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11/28: WAGA adds an 11 p.m. newscast
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Starting January 14, 2008, you’ll be able to see four different versions of that latest homicide or apartment fire at 11 p.m. thanks to Fox affiliate WAGA-TV.
Fox 5 will continue to air its popular 10 p.m. hour-long program, then segue immediately into “Fox 5 News Edge at 11” with a new anchor Tom Haynes from Miami. It’ll sub out “That ‘70’s Show.” “I’m not saying we’re reinventing news at 11 but Tom will give us a different look on air,” said general manager Gene McHugh.
WXIA-TV, WGCL-TV and WSB-TV already have beachheads at 11. But with the sitcom pipeline drying up in recent years, adding an 11 p.m. news operation has become more appealing financially to TV stations. Other Fox stations have recently added the 11 p.m. news including those in Boston, Detroit and D.C. This will up WAGA’s weekly total of local news to a whopping 43 hours, comparable to market leader WSB-TV.
WAGA-TV’s 10 p.m. newscast is competitive with the dramas the other three major networks typically air. The station’s strongest news time slot is the mornings, with its 5 to 7 newscast and successful “Good Day Atlanta” entertainment-oriented show from 7 to 9.
Here’s Haynes’ bio off his Miami Fox station Web site.. He has been in Atlanta before, working for a few years at CNN.
Comments
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By beaz
November 29, 2007 2:36 PM | Link to this
they should focus on doing an HDTV newscast rather than adding an 11:00 show.