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Fox 40 WDBD to start news operation in May

T

the golden boy

This May, central Mississippi will have a new choice for news as WDBD Fox 40 will roll out an hour-long newscast at 9PM. This will be the first time Fox 40 will have a newscast since the ill-fated Mississippi News Tonight in the early 90s.

Also, WLBT will start a 4pm newscast on March 3. It will be anchored by Maggie Wade and Barbie Bassett.
 
Good for them. I hope they can make some noise.

I wish WMDN and/or WGBC would start a newscast in Meridian. WTOK's "newscast" is an absolute joke. Tom Danials should have retired 10 years ago.
 
I would probally watch it if they get their national news from Fox. I only wish Fox would have a network newscast to compete with ABC,CBS, NBC. Not everyone subscribes to the Fox news channel.
 
jo-nathan said:
Good for them. I hope they can make some noise.

I wish WMDN and/or WGBC would start a newscast in Meridian. WTOK's "newscast" is an absolute joke. Tom Danials should have retired 10 years ago.
Click to expand...

They both used to do local news before they combined operations. Both were hideous.

I forget his name, but who was the guy with the square lips who anchored on what was then WHTV (Ch. 24) years ago? He also did news on WOKK at one time.

LF
 
lfuss said:
They both used to do local news before they combined operations. Both were hideous.
Click to expand...

Oh yes, I remember 24/30 news. I also remember the big stink raised by their six viewers when Bill and Deena were let go (and I also know the real reason why - although I'm sure it's gotten around over the years). A guy I went to college with, Jonathan (I don't remember his name) was a reporter and sometimes anchored sports. I heard that he died a few years ago. And, yes, it was awful. It was a prime example of what happens when you try to run an operation on the cheap. Of course, that was because Bill and Deena were making an obscene amount of money each. Another friend who worked there told me how much they were making. I don't exactly how much it was but I remember saying, "in Meridian?!"

Jonathan
 
They did this ten or more years ago with "Mississippi News Tonight" an hour long thing at 9PM.
It didn't last long up against the top 9PM prime offerings on the (then) big three.
The early news works best in the eastern time zone where the regular late news is at 11PM, late for
a lot of people.
I saw in the Clarion Ledger than WLBT is planning an hour of news beginning at 4PM...against Oprah(?).
 
A few years back, all the stations were battling it out for the #1 slot at 10 PM... Doppler radar here, Resturant health ratings there, anchors moving station-to-station... When the dust cleared, the #1 slot at 10 PM belonged to "Mama's Family" on a station that aired news at 9.
 
jo-nathan said:
lfuss said:
They both used to do local news before they combined operations. Both were hideous.
Click to expand...

Oh yes, I remember 24/30 news.
Click to expand...

I wasn't referring to that abomination. I was talking about the separate newscasts they both did years ago. I lived in Meriudian from '77 to '84. Channel 30 (then WLBM-TV) went on-air in '80 or '81. Mike something (Glass-?), who had the personality of a tree stump, came over from WTOK-TV to anchor the news, as well as a black guy from WTOK who talked like he had a mouth full of mush. It was dreadful.

And then there was Carol Perkins on Channel 24 (then WHTV). In a business where looks mean a lot, Carol looked like a white-haired Margaret Hamilton anchoring the news. It was scary!

LF
 
I do hope that WDBD will take the time and run the news operation the right way. Given that it will not start until May, hopefully they are taking their time to do that. I would like to see them do news updates throughout the day, as well as on their sister stations WUFX and WXMS.
 
When is WUFX, WRBJ and maybe WXMS going HDTV? I checked the FCC website and didn't even see a construction permit, unless they moved it. The only way I can get WUFX is on WDBD's subchannel. WRBJ is nearly impossible for me to pick up because it's in Magee and my antenna points the wrong way, unless I use rabbit ears or get on the roof and turn the antenna. And yes I'm one of the actual 4 or 5 viewers who has actually seen what broadcast HDTV looks like. Not basic cable 4:3 ratio stretched to fit a 16.9 set with fat football players with oval shaped heads running around like you see in nearly every neighbors house or resturant these days.
 
Any word on who will anchor the news, sports and weather?

I don't like the idea of a repeat broadcast on My35 though. It's old news by the time it re-airs at 10.
 
yeah - a ton can happen in the 25 minutes between the end of the live 9 cast and the replay at 10. ::)


I too am curious about the anchors, Roberts spend cash on quality? Or do you reckon he pulled from the local community colleges? Guess we'll find out in a few days.
 
I checked Fox 40's schedule last week at gomiss.com and it confirmed that the newscast will start tomorrow. However, my DirecTV guide shows Access Hollywood and The King of Queens on in the 9PM hour. Of course, the schedule is subjected to change at the last minute. But I haven't seen any promotion for Fox 40's newscast. I also don't think they would put the newscast on the schedule if it weren't to start on tomorrow. What gives?
 
last week they moved Martin from 9PM on 40 to 35. Access Hollywood replaced Martin on 40. King of Queens moved from 35 to 40 at 9:30.

I wonder how long their newscast will last. They tried the 9PM newscast several years ago with Michael Rubinstein moving from channel 3, but it flopped.
 
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