NBC O&Os in New York, L.A. Adding 4 P.M. News

NBC Owned Television Stations in the country’s top two markets will launch 4 p.m. newscasts over the next month or so, the first of five early afternoon newscasts that will be rolling out across the group this summer.

On Tuesday, KNBC Los Angeles announced it will be adding a 4 p.m. newscast, which is set to launch May 30. The hour-long NBC4 News at 4 p.m will be co-anchored by the station’s Michael Brownlee and Carolyn Johnson.

WNBC New York will debut its 4 p.m. newscast on Monday, June 13.  The show will be co-anchored by the station’s weekend anchor Natalie Pasquarella and Stefan Holt, who comes from NBC-owned WMAQ Chicago and created buzz by joining his dad, NBC Nightly News anchor Lester Holt, in New York.

WMAQ, WTVJ Miami and WVIT, which covers Hartford-New Haven, Conn., will debut their 4 p.m. newscasts over the next few months, the company says.

The newscasts are in keeping with the station group’s effort to beef up the news operations – and output – at its NBC and Telemundo stations, which has been underway since Comcast bought parent company NBCUniversal in 2011.