An extra newscast, a new anchor lineup, and a new schedule at WRAL
Early this year, WRAL was in the planning stages for a new half-hour of news to be added to its weekday evening lineup, aiming for a June debut.
When the COVID-19 pandemic struck, WRAL news director Rick Gall suggested an earlier launch, adding special reports on the coronavirus at 7 p.m. after the NBC Nightly News.
Now those special reports are regular newscasts and officially here to stay.
“Similar to how ‘Nightline’ began years ago as special reports on the Iranian hostage crisis, we started it on coronavirus and it has since morphed into a nightly newscast,” vice president and general manager Joel Davis said in an email to The News & Observer. “It’s a standard, fast-paced, hard news WRAL newscast, but has a unique ability to go in-depth on the major stories of the day when required.”
Debra Morgan and Gerald Owens anchor the new half-hour of news, with Kat Campbell in the weather center and David Crabtree contributing.
The addition of the 7 p.m. newscast means a new anchor team for the station’s 4 p.m. show. Lena Tillett will co-anchor with Kathryn Brown, and Kat Campbell continues her meteorologist duties in that slot. Tillett also anchors the 9 a.m. newscast on FOX 50 with Ken Smith.
FOX 50 airs local news from 7 to 9 a.m., when WRAL throws to “Today,” and last year added an additional hour, which takes them to 10 a.m. Both WRAL and FOX 50 are owned by Capitol Broadcasting Company.
Smith, in addition to his 9 a.m. FOX 50 spot, will move to the WRAL morning team starting at 4:30 a.m.
Davis said the response from viewers has been positive.
“It became clear that not only was 7 p.m. a more convenient time for many viewers, but there was also an appetite for longer form story-telling and interviews,” Davis said in a news release.
Davis said the new half-hour newscast was Number 1 in adults ages 25-54, a demographic coveted by advertisers.
WRAL isn’t the only local station to add news this year. In January, the Disney owned-and-operated ABC11 added a one-hour 5 p.m. local newscast on Sundays, giving it a 90-minute block on Sunday afternoons.
Changes in the WRAL and FOX 50 lineups
▪ Previously in the 7 p.m. timeslot on WRAL was “Inside Edition,” which has moved to 7:30 p.m.
▪ “Entertainment Tonight,” which aired at 7:30 p.m., moves to FOX 50 at 6 and 11 p.m.
▪ “Access Daily” moved from 5 p.m. to 11 a.m. on FOX 50.
▪ “Kelly Clarkson” (the second airing) moves from 6 p.m. to 5 p.m. on FOX 50.
▪ “Family Feud” no longer airs on FOX 50 at 11 and 11:30 a.m., but an additional airing of the game show will air at 6:30 p.m. on FOX 50. That station’s 7 and 7:30 p.m. airings of “Family Feud” remain.
This story was originally published June 11, 2020 at 8:00 AM.
