NBC4 Brings Back Noon News For First Time In 30 Years

NBC4 Washington (WRC) is expanding its daytime news lineup with a new noon newscast, marking the first time in 30 years the station has aired a newscast in that time slot. NewscastStudio.com reports that WRC is adding the new broadcast as part of a series of daytime programming changes at NBC owned stations.

WRC previously aired a noon newscast until 1996, when it was moved to 9 AM. The new noon broadcast will follow NBC4’s existing 11 AM Midday newscast, giving the station two consecutive hours of local news from 11 AM to 1 PM. The noon news replaces Access Daily, while Dateline repeats move from 2 PM to 1 PM and a second hour of NBC News Daily fills the 2 PM hour. WRC will also replace its 3:30 AM airing of Access Hollywood with Early Today.

It’s good to see a local station investing in more locally produced programming at a time when the TV news business has been moving in the opposite direction. We’ve seen layoffs and cutbacks across the industry. WMAR in Baltimore recently made the unusual move to anchorless newscasts. Against that backdrop, NBC4’s decision to add another hour of local news is a welcome development for local television.