4 p.m. newscasts

The Scripps-owned ABC affiliate will introduce The Now, a one-hour local news broadcast, on April 20. The new show, says News Director Terri Cope-Walton, “will be a different kind of newscast for viewers in this market. It will be a little less buttoned-up than traditional newscasts.”

Weigel Broadcasting’s Milwaukee CBS affiliate is expanding its news footprint, adding weekday newscasts at 4 p.m. and an hour of local news Sunday mornings.

Beginning Jan. 12, the Capitol Broadcasting CBS affil, WRAL, will produce a 4 p.m. newscast on its sister Fox affiliate.

The Sinclair-owned Baltimore Fox affiliate will launch a 4 p.m. weekday newscast starting Jan. 12, Bill Fanshawe, the station’s general manager, confirmed today. Fanshawe also confirmed that WBFF is going to launch a 24/7 digital weather channel in conjunction with Weather Nation perhaps as soon as next week.

 Meredith’s Fox affiliate in Greenville-Spartanburg, S.C., will debut the new broadcast on Oct. 20.

Mum’s the word, but rehearsals have been underway for weeks at Fox’s Chicago O&O on a hybrid news-and-talk show set to air at 4 p.m. weekdays. Tentatively titled Studio 32, it’ll be fronted by Jeff Herndon and Dawn Hasbrouck, who already anchor Fox 32’s 9 p.m. newscast.

The expanded weekday newscast launches Aug. 25. In addition, the station names Phil Aldridge its new sports director.

The Nexstar ABC affiliate’s new broadcast will debut on Sept. 15 and be anchored by Carrie Lazarus.

The busiest television newsroom in Chicago is about to get busier. Tribune’s CW affiliate WGN, which leads the market in producing 54 hours of local news each week, plans to add another hour of news — from 4 to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday — starting in September.

Tribune Broadcasting-owned Fox affiliate WGHP Greensboro, N.C. (DMA 46), today announced that on April 21 it will launch the Fox8 4:00 pm News. Following the success of its recently expanded […]

The Media General NBC affiliate will debut the hour-long broadcast on Aug. 26, anchored by Stacie Schaible.

In June, the Orlando, Fla., ABC affiliate added a half-hour 4 p.m. newscast anchored by Bob Opsahl and Martie Salt. That newscast will now run one hour, the ABC affiliate announced Friday.

After two years of resistance, Belo’s Dallas ABC affiliate is hiring staffers for its first 4 p.m. local news. Sources say the newscast tentatively will launch in September and will likely have a single anchor rather than the co-anchor format used by competitors KXAS (NBC) and KTVT (CBS) for their 4 p.m. news editions.

The Cox Media ABC affiliate will replace Dr. Oz with a half-hour newscast anchored by Bob Opsahl and Martie Salt followed by the syndicated Family Feud.

Cleveland Fox affiliate WJW will be adding a 4 p.m. newscast this fall to its already news-heavy programming day. And the first person announced for this newscast is meteorologist Melissa Mack, who worked at the station from 2006 to 2009.

The Scripps-owned NBC affiliate is adding a 30-minute newscast beginning April 8, meaning there will be 90 minutes of local news leading up to the network news at 5:30 p.m.

The Meredith-owned CBS affiliate in Springfield, Mass., adds a half hour to its afternoon newscast.

The Belo-owned NBC affiliate will debut a new 4 p.m. news hour late this month featuring longtime anchor Sonja Gantt. NewsChannel 36 at 4:00 will mix traditional coverage with features on health, finance, real estate and social media, the station says.

Most of the seven top-25 stations that filled the 4 p.m. time period left by Oprah‘s departure with local newscasts report they’re pleased with their performance so far in this new TV season. Three are holding their top positions in household ratings, and at least two more are leading their markets in key demos. Here’s a first look at how the newscasts are doing.

Nexstar’s CBS affiliate will debut a one-hour weekday newscast on Sept. 12 that will feature a fully interactive platform to connect with viewers.

New Orleans Fox affiliate WVUE will introduce a 4 p.m. weekday newscast, to launch Sept. 12. Nancy Parker and Kim Holden will anchor the new hour. Bob Breck will do weather. Jennifer Hale, moving from morning newscasts, will do sports.

ABC affiliate KFSN will become the second station in the market to broadcast a 4 p.m. newscast when on Sept. 12 it launches Action News Live at Four in place of Oprah. The newscast will go head to head with We are Fresno: Live on NBC affil KSEE.

The Belo CBS affiliate will launch the new afternoon newscast on Aug. 1 with anchor Len Cannon and weather with Chita Johnson.