The NBC Owned Television Stations division of NBCUniversal today announced it is launching 4 PM newscasts at four of its stations: NBC 4 New York / WNBC, NBC4 Southern California / KNBC, NBC 6 South Florida / WTVJ and NBC Connecticut / WVIT. The new 60-minute newscasts, debuting in late May of this year, will deliver viewers across the four markets the most relevant and up-to-date local news, weather and information.
“Our stations have done a great job building their news teams, enterprising stories and delivering our viewers the local news, weather and information that is important to them,” said Valari Staab, President, NBCUniversal Owned Television Stations. “Our new 4 PM newscasts will expand on our local news commitment and offer our viewers even more of what they’re looking for.”
With the launch of the new 4 PM newscasts, “The Ellen DeGeneres Show,” which was just renewed by the NBC Owned Stations through the summer of 2020, will move to 3 PM beginning in late May in the four markets. “The Steve Harvey Show” will air at 2 PM.
Most of the other NBC Owned Stations already have 4 PM newscasts, including NBC10 Philadelphia / WCAU, NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth / KXAS, NBC4 Washington / WRC and NBC 7 San Diego / KNSD. In those markets, “Ellen” currently airs at 3 PM preceded by “Steve Harvey” at 2 PM.
Once they start, the new 4 PM newscasts will deliver NBC Owned Stations’ viewers more than 1,000 extra hours of local news each year, adding to the over 3,000 new hours of local news that has been introduced across the stations since 2011. In addition to adding local news, the NBC Owned Stations have grown considerably stronger over the last several years, thanks to a significant investment from NBCUniversal. The investment included hiring new journalists, launching investigative units, upgrading technology and newsgathering tools, building state-of-the-art new facilities and revamping digital platforms.
