BALTIMORE: WMAR-TV, the ABC affiliate serving the No. 27 market is eliminating its Sunday evening newscast in favor of a local public affairs talker, reports the Baltimore Sun’s TV critic, David Zurawik. WMAR is canceling it’s 6:30 p.m. Sunday newscast next month and replacing it with “Square Off,” which is now aired on Sunday mornings.
WMAR General Manager Bill Hooper told Zurawik that “Square Off” was being held back in its current time period.
“We want to counter program our competition with strong local community oriented programming and ‘Square Off’ is the perfect answer,” he said. “Richard Sher has brought in a ’who’s who’ of panel guests to discuss today’s many issues. This will start on December 6th, and run until further notice.”
More on local news moves:
September 23, 2009: “KXRM-TV Adds Newscast”
Fox affiliate KXRM-TV in central Colorado added a 6:30 p.m. newscast to the schedule this month.
August 27, 2009: “WNBC-TV Hawks its New News Model”
WNBC-TV is trying to cut an edge in the broadcast business with a remodeled newscast and a seriously overhauled Web site. The station is replacing its traditional 5 p.m. newscast, dubbed “Live at Five” for nearly three decades, for something more akin to “Entertainment Tonight.”
August 25, 2009: “Two Stations Add News”
Two TV stations are adding more local news to the line-up. KIAH-TV, the Tribune-owned CW in Houston, is adding an hour of news in late afternoon. Orlando’s WESH-TV added a 10 p.m. newscast.
July 1, 2009: “Florida Station Cuts Staff, Upgrades Newscast”
Events collided at WTVT-TV in Florida this week when jobs were cut just as the station launched its local news in high definition.
June 19, 2009: “WHYY Dumps Local News”
WHYY-TV, a PBS affiliate serving Eastern Pennsylvania and Delaware, is doing away with a local newscast that it’s run for 46 years.
June 19, 2009: “WNBC Replaces Newscast with Fashioncast”
WNBC-TV is replacing its 5 p.m. newscast with an entertainment show targeting women.
April 28, 2009: “KWKT-TV Scales Back Newscast”
KWKT-TV, the Fox affiliate in this Central Texas community cut its 9 p.m. half-hour newscast down to a few minutes.
April 22, 2009: “WTVT-TV Gets Up at 4:30 a.m.”
Florida Fox O&O WTVT-TV expanded it’s local morning newscast by 30 minutes, starting it at 4:30 a.m. rather than 5 a.m.
