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KXAN News: shifting and expanding
KXAN is shifting and expanding its local news. Viewership for TV news might be splintering and declining overall, but KXAN believes it’s time to grow.
“It’s more about what we feel is our core competency and core business,” said station general manager Eric Lassberg.
Starting Tuesday, Sept. 4, the NBC affiliate’s late afternoon news will move from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. And then on Monday, Sept. 10, the station is adding an hour-long newscast at noon.
Before all you “Jeopardy!” fans have a cow, the enduringly popular game show is not going away. It will air for an hour, from 4 to 5 p.m., with a rerun from the previous season leading off at 4 p.m. and the new episode a half-hour later.
“I’m hoping that people who really love ‘Jeopardy!’ will be pleased because they’ll have an hour,” Lassberg said. “It’s really just an hour time-shift.”
The station’s 5 p.m. news will have the same anchor team on board: Robert Hadlock, Michelle Valles, Roger Wallace and Jim Spencer.
KXAN resisted having an early-evening newscast for years, at least partly because “Jeopardy!” has been so successful against the other local stations’ 5 p.m. news. A few years ago, KXAN introduced the 4 p.m. news, but the audience available at that time of day is considerably smaller than the 5 p.m. time slot.
“We’re in the news business, and we’re serious about news,” Lassberg said. “It just makes sense from the viewers’ standpoint to do it at 5 p.m.”
The noon newscast — to be anchored by KXAN’s early-morning team of Tonya Kerr and Chris Willis — will launch the same day that NBC’s “Today” adds another hour.
I know your head is spinning at this point, but here’s how KXAN’s daytime schedule will look as of Sept. 10:
7 to 9 a.m. “Today”
9 to 10 a.m. “Live with Regis and Kelly”
10 a.m. to noon “Today”
Noon to 1 p.m. “KXAN News”
1 to 2 p.m. “700 Club”
2 to 3 p.m. “Days of Our Lives
(Note: “Montel Williams” moves to KXAN’s sister station KNVA at 11 a.m. weekdays.)
Why is British TV filming in Austin?
“Wire in the Blood”, a popular procedural crime drama produced by the BBC, is filming an episode in Austin right now.
The series, which returns to the BBC America schedule sometime in the fall, focuses on an enigmatic clinical psychologist Dr. Tony Hill, played by Robson Green.
What does this have to do with Austin? Tony becomes an expert witness in the case of an American Iraq War veteran accused of killing his family. The killer claims he is suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. Tony is hired to prove the claim is false, and he winds up in an Austin courtroom to make the case.
“I think it is a huge achievement for a small indie to move from the northeast of England to make a film in Austin, Texas,” executive producer Sandra Jobling said in a statement. “We are relishing the challenge of learning a new system of production and working closely with our American colleagues.”
Permalink | Comments (1) | Post your comment | Categories: Local news
Comments
By monroe
August 2, 2007 4:40 PM | Link to this
What a mistake for KXAN. I actually watch them at 4 pm. They are the only local news at that time besides News 8, which quite frankly, doesnt have the same credibility. At 5 & 6, I have so many other choices besides KXAN and frankly our household prefers KVUE at that time. You've just lost a couple more viewers.