening women add 4PM to their duties. Lori does well in the AM with Ken and Bill Evans.

That just seems like too much shuffling.

 

Why not just put Michele on at 4pm with David. Unless David and Michele don't have good chemistry. It doesn't make sense to mess around with a great morning product. Lori is the glue of that morning newscast,especially with Bill.

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They are really grilling and testing Novarro to the brink! But it seems that he gets along with everyone and I've seen David's broadcasts he is a true class act. Nothing artificial or anything it was as if he was born to do it which he was, haha. Anyway I think Novarro absolutely deserves a spot and would be an excellent candidate for lead anchor should Bill Ritter leave WABC-TV for ABC News or for any other reason (though I hope Bill stays too because he's excellent as well)

 

This will undeniably be an extremely challenging decision for WABC-TV. This decision has to be made with critical thought and thorough analysis. Because the way the shows are right now, it is working extremely well for them. But ratings are slipping for them a little. From what we've been noticing, the ratings aren't that far apart anymore. The situation is starting to become very delicate. So any slip up could very well lower their ratings and CBS 2 which has been on the fringe of being number one could very well take that spot should ABC 7's ratings drop.

 

Anyway with all of this news about the 4PM launch on Memorial Day or May 31, whats the status on the new studio? They will certainly need a new set for all of these newscasts especially for the new 4PM broadcast. To use the same old boring studio for all three broadcasts would kind of be monotonous. I'm hoping the construction had begun, haha. The 7 year old set, (built in 2004) is dated. Also the format should be different because if its 3 hours straight of hard news like their west coast sister (KABC-TV), then viewers will certainly turn away because a 4PM broadcast is an extreme risk to take in NY (It did not work on WCBS). Just because 4PM broadcasts work in LA doesn't mean it will work for NY. (They are still two very different cities with very distinct people with different attitudes). I really believe that they need to bring something original and unique to the 4PM hour for it to be successful. They have to reinvent themselves. And it is something that will be quite challenging and will require some critical thinking for their production team.

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Also the format should be different because if its 3 hours straight of hard news like their west coast sister (KABC-TV), then viewers will certainly turn away because a 4PM broadcast is an extreme risk to take in NY (It did not work on WCBS). Just because 4PM broadcasts work in LA doesn't mean it will work for NY. (They are still two very different cities with very distinct people with different attitudes). I really believe that they need to bring something original and unique to the 4PM hour for it to be successful. They have to reinvent themselves. And it is something that will be quite challenging and will require some critical thinking for their production team.

 

The 4pm newscasts in LA (KABC, KNBC, KCBS) originally started off as more lifestyle oriented, and less hard news. Even KABC when it debuted its 4pm news in 1980 emphasized softer/feature based news coverage, before eventually switching to 3 hours of hard news, though aesthetically the newscast was plain old Eyewitness News.

 

KNBC when it started doing news at 4, titled its newscast LA at 4 and focused on softer news, even using a different set compared to its later programs, it worked but the station dropped the news at 4 in 02 for Dr. Phil

 

KCBS...well...they're tried and failed, though sister KCAL has a newscast at 4 to compete with KABC.

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So far Novarro has anchored with every female anchor except Sandra Bookman. Correct? He seems to get along with every1... Him and Lee Goldberg seem to get along well... I think the show will go great talent wise... Hopefully WABC will play their cards right.

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So far Novarro has anchored with every female anchor except Sandra Bookman. Correct? He seems to get along with every1... Him and Lee Goldberg seem to get along well... I think the show will go great talent wise... Hopefully WABC will play their cards right.

 

DN subbed for Joe Torres about three weekends ago... so he has been paired with Sandra.

 

He has been paired with every female anchor at this point - it's all about testing the waters for the 4PM show. It's only like 6 weeks away at this point.

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How about this:

-David and Liz at 4

-Diana and Sade at 5

-Bill and Liz at 6

-Bill and Diana at 11

It won't happen, but it's wishful thinking!

 

I'd like it to be:

 

David and Diana at 4

Bill and Liz at 5

Diana and Sade at 6

Bill and Liz at 11

 

It would be bad to split the teams up entirely cause they work great for WABC...

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I'd like it to be:

 

David and Diana at 4

Bill and Liz at 5

Diana and Sade at 6

Bill and Liz at 11

 

It would be bad to split the teams up entirely cause they work great for WABC...

 

Well since you kinda don't want the teams to be split nynewslover, will this work?....

David and Diana 4pm

David and Sade 4:30

5pm, 6pm and 11pm teams stay put

 

...or would one team would stay put through the entire 4pm hour?

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I really hope they don't remove or disrupt any of the existing teams because they are all working quite well for WABC. Perhaps they can have David anchor the 4PM solo or with an alternating co-anchor. (Perhaps they can have Lori, Sade and Diana alternate on certain days)

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I'm thinking they'll keep Diana and Sade together and move them to the 4, then let David and someone do the 5, then Bill and Liz at 6 and 11. That seems to make the most sense in terms of keeping the Oprah-free audience...

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I dont think having David anchoring solo or with a changing anchor is a great idea...I think it'll be David and Michelle at 4.. Not so sure WABC would want to move Diana and Sade from the 5 but then again nobody excepted Ken Rosato to be the morning anchor. I'm sure management already has the team in place or has a great idea of whats gonna be.

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Any word on a launch date or even a lineup? 6 just announced they're launching the day after Oprah leaves (May 26), and they have their lineup completely set.

 

Same date set for WABC. May 26.

No, there is no official announcement on a lineup yet.

 

Latest I've heard is the idea of this:

 

4PM: Bill Ritter & Sade Baderinwa -OR- Liz Cho & Sade

5PM: Diana Williams & David Novarro

6PM & 11PM: Bill Ritter & Liz Cho

 

However, no official annoucement yet.

 

Craziest I heard was that with the return of Lara Spencer to ABC that she would anchor at 4PM... However, I throw that idea out because of the role she'll be playing at GMA.

 

I personally still say that after all the talk, Michelle will anchor at 4pm.

(btw - Lauren Glassberg has been pushing HARD to get the 4PM slot - so either way, I expect her to play a large role in the show with features and whatnot)

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Same date set for WABC. May 26.

No, there is no official announcement on a lineup yet.

 

Latest I've heard is the idea of this:

 

4PM: Bill Ritter & Sade Baderinwa -OR- Liz Cho & Sade

5PM: Diana Williams & David Novarro

6PM & 11PM: Bill Ritter & Liz Cho

 

However, no official annoucement yet.

 

Craziest I heard was that with the return of Lara Spencer to ABC that she would anchor at 4PM... However, I throw that idea out because of the role she'll be playing at GMA.

 

I personally still say that after all the talk, Michelle will anchor at 4pm.

(btw - Lauren Glassberg has been pushing HARD to get the 4PM slot - so either way, I expect her to play a large role in the show with features and whatnot)

If WPVI's template is anything to go by, Glassberg might play a role in there. Yeah, the WPVI 4pm is being billed as a three-anchor format, but the promos are more like "two anchors and a chick standing at the big board", which is what I expected.

 

But again, is the brief basically "another hour of Eyewitness News"? or "a different kind of newscast"? The anchor lineups would have to reflect what they're going for.

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But again, is the brief basically "another hour of Eyewitness News"? or "a different kind of newscast"? The anchor lineups would have to reflect what they're going for.

 

I'm getting the feeling WABC's (and WPVI's) new 4PM newscast is leaning towards WLS's 4PM format/style news (which is really different than the 5-6PM format used by eastern time zone stations).

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I'm getting the feeling WABC's (and WPVI's) new 4PM newscast is leaning towards WLS's 4PM format/style news (which is really different than the 5-6PM format used by eastern time zone stations).

 

I mean no offense, just curious-

As a Chicagoan, what exactly is so different about the 4pm news, compared to the 5/6pm shows...other than the one-hour format?

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