With the new TV season beginning, more than a dozen new local newscasts and programs have launched on Upper Midwest stations this month.
The additions continue a trend away from syndicated programming and towards local programming. In some cases, the daytime additions are traditional newscasts with some lighthearted segments, while other new programs are presented as talk shows or magazines.
Many of the new offerings have already been reported here as information was released gradually over the past month. Other shows have not yet been mentioned on this site (thanks to the Changing Newscasts blog for tracking everything so closely).
Here is a complete rundown of the new programs by market:
Bismarck: KXMB (CBS), hourlong newscast at 4 p.m., 6 p.m. newscast extended to an hour
Duluth: WDIO (ABC), “The Lift” magazine at 4:30 p.m., as well as a simulcast of KSTP-TV’s “Twin Cities Live” from 3 to 4:30
Fargo: WDAY (ABC), hourlong newscast at 11 a.m.
Fargo: KVLY (NBC), hourlong newscast at 4 p.m.
Madison: WKOW (ABC), hourlong newscast at 4 p.m.
Mankato: KEYC (CBS), half-hour “Kato Living” magazine at 4 p.m.
Milwaukee: WISN (ABC), hourlong newscast at 4 p.m. (launched in June)
Minneapolis: WCCO (CBS), hourlong newscast at 4 p.m.
Rochester: KAAL (ABC), hourlong newscast at 11 a.m.
Rochester: KTTC (NBC), hourlong weekend morning newscasts at 6 a.m.
Omaha: KMTV (CBS), hourlong weekend morning newscasts at 7 a.m., Saturday 10 p.m. newscast extended to an hour
Omaha: KETV (ABC), hourlong newscast at 4 p.m.
Quad Cities: KWQC (NBC), hourlong newscast at 11 a.m.
Rapid City: KCLO (CBS), hourlong newscast at 3 p.m. (satellite of KELO in Mountain time zone)
Sioux Falls: KELO (CBS), hourlong newscast at 4 p.m.
As mentioned previously, many of these new programs are taking advantage of openings created by the end of Ellen Degeneres’ syndicated show.
With larger staffs, major market stations tend to have the most local programming. In the Twin Cities, ABC affiliate KSTP-TV/5.1 and independent sister 45TV (KSTC) offer a combined 12.5 hours per day of local programming, while FOX 9 (KMSP) and FOX 9+ (WFTC) have 12 hours. CBS affiliate WCCO-TV/4.1 has 6.5 hours after the recent addition of an hourlong 4 p.m. newscast, while NBC affiliate KARE/11.1 has 5 hours.
The Star Tribune took a closer look at some of the newer Twin Cities programming in a recent article.
The localism is even more intense in the largest markets. For example, in Los Angeles, CW affiliate KTLA recently dropped the remaining syndicated shows from its daytime lineup and is now in local news and programming continuously from 4 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. weekdays!
Meanwhile, the networks have also been moving from entertainment programming to news, with NBC moving “Days of Our Lives” to streaming service Peacock and “NBC News Live” now airing in the soap opera’s former midday broadcast timeslot. That’s besides the four-hour “Today” show. The move comes four years after ABC switched one midday hour from “The Chew” to a third hour of “Good Morning America.”
“NBC News Live” gives affiliates the opportunity to run local news updates during the lunch hour.