Virginia Beach newscast expands
-- Broadcasting & Cable, 8/21/2000
WVBT(TV) Virginia Beach, Va., will expand its 10 o'clock newscast from half an hour to an hour beginning next month. Wvbt is hoping to hit a 5 average rating and a 9-10 average share.
"There is an audience that wants this," said Jim Turpin who, as news director at WAVY-TV Norfolk, produces the wvbt news under an LMA. "We always knew somebody would start doing an earlier newscast and if we were going to lose audience, it would be great if it would be to us [to a sister station]."
A full hour will give wvbt nearly twice the time in late news as WAVY-TV, which also does morning, mid-day and early evening news and is the No. 1 station in the market. Eventually, Turpin said, the expansion should mean some staff additions. The syndicated National Enquirer TV show will be pushed back to 11 p.m. on wvbt.
