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The Race to 4am! Who will be the first?

F

formeraa

One Houston station joined a handful of stations around the country who start their news at 4am. A few months ago, someone said that ABC15 was going to start a 4am newscast with Susan Casper, but she ended up at 4PM. Who will be the first in Phoenix? Is anyone besides Brian4 up at that hour? ;)
 
This just makes me go huh? It's also coming from a nightowl so that explains my question for wondering why you want news that early.

I really wonder, this is a prediction/hypothesis and I could be completely wrong but I'm wondering if the future of Local TV will be more of a 24/7 with updates at the top and bottom of the hour and shows, paid programming to the fill the slots. Who knows maybe I'm wrong and just full of shit. Will be interesting to see.

I wonder when the headline will be, Race to 3:00 A.M.

I can see how this can benefit morning people and people who have to work early shifts, but damn I mean what do you fill your show with if there is no breaking news or new news from 10:35 p.m. the night before?
 
Well, there are nightowls and there are early birds! :D

Many stations tried the 24/7-type reports in the 80's and early 90's. It worked for a while, but you had to have staff in the newsroom all night long (between 10:35pm and 4:30/5am). It slowly went away during the 90's as stations tried to cut expenses.

BTW, in Phoenix, I occasionally have to catch an early airplane and I am amazed at how much traffic there is at 4:30 or 5 in the morning. It is definitely Saturday-level traffic at that hour (not empty as you might expect). My Mother is an early bird and watches the 4:30am newscasts in Seattle.
 
Construction crews start work before sunrise, which in Phoenix is very early in the summer, since we don't do DST. I know people that wake at 2 or 3 AM to go to work so they are done by noon or 1, when it becomes too dangerous to work outdoors.

Then there are the sales and other financial types who are at their desks by 5 AM to conform to an 8 AM start time on the east coast.
 
The normal "early morning" shows (beginning at or about 6AM local) seem to be targeted at females. Short of a very little hard national news most are "news-lite" or non-news segments ex: where to get your prom dress.

People who need to rise extremely early (construction, stock brokers etc.) generally don't turn on the TV. They just grab coffee and head out the door.

It would be interesting to see the number of viewers at these very early times and a breakdown of their demographic. I'm guessing the stations do it to (a) cut costs over any other type of programming except perhaps infomercials and (b) enable their sales staff to bargain ad rates due to more "free" airings.

Phoenix TV stations do not cover a very wide range of news so there is a lot of repetition between broadcasts. They also have the extremely irritating habit of using an early newscast to tease stories on a later one. Unless you are interested in traffic accidents or buildings on fire there are many other sources to catch bonafide news.
 
landtuna said:
The normal "early morning" shows (beginning at or about 6AM local) seem to be targeted at females. Short of a very little hard national news most are "news-lite" or non-news segments ex: where to get your prom dress.
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I'd have to say Channel 5 isn't as bad as the others. In fact, they're the only early-morning news I can stomach anymore since they do tend to emphasize more news along with a few features, as well as being heavy on traffic and weather.

People who need to rise extremely early (construction, stock brokers etc.) generally don't turn on the TV. They just grab coffee and head out the door.
Click to expand...

Maybe, maybe not (since I don't know every stockbroker or construction worker in the valley. ;D ). Even at the early hour that these folks leave the house, traffic reports are important. At least they are to me - a guy who leaves for work at 6:30 AM.
 
Now that I commute a longer distance, I definitely want to see a couple of traffic reports before leaving home. Any accident or breakdown can really make a huge difference in the commute time. If I know before I leave, I can adjust my route accordingly. So, the early morning newscasts definitely make a difference.

I've recently started watching GMAZ in the mornings. If you can stomach Tara and Scott, they are doing much more news and traffic these days (as well as live reports from the scene of major news). No more of the Brad and Dan silliness in the mornings anymore.
 
formeraa said:
Is anyone besides Brian4 up at that hour?
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Former, you really don't want to know what time I get up. It depends on if it's a head shaving day plus exercising...

I'm awake at 4:00 AM and would watch a local news program. My TV is programed to turn on with HLN. Not really sure why I keep it that way, because I turn off Robin Meade ASAP. Meade has got to be one of the worst anchors on national television. I usually go to 3TV and watch First Business until GMAZ comes on.

When KPHO started doing 4:30, I watched but left when they "went in another direction" and replaced Gina Maravilla while she was on maternity leave, plus I don't like Paul Horton.

I will admit that a few times a week I'll watch stuff I DVRed but always switch back to GMAZ.
 
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