"Weak" Ratings at 4pm; First News @ 4:30 to be Canceled?

The Daily News reports that airing the syndicated version of "The Weakest Link" at 4:00pm had negative results on the ratings. It loses 21% of "Crossing Over"'s viewership, and has a 42% less audience than "First News @ 4:00" had in November. The newspaper also reports that the syndicated version of "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?" will air back-to-back with Weakest Link this fall, which appears to mean that "First News @ 4:30" is next on the line to be canceled.

The New Newscasts

Today as CBS 2 aired "The Weakest Link" at 4:00, the debut of "CBS 2 First News @ 4:30" followed. Angela Rae and Todd McDermott anchored this shortened version of the old "First News @ 4:00". Top stories in the beginning, as always, followed by more news, and Robyn Carter's entertainment report at 4:53. Then Angela and Todd ended the newscast, and went to Dana Tyler and Ernie Anastos with a preview of CBS 2 News at 5:00. Brett Haber had the sports report at 5:14, and David Rogers had the forecast at 5:17. Dana Tyler previewed CBS 2 News at 6:00 at 5:19. Tony Tantillo came on at 5:22 with his "Top 5 @ 5:00" (originally "Top 4 at 4:00" since April, and "Top 5 at 5:00" previous to that). This newscast ended at 5:24, with Todd and Angela previewing the next half hour of the news. After a two-and-a-half-minute break, CBS 2 News at 5:30 opened. "No Nonsense Weather" with David Rogers came on shortly after the half-way point, as it has for over a year now. And CBS 2 News at 6:00 stayed relatively unchanged.

Weather Changes

It now appears that despite new promos, Janine D'Adamo will not start on "CBS 2 First News @ 4:30" until next Monday. And according to The New York Daily News (Thanks Michael!) and The New York Post, Janine will not do the weather with David Rogers from 5:00-6:30pm, but rather she will do "weather stories" (possibly either reporting from outside or from the Weather Center, similar to today).

First News at 4:30 Promo, More Questions Than Answers

According to Michael, a regular contributor to this website, a commercial for "CBS 2 First News @ 4:30" premiered last night during Nightcast.

It's similar to the old CBS 2 News This Morning promo with Lisa, Mike, and Janine. It begins describing the 4:30 newscast, a shot of Angela delivering breaking news, later a shot of Janine (new 4:30 meterologist) at the weather maps, and later a shot of Todd delivering a story about the war.

This seems to create more questions once again, as the new weather changes aren't supposed to take effect until January 14th. And last night in the 4:00 hour, a CBS 2 News This Morning promo ran, which includes Janine D'Adamo. While it would seem to be easier to make both changes at once, it is currently unknown as to if this will happen based on the press release and this new promo.

CBS 2 Announces More Lineup Changes

According to a CBS 2 Press Release, there will be some changes to the lineups starting Monday. The changes that we've been reporting for a few weeks have been confirmed by the station: Angela Rae and Todd McDermott at 4:30 and 5:30, and Dana Tyler and Ernie Anastos at 5:00 and 6:00. But additional changes are also coming in the weather department. Janine D'Adamo and Ira Joe Fisher will "swap" positions, once again placing Ira in the mornings. The information does not make it clear as to who exactly will do the 5:00, 5:30, and 6:00 weather reports. The release also promised "increased weather coverage", with News Director Joel Cheatwood quoted as saying, "Accurate and timely weather information plays a vital role in our everyday lives. These changes will afford WCBS’s talented weather team the opportunity to deliver the most extensive and complete coverage."

As for the change to "First News @ 4:30", the website has changed most mentions of "First News @ 4:00" to the new title, including an updated image here.
(Thanks to Brian for informing me of the press release!)

NY Post Article Confirms Anchor Switch Effective on January 7th, 2002

In today's NY Post, an article confirmed the new afternoon/evening anchor lineup since the day-time version of Weakest Link premieres a week from today reducing the amount of airtime for First News. The article reads:

In other local TV news, Ch. 2 is making some timeslot changes with its anchor teams, since it's slicing its 4 p.m. newscast in half to accommodate the 4 p.m. syndicated, half-hour version of "Weakest Link" hosted by George Gray.

Beginning Jan. 7, Angela Rae and Todd McDermott will now anchor from 4:30 to 5 p.m., with Ernie Anastos and Dana Tyler moving from 5 to 5:30 p.m. It will be Rae and McDermott again from 5:30 to 6 p.m., with Anastos and Tyler remaining at 6 p.m.

(Thanks to David for sending me this article!)

-Michael

First News @ 4:30

Brian notified me that CBS 2 has updated their "Weakest Link" press release:

Immediately following, CBS 2 broadcasts FIRST NEWS @ 4:30 PM. Featuring a look at the day’s breaking news and headlines from the tri-state area and around the world, First News @ 4:30 PM remains the only local newscast broadcast in the time period.

It now seems as if the 4:00 newscast will be reduced to a half-hour and will begin at 4:30, on January 7th.