Another try: WPGA News @7

[gartv]

Here is some news "out of the blue". The Macon Telegraph reports that WPGA-58 will begin newscasts starting this Monday.

The news will be at 7 and 11pm. NOBODY dares to compete with each other at 5, 5:30 or 6. Only one station has news at those times. WMGT is at 5:30 and no station has dared to put their news on against WMAZ at 5 or 6. (Andy Griffith still at 5:30 for how many decades now?)

This will be the THIRD attempt at a news offering since this station went on the air 12 years ago. The first was nothing more than a narration over video hosted by former WGXA anchor Ron Wildman. The second lasted less than a year and was a real newscast anchored by the former anchor of WMAZ, Tina Hicks. Both were really bad news programs.

News Article
www.macon.com/102/story/94518.html


From what the report hints, it will be mostly outsourced- The anchors will be based elsewhere with a few local reporters in the field. It sounds doomed to failure. Reminds me of the old Sinclair "News Central".

The report says nothing as to who the anchors or reporters will be. There is nothing mentioned of this on WPGA's website and with what little I watch on that station, no promotion that I know of.

I may have to endure listening to WPGA 100.9 to see if there is any radio promotion of the news there. Register Communications (the owner of WPGA radio and TV) does a lot of cross promotion. Only problem, so few people listen to that crappy station.

I had long hoped that someone would offer a 7pm newscast. But will this have a chance against the very highly rated "Wheel of Fortune" on WMAZ and "Judge Judy" on WMGT? I doubt it.

Still, this is good news as having the additional competition has improved the existing product in the past. Even the GM of WMAZ mentions that in the article. And WMAZ has gotten better after WMGT (re) started their newscasts in 2004.

I'll have my DVR set for Monday at 7pm on channel 58.

[gartv]

Well I have seen a promo on WPGA for the news starting on Monday.

The newscast is being called "ABC Macon News" Exact listing in program guide is ABC Macon dot TV News however a website with that URL is not working as I am typing this. And the current www.58abc.com has not been updated.

The promo featured the news and weather anchors.

They are GREG WILSON, KERRY PHILLIPS, MARK PRATER and LIBBY ANDERSON

They are all with INN (Independent News Network), the same people who provide the news on WNCF -32 in Montgomery after their locally produced news was cancelled.

On the radio, listening to WPGA 100.9 fm they regularly announce the nights programing on the television station. Today, they have been promoting tonights "lineup" as "ABC Macon" instead of "58 abc". But in recent months on the radio and on TV, the announcer would either say "ABC 58" , "Channel 58 WPGA" or "58ABC" which has been the branding for the station since it became an ABC affiliate in 1996.

On the station itself, they are using the old branding AND the new branding. And there was no "station ID" at the beginning of network programing.

This is typical dysfunctional promotion for Macon area media. So far, a terrible rollout for a new news program and/or new imaging for the station (which still has its 1995 logo sinage outside its studio while everyone else updated theirs in recent years)