Beginning New Year’s Day, it will air more than 87 hours of news a week, with newscasts added in the morning and evening and on weekends.
DMA 8
WHDH Boston Unveils Expanded News Plans
Sunbeam-owned WHDH Boston (DMA 8), which loses its NBC affiliation at the end of this year, today announced its new programming schedule effective Jan. 1, 2017. The station will be expanding to more than 87 hours of news each week, more than any other station in Boston, it claims.
Beginning Jan. 1, New England viewers will be able to get local news on weekdays at 5-10 a.m., noon-1 p.m., 4-7:30 p.m. and 9-11:30 p.m. On weekends, newscasts will air at 8-11 a.m., 6-7:30 p.m. and 9-11:30 p.m..
“With our expanded newscasts we continue our commitment to informing our viewers and investing in the community. 7News will be more accessible at the times viewers need,” said Paul Magnes, WHDH VP-GM. “We’re especially excited about our new 9 p.m. newscast, because viewing habits have changed. People are recording traditional primetime programs and watching them later. Now they will be able to watch a live newscast with vital and compelling information they want before they go to bed.”
In addition, WHDH will air the syndicated Family Feud hosted by comedian Steve Harvey weeknights at 8-9 p.m.
“More news means more options for our viewers, who are living busy and demanding lives,” said Linda Miele, WHDH news director. “Viewers know they can turn to 7News for breaking news and big story coverage they won’t get anywhere else — and that will never change.”
Sunbeam Television, owned by Ed Ansin, sued NBC owner Comcast in March in federal court in Boston over NBC’s January announcement that it would terminate its 22-year affiliation with WHDH at the end of 2016. NBC plans to create an O&Os in the market, using WNEU, which now airs NBC’s Telemundo. The suit was dismissed in May and Ansin appealed in June. According to the Boston Herald, Ansin said he may still continue his court battle with NBC, but only for damages.
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Comments (2)
Kelsey Sharkey says:
August 17, 2016 at 11:08 am
Am I missing something? This only adds up to 74 hours of news a week. Still impressive, but do they have plans for another 13 hours/week?
Ellen Samrock says:
August 17, 2016 at 1:19 pm
This has been a winning strategy for KCAL 9 in Los Angeles which began an all-news format in the late 90’s. In their case, they broadcast 45 hours of news a week along with the syndicated shows, Family Feud, Judge Mathis and People’s Court. KCAL is also the official station for the Lakers. It may be that WHDH will add live sports to their schedule at some point. But the KCAL model proves that they don’t need network affiliation to have a successful station. I wish WHDH well with their new format. Forget NBC and move forward.