editor Posted July 25, 2006 Share Posted July 25, 2006 According to B&C, Fox-owned KTXH (channel 20) is going to start a 5pm newscast.--:--Fox's Full-Court PressBy Allison Romano BROADCASTING & CABLEFox is revamping programming at its 25 owned-and-operated stations--both on-air and online. The stations will debut a national morning show in January, and several are adding early-evening newscasts. And in its first major Internet push, the company is relaunching station Websites to feature prominent video and interactivity.It's all part of a makeover masterminded by Fox News Channel and stations Chairman Roger Ailes, CEO Jack Abernethy and President of Operations Dennis Swanson. "We want our stations to have more news and information, more live and local," says Swanson. In the coming fiscal year, the O&Os will add 34 hours of news, he says.The unnamed morning show is the strategy's centerpiece. Hosted by Fox News Channel daytime anchors Mike Jerrick and Juliet Huddy, it will be produced by Fox News at its Manhattan headquarters and air live in most markets. It's billed as a mix of news and entertainment; when news breaks, the show can lean on FNC for coverage.Fox is entering the morning-news wars as other networks are coping with major changes. At NBC, Meredith Vieira is replacing Katie Couric on Today; at ABC, GMA has lost Charlie Gibson. But Fox chose its time slot carefully. At 9 a.m., the show avoids the most competitive hours and steers clear of FNC's Fox & Friends. It will go against the lighter, third hour of Today and chatfest Regis and Kelly. The timing also protects Fox's highly successful local morning shows and builds off their lead-in.Plans are also afoot to add 5 p.m. shows at several stations, including WFLD Chicago, KTXH Houston and WTXF Philadelphia. KMSP Minneapolis-St. Paul recently added one, as did WOFL Orlando, Fla. Although the group is bullish on this daypart, Swanson declines to discuss a possible FNC-produced national evening newscast.The news expansion may also be Fox's answer to a changing syndication market. The comedy pipeline is drying up, and Fox lost out on several major syndication deals recently, including Family Guy and Two and a Half Men. By adding news, Fox gets an economical programming solution and keeps the advertising inventory. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parrothead Posted July 25, 2006 Share Posted July 25, 2006 Wow. That just sounds like a colossally bad move. On the other hand, I sure wish they'd bring back News 24. That was kinda nice. Though the helmet-haired anchors needed to go... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
houstonray Posted July 25, 2006 Share Posted July 25, 2006 I didn't know Fox owned two stations in Houston? I knew of course they had KRIV but I didn't realize 20 was also a Fox station until now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaTrain Posted July 26, 2006 Share Posted July 26, 2006 (edited) ^^^Technically, Channel 20 is still a UPN station and future My Network TV station. Under its parent company, Newscorp, Fox also owns nine other stations that are UPN as opposed to Fox including the coast flagships in LA and NY. Back in 2001, Fox bought out the stations from other conglamerates and traded some to other conglamerates. Channel 20 used to be a Paramount Station (now CBS Corp) until then when it was traded off to Fox for another. Vice versa for CBS Corp, which owns CBS and UPN stations, since it bought out Paramount Group thru what was then Viacom.About the 5:00 newscast: I don't know why, but Fox should've chosen channel 26 to air the newscast, not channel 20. After all, channel 26 is the "forgotten" newstaion underneath 2, 11 and 13, and an hour-long 5:00 newscast would be the first one of its kind in Houston and compete with the Big Three stations here. Edited July 26, 2006 by DaTrain Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pumapayam Posted August 1, 2006 Share Posted August 1, 2006 I hate the way they (26 and 39) have news at 9, I want 3 hours of prime time, not 2! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJ V Lawrence Posted August 1, 2006 Share Posted August 1, 2006 Fox is entering the morning-news wars as other networks are coping with major changes. At NBC, Meredith Vieira is replacing Katie Couric on Today; at ABC, GMA has lost Charlie Gibson. But Fox chose its time slot carefully. At 9 a.m., the show avoids the most competitive hours and steers clear of FNC's Fox & Friends. It will go against the lighter, third hour of Today and chatfest Regis and Kelly. The timing also protects Fox's highly successful local morning shows and builds off their lead-in.I thought Fox already did that a few years ago. Anyone remember Fox After Breakfast (or something like that) where the set looked like a NYC apartment and was hosted by the current host of America's Funniest Home Videos (wus his name? Tom Berger... something )Plans are also afoot to add 5 p.m. shows at several stations, including WFLD Chicago, KTXH Houston and WTXF Philadelphia. KMSP Minneapolis-St. Paul recently added one, as did WOFL Orlando, Fla. Although the group is bullish on this daypart, Swanson declines to discuss a possible FNC-produced national evening newscast.Guess this partially answers what UPN 20 will be like by the end of the year. Curious what else will happen to the station.The news expansion may also be Fox's answer to a changing syndication market. The comedy pipeline is drying up, and Fox lost out on several major syndication deals recently, including Family Guy and Two and a Half Men. By adding news, Fox gets an economical programming solution and keeps the advertising inventory.I never heard about any Family Guy deal. What's that all about? What is the article referring to? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
editor Posted August 1, 2006 Author Share Posted August 1, 2006 Fox got outbid on Family Guy syndication rights. I'm about 90% sure it's going to end up on 39 in Houston this fall. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaTrain Posted August 1, 2006 Share Posted August 1, 2006 (edited) ^^^Correction: Family Guy goes into syndication fall 2007. And yes you're right, editor, channel 39 will air it since Tribune Company overtook the rights from Fox to air it. Edited August 1, 2006 by DaTrain Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.