CBS owned-and-operated WCCO-TV/4 (Minneapolis) has joined a growing list of stations adding local newscasts following the end of Ellen Degeneres’ syndicated show.
WCCO-TV announced on Friday that it will launch the new hourlong 4:00 newscast on Monday, Sept. 5, anchored by Jeff Wagner and Erin Hassanzadeh. Other media outlets beat WCCO in posting the news online.
The new 4:00 newscast will compete with an existing half-hour newscast on Tegna NBC affiliate KARE 11. Hubbard ABC affiliate KSTP-TV/5 runs the 90-minute Twin Cities Live starting at 3:00, followed by local news at 4:30.
Stations in Milwaukee and Sioux Falls are also adding local news due to the end of Ellen’s show.
Hearst ABC affiliate WISN-TV/12 (Milwaukee) added a 4:00 newscast in June, pushing Ellen reruns back an hour for the summer.
Nexstar CBS affiliate KELO-TV/11 (Sioux Falls) had aired Ellen at 3:00. It will move Dr. Phil into that timeslot effective Sept. 6, with a new 4:00 newscast launching that day.
The additional newscasts follow a trend of TV stations switching to local news and talk programming to replace syndicated shows.