KPIX 10 PM NewsCast on CW Station Is In a Holding Pattern; De La Cruz: 'Still Work-in-Progress'

 I asked Veronica De La Cruz what was up with the "new" 10 PM KPIX- Newscast on the CW; no Veronica and still no new program.


"It's still taking us a second to launch--work in progress", said VDLC, hardly sounding as if this much-ballyhooed was close to debuting.


Bad news for KPIX, because it's been on the drawing boards for months and it was the major impetus to bring De La Cruz out to the city to begin with.


The new 10 PM cast--geared to a significantly younger demo-- was to have unofficially started last Monday. But PIX personnel are still mulling the details and going over last-minute strategy --there's now no official launch date which is a both a bummer to viewers and KPIX management, I'm sure.


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KPIX Launches New Newscast on Duopoly KBCW; 10 PM Show Will Go After Younger Audience; Monday Night Debut

KPIX's duopoly station, KBCW, (KPIX sister outlet on the CW Network), launches a new newscast on Monday Night at 10 PM. The program will be anchored by Veronica De La Cruz, who also co-anchors KPIX 6 PM newscast. 

De La Cruz has been anchoring only the 6 PM news this week as station officials have been dialing down the set and finalizing programming chits on the new show.


PIX has a simple strategy with this new venture: they acknowledge KTVU is still king at that time slot with its signature, ratings-dominant "Ten O'clock News".  They're not going to challenge 2 for overall viewers --simply impossible.


What they are trying to do is to capture a younger audience; the 18-49 demo coveted by advertisers as a prime buying entity. How successful, (or not), the venture becomes is anyone's guess but PIX is devoting a lot of manpower and analytics to the newscast, with more stories catered to the younger crowd, a quicker, shorter pace with an emphasis on health, sports, pop culture and the like. I'm guessing you're going to see a lot of music videos and entertainment features. Lite faire with some heady mixture-- something interesting to grab 10 seconds from an Amy in Pleasanton or Jack in Mill Valley.


Of course the usual top news of the day, breaking news, and sports and weather will be a part of the program but both the look and feel of the show will be readily different from the other "traditional" newscasts.


Experiments like this do not create winners overnight and I'm sure the powers-that-be over at 855 Battery are aware of that. Word is that this is not a short-term project and that KPIX is in it for the long haul. They'll be helped by the CW Network's younger audience as a lead-in and hope, with an emerging presence like De La Cruz that their 10 PM missive can ultimately carve a small, but loyal and younger viewership --or at least a whole of lot folks not glued to the Internet watching a Netflix offering.


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