Even more changes in Central Nebraska…

KSNB-TV 4 / Superior – Lincoln (“NBC Nebraska”)

KSNB-DT 4.2 / Superior – Lincoln (“10/11 Central Nebraska”)

FIRST ON THE BLOG: And now there are even more changes in Central Nebraska.

First off… KSNB has rebranded as NBC Nebraska (from a previous branding as News 5, even though it was on Channel 4). With that, comes changes and new newscasts. The station has expanded news into weekday mornings and into weekends. NBC Nebraska News Today (which was formerly called News 5 Today) added a 5:00 a.m. hour and is now on from 5:00-7:00 a.m., just like KLKN 8 (Channel 8 ABC), KOLN 10/KGIN 11 (10/11 CBS) and KHGI 13/KWNB 6 (NTV ABC). Also, the station has expanded into weekend evenings for the first time with a Saturday newscast at 6:00 p.m. and a Sunday newscast at 5:00 p.m.

The second part involves 10/11 Central Nebraska. The DT2 subchannel no longer airs the weekend edition of 10/11 Central Nebraska News at 9:00 and has since reduced the broadcast to weeknights, ONLY. The DT2 subchannel is a MyNetwork TV affiliate with Me-TV running during most hours. This is just the second drop of newscasts this year, after it also dropped the weeknight 5:30 p.m. newscast, which is something we reported just weeks ago (search “KSNB is no longer airing a 5:30 p.m. newscast.”) This news also affects viewers in North Platte because the same channel is carried on KNPL-LD2 and now means that North Platte no longer has a 9:00 p.m. weekend newscast as well.

Things got super more interesting in Central Nebraska, indeed.

WTOV will launch a 10:00 p.m. newscast starting next week for DT2.

WTOV-TV 9.2 / Steubenville, OH – Wheeling, WV (“FOX 9”)

WTOV-TV 9 / Steubenville, OH – Wheeling, WV (“WTOV 9”)

FIRST ON THE BLOG: I really don’t know much details about this, but it’s happening sooner than previously expected. Once WTOV 9 got the FOX affiliate on DT2 from WTRF 7, it was planning to launch a 10:00 p.m. newscast by January 1st, 2015. Key word: BY January 1st, 2015. In other words, it would happen soon and it will.

WTOV 9 will launch a brand new 10:00 o’clock newscast on WTOV-DT2 (known as FOX 9) on October 6th, which is next week. It mentions the new newscast on it’s website for next week, even though TV listings aren’t caught up to that announcement. This new newscast will compete with WTRF 7’s 7 News at 10:00 on MyTV Ohio Valley (WTRF-DT2 7.2; hour-long weekdays and half-hour weekends) for news in the Upper Ohio Valley during primetime.

But that’s all we know as of this hour. No idea so far as if it will be on weekends as well, neither as to who will anchor the new newscast, come next week. When there’s updates, we will sure to let you know.

A BIG newscast expansion coming to WISH-TV, starting January 1st.

WISH-TV 8 / Indianapolis (“WISH-TV 8”)

It looks like WISH-TV 8 will not discontinue its news operations after December 31st, 2014 after all.

Starting January 1st, 2015, WISH-TV 8 will expand its news operation by 20 hours a week. For those who live in Indianapolis, you will still see David Barras, Eric Halvorson, Lori Wilson, Brooke Martin, Randy Ollis, Robb Ellis and more. Here’s a list of the following newscast schedule starting January 1st:

• 4:30-7:00 AM: 24-Hour News 8’s Daybreak (will remain on WISH-TV 8)
• 7:00-8:00 AM: 24-Hour News 8’s Daybreak at 7:00 a.m. (moves from WNDY My INDY TV to WISH-TV 8)
• 8:00-9:00 AM: 24-Hour News 8’s Daybreak at 8:00 a.m. (a brand NEW hour on WISH-TV 8)
• 12:00-1:00 PM: 24-Hour News 8 at Noon (expands from 30 minutes to an hour on WISH-TV 8)
• 5:00-5:30 PM: 24-Hour News 8 at 5:00 (will remain on WISH-TV 8)
• 5:30-6:00 PM: 24-Hour News 8 at 5:30 (will remain on WISH-TV 8)
• 6:00-6:30 PM: 24-Hour News 8 at 6:00 (will remain on WISH-TV 8)
• 6:30-7:00 PM: 24-Hour News 8 at 6:30 (a brand NEW half-hour newscast for WISH-TV 8)
• 10:00-11:00 PM: 24-Hour News 8 at 10:00 (moves from WNDY My INDY TV to WISH-TV 8 and remains an hour-long newscast)
• 11:00-11:35 PM: 24-Hour News 8 at 11:00 (will remain on WISH-TV 8)

4 more hours of local news will be added for weekday news coverage. No idea if the station will expand its weekend news coverage. This is happening due to WISH-TV 8 losing its CBS affiliation at the end of the year and with the station acquiring Independent status starting January 1st, 2015. WTTV 4 will acquire the CBS affiliation in the market and will start a local news operation, independent of its sister station WXIN 59. Also with this expansion, WNDY 23 will no longer air any news programming from WISH-TV 8, unless if WISH 8 wants to add news for WNDY 23 in timeslots that no other stations broadcast in.

I called this would happen since it would lose the affiliation. And now, its a reality. Just like KCAL 9 in Los Angeles, WFMZ 69 in Allentown, KTVK 3 in Phoenix, KUSI 51 in San Diego, WJXT 4 in Jacksonville and other news-intensive independent stations, WISH-TV 8 could be a force to reckon with in the future in the Indy market.