ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, September 9, 1996 TAG: 9609100098
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CODY LOWE STAFF WRITER
Those of you who just can't stay awake until 11 p.m., but still would like to see some local television news before you hit the sack will get your first shot at a 10 p.m. newscast tonight.
"News 7 Primetime" will air Monday through Friday nights - but not on WDBJ (Channel 7). Viewers will have to turn to WEFC-TV (Channel 38 over-the-air and on numerous cable outlets) to see News 7's Connie Stevens anchor a half-hour news program with Mike Stevens' sports reports and Robin Reed's weather.
The premiere of the region's first 10 p.m. newscast was timed to get a jump on a similar arrangement between WSLS (Channel 10) and WJPR/WFXR (Channels 21/27). A cooperative arrangement for a 10 p.m. newscast on the Fox stations was announced last week.
The Fox 21/27 newscast - to premiere near the end of October - will differ from "News 7 Primetime" in that WJPR/WFXR will have two employees participating in the newscast - an anchor and a news producer.
"News 7 Primetime," on the other hand, is produced solely by WDBJ's news department, which simply buys the half-hour time slot from WEFC. WDBJ receives the revenue from any commercial time it sells during the half-hour.
Management at both WSLS and WDBJ said their market research shows that there is a significant potential audience in the market for a 10 p.m. newscast.
"In this market, 32 percent go to bed [by 11 p.m.] and don't watch the news," said WSLS General Manager Randy Smith. "That's the audience we want to go for. [Many of them] want to see the news, but can't justify staying up."
WDBJ's Jim Shaver, vice president for news and programming, agreed. And he said he believes there is "some advantage to getting out of the shoot first" with a new 10 p.m. newscast.
Shaver hopes that the six weeks or so head start will help "News 7 Primetime" build an audience and an advertiser base before the "Fox 21/27 10 O'Clock News" even gets on the air.
Smith, on the other hand, says he "wouldn't perceive ["News 7 Primetime"] as a real threat, but, of course, it is competition." Smith says it "comes back to the delivery system. Fox is a very viable station ... with full market coverage. There are time slots when it's the number-one station, and there are never times where it is the number-five station. The delivery system for the other station [WEFC] doesn't even show up in the Nielsen ratings in any time period."
WEFC is primarily devoted to religious programming. It was founded and continues to be operated as a commercial TV station by the Rev. Ken Wright, pastor of Evangel Foursquare Church in Southeast Roanoke.
The practice of having one station provide news programming for another station in a market was fairly uncommon until recent years when a number of Fox-affiliates around the country began pursuing those kinds of arrangements.
To avoid Federal Communications Commission limitations on the distribution of syndicated programming, the Fox network - which makes substantial revenue off of syndicated programs it owns - has always ended "network" programming at 10 p.m. That left local Fox stations - many of which were relatively low-budget operations - with time to fill. Many concluded there was an audience for local news at that hour.
Unable to afford starting up and maintaining full-fledged news operations, some of the Fox affiliates turned to established news operations at competing stations and worked out cooperative arrangements similar to the one WSLS now has with WJPR/WFXR.
Small, financially restricted stations have come up with other original ways to get local news on their airwaves. WDRG (Channel 24) in Danville, affiliated with the fledgling WB network, airs a repeat broadcast of Channel 10's 6 p.m. newscast at 7 p.m. The two stations divide the revenue from commercials aired during the repeat broadcast.
At 10 p.m., management at both WSLS and WDBJ say, viewers can expect differences from the typical newscast.
"In pace, in style, [the "Fox 21/27 10 O'Clock News"] will be different from what people are used to seeing in the market." Though it will include one of Channel 10's news anchors, as well as sports anchor Greg Roberts and Chuck Bell with weather, "it's going to be totally different" from WSLS' other newscasts and clearly identifiable with Fox 21/27, Smith said.
"We're as excited as we can be about it," Shaver said.
LENGTH: Medium: 78 linesby CNB