WLWT Cincinnati Adding 4 And 7 P.M. Newscasts

Hearst-owned NBC affiliate WLWT Cincinnati will add two new weekday newscasts at 4 and 7 p.m.

WLWT News 5 at 7 p.m. will debut on Monday, July 26, during the Summer Olympics. WLWT News 5 at 4 p.m. will debut after the Olympics conclude on Monday Aug. 9.

Sheree Paolello, Ashley Kirklen and meteorologist Allison Rogers will anchor the new 4 p.m. hour-long newscast, while news anchors Steven Albritton, Ashley Kirklen, Chief Meteorologist Kevin Robinson and sports anchor George Vogel will lead the new 7 p.m. newscast following NBC Nightly News.

“The past year and the pandemic have shown us just how much local news and local journalism matter,” said WLWT President-General Manager Branden Frantz. “WLWT News 5 continues to define the market, and our audiences have engaged in historic fashion. In our constantly evolving marketplace, we determined it was time to expand the number of hours of local news we offer, giving viewers more of what they’ve come to trust and depend on from us each day,” Frantz added.

“WLWT is ‘Leading the Way’ with breaking news, big stories and the most accurate weather coverage in Cincinnati,” said WLWT News Director Jeff Benscoter. “We have established an incredibly talented group of journalists to serve our community, with the most experienced and trusted team in town. Our audience is growing, and we are committed to being there for them both on-air and online, whenever they need us,” Benscoter added.

Afternoon programming will slide back one hour on WLWT to accommodate the 4 p.m. newscast addition. The 19th and final season of The Ellen DeGeneres Show will be seen this fall on WLWT at 3 p.m., while The Tamron Hall Show moves to 2 p.m.

“The Olympic broadcast schedule doesn’t allow us to launch both newscasts at the same time, so the 7 p.m. is starting first on Monday, July 26, and the 4 p.m. will debut after the Summer Games have concluded on Monday, Aug. 9,” Frantz said.