It's funny, besides a quick meeting with afternoon staffers. No mention of this has been made inside the building at KRIV. According to sources, there are no press releases, not even any copy of this article or anything in the I-News computers there. It's nice of them to let their staff know that they are expanding. I find this increasingly interesting with the recent layoffs of four full-time staffers. Not to mention, countless other positions that have been eliminated due to budget cuts.
At first, KRIV will struggle with the afternoon news against the other three, but their ratings against the other three in the morning, are just as good or better in some time periods. I don't get the appeal, but it does well. So yes, at first the ratings will be better with Simpsons/Malcolm. However, in the long run, the news will be more competitive and it will make a lot more money. Local news is an easier sale (and a bigger profit margin) than syndicated sitcoms. However, it is a costly operation, too.
As for KHCW, I always have said they will not be able to compete with KRIV, unless they expand the 9pm to an hour. Now, I think they will do a lot better. To me, Sherry Williams and Alan Hemberger are better anchors than Mike Barajas & Melissa Wilson. And, while I like Dr. Jim & Mark Berman better for weather and sports, I think Keith Monahan and Jorge Vargas have cemented themselves as credible sources. So, I think there could be a legitimate battle there. The only advantage for KRIV, is their lead-ins tend to be better. The CW programming is mostly geared at teens and young adults. Not necessarily the demo that stays tuned for the news. I am not sure about expanding to do a morning newscast. I would spend extra time developing your hour long show and see how that goes first. Adding that would be very costly. However, I guess Tribune's new owners mean business and aren't necessarily as cheap as the last bunch.
