News Central (American TV program)
 |
| News Central | |
|---|---|
| Genre | News |
| Directed by | Joe DeFeo[1] |
| Presented by |
|
| Country of origin | United States |
| Production | |
| Production locations | Hunt Valley, Maryland |
| Production company | Sinclair Broadcast Group |
| Original release | |
| Release | October 28, 2002 – March 31, 2006 |
News Central was a primetime newscast on television stations in the United States owned by the Sinclair Broadcast Group, mixing locally produced news with nationally produced news and an opinion segment from Sinclair's Hunt Valley, Maryland studios.[2]
History
News Central was launched on October 28, 2002 with WSMH's 'News At Ten'.[1] The format was original announced to be rolled out to Sinclair stations currently not offering news. But after a successful beta run at WSMH, Sinclair announced that three stations with newscasts would be next in converting to the format during the first quarter of 2003.[3] By April 2003, News Central was planning to launch its own Washington bureau soon.[4] By December 2003, 12 Sinclair stations were using the News Central format.[2]
News Central ended all newscasts effective March 31, 2006;[5] after that date, its stations either did their newscasts on their own, outsourced their newscast to a larger station in the market, or cancelled their newscasts entirely. Others, like WSMH, teamed up with non-affiliate stations in their market to either simulcast other stations' newscasts or jointly produce a news program. WYZZ and WUHF went into LMAs with other stations in their markets.
Content
The local station news operation provided the first ten minutes of news. Then national News Central operation produced 12 minutes of international and national news of the total newscast, along with customized local weather forecasts produced from the national operation. The national operation also provided nightly The Point commentary by Mark E. Hyman, Sinclair's Vice President of Corporate Relations.[2] CNN footage and AccuWeather data was used by News Central.[4]
SBG still produces a one-minute national news brief for Sinclair stations from Hunt Valley, called Washington Newsroom, syndicates reports from Sharyl Attkisson across its stations, and formerly produced their nightly The Point commentary until it ended after the November 30, 2006 edition. The Hunt Valley hub also distributes half-hour national public affairs shows to Sinclair stations such as The Right Side with Armstrong Williams and Attkisson's Full Measure. Weather updates and forecasts also continue to be provided to select Sinclair stations without weather staff from Hunt Valley, including WTWC in Tallahassee, Florida. The segments feature weather anchor Tony Pagnotti.
Carriage
- WSMH (October 28, 2002-[1])
- Oklahoma City (Q1 2003-[3])
- Raleigh, N.C. (Q1 2003-[3]March 31, 2006)[5]
- WUHF, Rochester, N.Y. (Q1 2003-[3]March 31, 2006)[5]
- WPGH (2003-[4])
- WVTV, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, (August 2003-March 31, 2006)[5]
- Buffalo (-March 31, 2006)[5]
- Tampa (-March 31, 2006)[5]
References
- ^ a b c "Sinclair to increase news output". Digital Spy. National Magazine Company Ltd. October 7, 2002. Retrieved July 9, 2014.
- ^ a b c d "Central Casting in Local News Broadcasts". Newshour. PBS. December 11, 2003. Retrieved October 20, 2015.
- ^ a b c d Trigoboff, Dan (January 5, 2003). "Sinclair Speeds Centralcasting". Broadcasting & Cable. Retrieved October 20, 2015.
- ^ a b c Owen, Rob (April 23, 2003). "Tuned In: WPGH's layoffs, 'News Central' risky". Post-Gazette. PG Publishing Co., Inc. Retrieved October 20, 2015.
- ^ a b c d e f "Plug may be pulled on Channel 18 newscast". The Milwaukee Business Journal. American City Business Journals. March 8, 2006. Retrieved December 28, 2015.
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