KKTV is shifting one of its weekday newscasts from 6:30 to 4:00 p.m.

KKTV 11 / Colorado Springs – Pueblo (“KKTV 11”)

FIRST ON THE BLOG: KKTV will make a minor shift in one of its newscasts that could become a major win-win for the station in the long-run.

Starting next week, Monday August 8th, KKTV 11 will be moving its half-hour 6:30 weeknight newscast to an earlier timeslot of 4:00pm. KKTV 11 News at 4:00 would create an hour-long newscast for KKTV 11 under two timeslots, one at 4:00 and KKTV 11 News at 4:30 in which it will continue. The move to 4:00pm will allow KKTV 11 to compete against KRDO 13 (ABC)’s already-established 4:00 and 4:30pm newscasts during that hour in the market. Going away from 6:30pm will leave KOAA 5 (NBC) and KXRM 21 (FOX) as the only ones on at that time in the market.

Plus, this would create a win-win for KKTV 11. Currently, they have two of syndicated TV’s most-popular shows, Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy! Currently, they air Jeopardy! at 4:00pm and Wheel of Fortune at 6:00pm but starting next week, once the 6:30pm news moves to 4:00pm, Jeopardy! will move to 6:30pm right after WOF and it would create a WOF-J! hour from 6:00-7:00pm which would create a dent in news ratings across KKTV 11’s rivals in the market. This is a similar move as to what KDVR 31 (FOX) in Denver has done for a few years now with a J!-WOF (aired in that order) hour from 6:00-7:00pm there.

And after the shift is complete, KKTV 11 will only be on weekdays during the early-evening hours at 4:00, 4:30 and 5:30pm (with the CBS Evening News with Scott Pelley sandwiched in, of course, at 5:00pm). So the 6:30pm newscast will be aired for the last time this upcoming Friday August 5th with the new half-hour 4:00pm newscast scheduled to debut on Monday August 8th.

Just a shift from KKTV 11 that can help them big time in the long-run. Let’s see if this creates a “winning formula” for KKTV 11 itself.