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How Many Local TV Stations Won't Do Any Christmas Day Newscasts??

J

Joseph_Gallant

Guest
Christmas Day is usually the slowest news day of the year (there have been exceptions, like 1968, when the astronauts on the first manned flight around the moon were starting their return trip; and 1989, when the communist government in Romania fell on Christmas Day).

In fact, it's such a slow news day that some TV stations that have local newsrooms go as far as to close those newsrooms down on Christmas Day to give all the news and production staffs the day off.

I wonder how many local TV newsrooms will just close-up tomorrow (December 25th) and cancel all of the day's live local newscasts. Here in southern New England, I do know that WLNE-6 New Bedford/Providence will not have any local news tomorrow (the 6 P.M. will be replaced by a "Mr. Food" special; the 11 P.M. newscast will be replaced by a "Year In Review" show).

If any local TV newsrooms in your area have decided to close tomorrow and cancel all of their live newscasts for Christmas Day, please post that information. Thanks!

My own view on this subject is this: Local TV newsrooms should be closed down on Christmas Day to give all the news and production staffs the day off. However, I'd keep a skeleton crew "on-call", so if a very major local news story does break, they can be called-in to go on the air and report on it.

But barring a tremendously major local news story (which in the Northeast would probably mean a major winter storm on Christmas Day), the newsroom would be closed on December 25th with daytime and early-evening newscasts replaced by various specials (some from the network that would pre-empt some local news slots anyway) and the late-evening newscast replaced by a pre-taped "Year In Review" show that would be put together in the days immediately prior to Christmas.
 
NYC looks like its getting the normal newscasts for a Sunday in football season.<P ID="signature">______________
<a href=http://blog.spotteddogs.org/blog/>Random Observations on Life, the Universe and Television</a></P>
 
> WOAI,KENS,and KSAT in San Antonio will all have local news. WOAI at 5:00 P.M. and KENS and KSAT will have their news at 5:30 P.M. as will KABB--Fox 29 with their 9:00 P.M. news. If nothing happens of course.
 
In Houston, the network affiliates will have their regular evening and late newscasts...the morning newscasts will be pre-empted by Christmas-themed programming.
 
> > WOAI,KENS,and KSAT in San Antonio will all have local
> news. WOAI at 5:00 P.M. and KENS and KSAT will have their
> news at 5:30 P.M. as will KABB--Fox 29 with their 9:00 P.M.
> news. If nothing happens of course.
>
Is KENS pre-empting its regular Sunday morning newscast with Barry Davis?
 
As far as I know, all 3 of us in Rockford are doing news tomorrow. (Hence why I have to work on Christmas day!)

-A<P ID="signature">______________

</P>
 
> Is KENS pre-empting its regular Sunday morning newscast with
> Barry Davis?

KENS' Sunday morning newscast is prempted for the special "Neiman Marcus' Christmas Parade". Also WOAI's 5:00 P.M. as well by the special "Sounds Of The Season". KENS and KSAT are the only ones showing news at 5:30 P.M. as will KABB with their 9:00 P.M. news.
 
Every news station in this market (Cleveland) hsa a presence today. I didn't check for morning casts, but everyone except NBC affiliate WKYC/3 has an 6 PM or 6:30 PM show today, and everyone has a 10 PM or 11 PM show tonight.

WKYC's newscasts for Akron/Canton via Time Warner Cable 23 are not airing today, but they do not do weekend casts on TWC anyway.

-OA<P ID="signature">______________
Ohio Media Watch - <a target="_blank" href=http://ohiomedia.blogspot.com>http://ohiomedia.blogspot.com</a></P>
 
CTV Atlantic isn't doing any newscasts, we got a special at 6PM with Steve Murphy hosting "A Maritime Christmas".
 
> CTV Atlantic isn't doing any newscasts, we got a special at
> 6PM with Steve Murphy hosting "A Maritime Christmas".
>
I don't think any CTV or CBC stations have local newscasts on Christmas or New Years, opting for specials, instead. (In CBC's case for this year, there's no Sunday local news, anyway.)
 
Based on a feature on CTV's website that allows one to access program schedules of any and all CTV stations, CFTO-9 Toronto apparently did air a half-hour late local newscast at 11:30 P.M. EST.
 
I'm just glad Christmas has fallen on a weekend in the last two years, otherwise I wouldn't have had the day off. I've never worked at a station, not even in small markets, that canceled all Christmas day newscasts.

Here in Kansas City, the CBS and NBC affiliates have dropped their morning newscasts on holidays in the past (Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's Day), thereby making us quite jealous. At WDAF-TV, we do no such thing, though we did shorten the morning news from four to three hours on Christmas 2003.<P ID="signature">______________
"Your solution is both fair and democratic ... and I want no part of it."

http://kcradio.tripod.com
http://zerwekh.hypermart.net</P>
 
> Christmas Day is usually the slowest news day of the year
> (there have been exceptions, like 1968, when the astronauts
> on the first manned flight around the moon were starting
> their return trip; and 1989, when the communist government
> in Romania fell on Christmas Day).
>
> In fact, it's such a slow news day that some TV stations
> that have local newsrooms go as far as to close those
> newsrooms down on Christmas Day to give all the news and
> production staffs the day off.
>
> I wonder how many local TV newsrooms will just close-up
> tomorrow (December 25th) and cancel all of the day's live
> local newscasts. Here in southern New England, I do know
> that WLNE-6 New Bedford/Providence will not have any local
> news tomorrow (the 6 P.M. will be replaced by a "Mr. Food"
> special; the 11 P.M. newscast will be replaced by a "Year In
> Review" show).
>
> If any local TV newsrooms in your area have decided to close
> tomorrow and cancel all of their live newscasts for
> Christmas Day, please post that information. Thanks!
>
> My own view on this subject is this: Local TV newsrooms
> should be closed down on Christmas Day to give all the news
> and production staffs the day off. However, I'd keep a
> skeleton crew "on-call", so if a very major local news story
> does break, they can be called-in to go on the air and
> report on it.
>
> But barring a tremendously major local news story (which in
> the Northeast would probably mean a major winter storm on
> Christmas Day), the newsroom would be closed on December
> 25th with daytime and early-evening newscasts replaced by
> various specials (some from the network that would pre-empt
> some local news slots anyway) and the late-evening newscast
> replaced by a pre-taped "Year In Review" show that would be
> put together in the days immediately prior to Christmas.
>


In Bangor Maine it was a regular Sunday routine.
WLBZ2 aired sister Gannett station WCSH6 Portland's 7AM News, as well as at 12Noon and 6 and 11PM. WLBZ only airs local news from Bangor at 5 and 6 PM weekdays. All others newscasts come from WCSH Portland, with some local drop-in features, such as local weather.
CBS Affiliate WABI TV5 aired local 6PM and 11PM news, as usual.
ABC Affiliate WVII TV7 has not aired local news on Sat. or Sun. for several years now.

And I hope all had a great Christmas or are enjoying Hannukah or Kwanzaa.
 
> CFTO-9 Toronto apparently did air a half-hour late local newscast
> at 11:30 P.M. EST.
>

Apparently, this was something new they did this year -- in the past, all CTV stations, including CFTO, gave their newscrews all of Christmas Day off (including the 11:30 show on Christmas Eve), with the next newscast not until Boxing Day at 6PM.
 
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