TAMPA, FLA.: Folks at the Florida Fox O&O WTVT-TV are getting up a bit earlier these days. The station decided to expand it’s local morning newscast by 30 minutes, starting it at 4:30 a.m. rather than 5 a.m. “Good Day Tampa Bay” will run for four-and-a-half hours starting Monday, according to station vice president and general manager, Bill Schneider. The strategy puts WTVT’s news team on the air before rival WFLA-TV, the NBC affiliate in the market, though WTVT regularly wins the morning news race.
WTVT’s early morning news team, anchors Tom Curran and Nerissa Prest, meteorologist Dave Osterberg and traffic reporter Jennifer Epstein, will take on the additional workload. That strategy got the attention of Eric Deggens of The St. Petersburg Times. (Story continues after Sponsored Link.)
“The move follows a trend revealed in the RTNDA study… in which local TV news shops are increasing their newscasts without building staff, which just means more work for everyone,” Deggens wrote. “Lots of questions remain: Are there enough people awake at 4:30 a.m. to make this newscast worth the effort? Will it really establish a viewing pattern--snag people at 4:30 a.m. and hope they stay tuned for four and half hours? Is this enough to shift the balance of power in mornings? Will this be tougher on Curran, who has Parkinson's disease?”
Deggens said he’d be monitoring the newscast to see if the added work pays off. This blog is available at http://blogs.tampabay.com/media. -- Deborah D. McAdams
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