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November 1, 2000
AT NINE, MORE BECOMES LESS
The revised early evening "Eyewitness News" is a
tightly paced, well put together newscast that does not disguise the fact that
WUSA has given up on competing head to head with longtime rival WRC (ch.
4). WUSA management explained the changes in the early evening newscast as
a commitment to a growing morning news audience. The more is less in the
afternoon approach rings hollow, especially when the 4 p.m. newscast was started
over a decade
ago as counterprogramming.
When ABC affiliate WJLA (ch. 7) won the rights to Oprah Winfrey's popular talk
show from WUSA in 1989, Nine, part of the Gannett station group, added another
hour of news, creating an unprecedented three-hour early evening local
news. WUSA was riding high in the ratings and was one of the top-rated CBS
affiliates in the country. The 4 p.m. news often finished
second to Winfrey in the ratings but would win the time period when there was an
ongoing major national story or breaking local news.
There were changes over the years but the one constant at 4 p.m. was anchor Mike
Buchanan. The veteran crime reporter became an anchor who knew how to
handle a serious news story balanced with an unexpectedly off-the-wall sense of
humor. When Andrea Roane was moved to the 6 p.m. news after Maureen
Bunyan's unexpected removal in 1995. Beverly Burke was brought in to
co-anchor.
The fluff-to-substance ratio was higher than I would have liked, but Nine's 4
p.m. news was a solid broadcast. But the station that pioneered the
expanding evening news faced head-to-head competition from NBC-owned WRC-TV (ch.
4). "News 4 at 4" took a more straightforward approach to its
newscast and eventually passed Nine in the ratings. The question for Nine
became how to compete.
The reformatted "Eyewitness News" does not compete, but
retreats. The five to six p.m. hour is anchored by Nine veterans Gordon
Peterson and J.C. Hayward (Hayward ironically anchored Nine's first expanded
newscast at 5:30 in 1972). There are no problems with anchor chemistry or
content although there is a feel of being rushed. The 6 p.m. news,
co-anchored by newcomer
Gurvir Dhindsa, has been cut to a half-hour and the effect is that of an 11 p.m.
newscast airing five hours early.
The whole thing does not compute for this viewer. WJLA does a similar
90-minute newscast from 5 to 6:30 p.m. but can justify it by the presence of
Oprah Winfrey. And moving "Montel Williams" into the 4 p.m.
timeslot opposite Winfrey is like sending a SUV with defective Firestone tires
out to do battle with a tank. WUSA now competes directly with WJLA, which
is making
another move to upgrade its newscasts with the addition of former Nine
meteorologist Doug Hill in December, joining fellow Nine alumni Bunyan.
The only way the new "Eyewitness News" makes sense is as a decision to
spend less on news regardless of its effect on the station's ratings and
reputation in the Washington area as a station to turn to for news. WRC is
owned by a very cost-concious organization (NBC) but they are able to compete in
the mornings without cutting their early evening newscast. And while WJLA
has made moves to improve its news it has a reputation for a lesser commitment
to news than the other local network affiliates. The decision by WUSA
management to shrink its early evening news smacks of penny-wise, pound-foolish
thinking that will hurt the station in the long haul.
The views expressed in this column are those of Harrison
Wyman and are not necessarily the views of the Capital Charm Network and Famous
Shot Media.
Read Harrison
Wyman's Current Column
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