It's Official: Mike Mibach To Co-Anchor New KTVU Weekday 4 PM News; Station Plans New Platform And Experiments On NewsCast

 I told you the other day that Mike Mibach would co-anchor KTVU Channel 2's new newscast at 4 PM with Keba Arnold and it's now official.


Mibach will leave Weekend "Mornings on Two" and begin his new broadcast duties next Monday. June 22.


Traditionally, 4 PM on TV News schedules is commonly referred to as the "Death Valley" of time slots but my Insiders at KTVU tell me that the Fox O and O is going to experiment with many new ideas; perhaps many more longer packages; more live interviews and "unusual" projects that viewers wouldn't normally see on the more traditional 5, 6, and 10/11 PM news.


Moreover, local TV news is still infinitely profitable no matter the time of day and KTVU adding a 4 PM news program (which will compete against KGO-TV) isn't all that surprising. Additionally, the idea of longer interviews, more live shots, and more emphasis to local stories is a welcome addition to the Bay Area TV market.


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KTVU's Bold Move: Adds 4 PM Newscast

Are you ready for another 4 PM Bay Area TV Newscast? KTVU thinks you are. The Fox-owned station will add an early afternoon show starting this summer called the KTVU FOX 2 News at 4 p.m

KTVU will compete with KGO-TV as the other station in the market with a 4 PM show. KGO's newscast at 4 is centered on more consumer news, light-fare stories and more like a prelude to the traditional newsy 5 and 6 PM newscasts. KTVU's 4 PM newscast figures to go that route with a similar strategy but the specifics aren't known yet.

The 4 PM hour has been known as the Death Valley of time slots so this is a bold move for KTVU. The anchors aren't known yet but we'll inquire from our eyes and ears in Jack London Square and see who are the possible players.

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{h/t TV Spy}

The 4 PM Local NewsCast? Get Real

Welcome to the new 4 PM local TV Newscast. They want you to believe it's just more, comprehensive news, but in reality, all it is, at least in theory, is a promo for the "real" news program at 5 and 6, essentially an hour tease. 


How do you create and produce a 4 PM program? First, you get as many "experts" as you can. In every category imaginable. "Insiders" too--then combine features on health, finance, real estate and social media with traditional news coverage. (To at least fool the viewer to think they're really watching "news" as opposed to basically a well-thought, institutional infomercial for the TV station.)


4 PM news programs are mostly idiotic and arcane; the epitome of artificial news designed to make it look authentic when the only authenticity are the ingredients in the cooking segment. That's big in TV--cooking segments. Can you just imagine what the Today Show's third hour would be like, devoid of a cooking segment? 


So really--if you're home looking for real, god-honest news, just ex-out any 4 PM local news. They're frauds, really. I mean, c'mon, please.





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