Station to Station

After 25 years anchoring local news in Boston, WBZ veteran Liz Walker was itching to develop her own local show. “I had done so many stories on people overcoming obstacles and organizations that help,” Walker says. “I wanted to pull that all together.”

That desire is now an on-air reality. Sunday With Liz Walker debuted last month on the CBS owned-and-operated station. Each half-hour program features three stories. A recent episode with a “renewal” theme included reports on a local spa, a nonprofit that outfits women with work clothes, and one neighborhood's religious revival.

The show is WBZ's spin on a growing trend among stations to build magazine shows and lighter entertainment programs starring recognizable talent. “I would much rather have this than a paid program or a syndicated show that isn't cutting it,” says GM Julio Marenghi. “It gives people another reason to connect with local television.”

Crosstown rival WCVB has one of the most famous local programs. Its nightly Chronicle magazine show regularly wins its early-evening time slot.

But while local programs are gaining ground, they can still be a tough sell. Last year, Walker persuaded station managers to give her a modest $5,000 to put together a pilot. Looking for sponsors, she even called on some potential advertisers herself.

When Marenghi, former head of sales for Viacom's station group, took over WBZ last year, he fast-tracked Walker's program. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts signed on to underwrite the program, which Marenghi says covers about two-thirds of expenses. The station won't reveal the show's budget, but Walker says she has “a lot more” than the original $5,000.

WBZ did not banish Sunday With Liz Walker to an early-morning slot. The show airs at 11 a.m., after CBS News' Face the Nation. So far, the program is holding its own. NBC's Meet the Press on WHDH wins the time period, but Walker's show has earned between a 1.5 and 2 household rating, respectable Nielsen marks.

For Walker, the show is about exploring a second phase in her life. She retired from anchoring in January and is a candidate for a master's degree at Harvard University's Divinity School. She is pursuing ordination in the African Methodist Episcopal Church. The new show, she says, is another way to connect. “We do stories about local people doing good and giving to their community and the rest of the world.”

ABC News is redoubling its efforts to make fledging digital and broadband channel ABC News Now a viable news service, and local affiliates will be key to the process.

Last summer, the ongoing broadband news service—inaugurated on cellphones and computers—was expanded to a digital TV channel. ABC pulled the network off in January for retooling, and it will relaunch in July. What has emerged is a multi-platform approach to 24/7 news. “The goal is to make sure we have news available to our audience where they are and on whatever device they want,” said ABC News President David Westin.

ABC News Now already reaches 30 million broadband subscribers through Comcast, AOL and SBC/Yahoo. Now the heavy lifting begins: securing cable and broadcast distribution. Since the FCC ruled against must-carry for digital broadcast channels, ABC will have to stump for carriage the old-fashioned way. The network could use retransmission consent to muscle ABC News Now onto cable systems, but parent Disney Corp. has to spread that to its other cable channels, too.

So, to start, ABC News Now, which has hopes of becoming one of the multicast channels on ABC affiliates' digital stations, will be carried on broadcast only by ABC's 10 owned-and-operated stations. The network is pitching the service to affiliates, which it is counting on to provide content. To sweeten the pitch, Westin says stations will be able to put their local newscasts on the channel, plus they will get local cut-ins à la Good Morning America. Affiliates have expressed interest in a revenue-sharing arrangement, like NBC's Weather Plus digital channel, which is jointly owned by the network and affiliates.

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