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WUPA/UPN Atlanta to end 10PM news

J

jal

Guest
WUPA/UPN Atlanta has posted to its website that both the 10 PM news produced by WXIA/11 Alive and Atlanta Tonight will come to an end on August 28th.

Does anyone know why they are ending both shows? Is low ratings or production costs a factor?
 
> WUPA/UPN Atlanta has posted to its website that both the 10
> PM news produced by WXIA/11 Alive and Atlanta Tonight will
> come to an end on August 28th.
>
> Does anyone know why they are ending both shows? Is low
> ratings or production costs a factor?
>


I can not imagine the production costs being that much considering it is all channel 11 staff that does a 11pm show 25 minutes after the News at Ten ended. The Atlanta Tonight program might have been a cost factor but they could have just dropped that show. I think that channel 5 just dominates that time slot too much for channel 69 to have a chance. Plus how is 35 minutes half the time of an hour news program. There is an outside chance that NBC did not want channel 11 to produce a news program on a station owned by CBS.
 
After speaking to WXIA's Bob Walker and UPN's Meg LaVigne, it strikes me that UPN made the decision to end the partnership. LaVigne would only say it was an "economic decision," refusing to say outright that it wasn't making much money or garnering good ratings. I got a look at the ratings compared to "Frasier," prior to April 2004 and they were, in general, far worse in the 18-49 and 25-54 demos. LaVigne said she likes to take risks and this was a risk and complimented WXIA for the quality of their production. She refused to say whether production costs were a factor or even blaming low ratings.

> > WUPA/UPN Atlanta has posted to its website that both the
> 10
> > PM news produced by WXIA/11 Alive and Atlanta Tonight will
>
> > come to an end on August 28th.
> >
> > Does anyone know why they are ending both shows? Is low
> > ratings or production costs a factor?
> >
>
>
> I can not imagine the production costs being that much
> considering it is all channel 11 staff that does a 11pm show
> 25 minutes after the News at Ten ended. The Atlanta Tonight
> program might have been a cost factor but they could have
> just dropped that show. I think that channel 5 just
> dominates that time slot too much for channel 69 to have a
> chance. Plus how is 35 minutes half the time of an hour news
> program. There is an outside chance that NBC did not want
> channel 11 to produce a news program on a station owned by
> CBS.
>
 
Same story in Detroit where Dennis Swanson and Princell Hair decided to mothball the news department of CBS/UPNDetroit then CBS/UPN Detroit GM Linda Dana tried a two year deal with Scripps Howard's ABC Detroit station WXYZ to do the 10pm WKBD News under the banner "UPN DETROIT ACTION NEWS AT 10" granted the ratings were good, but not good enough, and the plug was again pulled on the anniversary of the plug being pulled on the original newscast.
and yes folks WWJ CBS62 Detroit is since 2002 the ONLY CBS Owned and Operated Station with NOOOO News Department..

Maybe whats happening in Atlanta is a sign that CBS/VIACOM could buy 46
 
Steve Baxley commented:

> Maybe what's happening in Atlanta is a sign that CBS/VIACOM
> could buy 46

If they do, WUPA-69 may end-up running a 10 P.M. newscast produced for it by 46.

But on the other hand, WSBK-38 here in Boston not too long ago dropped a 10 P.M. newscast that has been produced for it by sister station WBZ-4.

So it's possible that WUPA might not get a local newscast again were CBS/Viacom to buy Channel 46.
 
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