Re: WCSH to add 7 p.m. show to newscasts

[Sid Whitaker <sid.javanet@rcn.com>]

Dan Billings wrote:


> I hope WCSH adds new content as well.  Their current newscasts just recycle
> the same material over and over.
> 


To an extent. All stations do it, largely because of the 'lack of news'
(suitable for television) in Maine and the sizeable number of newscasts
each station airs daily. WCSH now runs, not counting the 7 pm, ten
half-hours of news daily. That's a lot for a market this size. Throw in
shoots for content such as "Bill Green's Maine," series pieces, and the
franchise content (Your Garden, Varsity Club, etc.) and simply covering
the 'news of the day' becomes a major logistical challenge. The 5, 5:30,
and 6 tend to be the 'freshest' newscasts of the day, because most of
the staff works 9-5 or 10-6, and most news is 'generated' during those
hours, and thus later newscasts tend to rely on the earlier shows for a
significant amount of content. Other factors worth considering: the
half-dozen reporter and photographer positions that haven't been filled.
When you have a newsgathering staff of 30-35, that's a sizeable number
of vacancies. Also, several newscasts that air on WLBZ Bangor are now
produced in Portland, so as a whole, the two stations are generating
less original content than in the past, while trying to fill more
newscasts, in a market that provides little spot news.

Sid Whitaker
former WCSH reporter