WSOC to expand 10 p.m. newscast to an hour

Beginning Dec. 2, WSOC (Channel 9) will expand its 10 p.m. newscast on sister station WAXN (Channel 64) to an hour.

Natalie Pasquarella

Natalie Pasquarella will continue as sole anchor with meteorologist Steve Udelson. 

News director Julie Szulczewski said Thursday the expansion was not driven by competition with Fox-owned WJZY (Channel 46), which is planning to launch an hour-long 10 p.m. newscast in January. Construction is under way at WJZY for a new studio and a news staff is being hired. WJZY now carries a 30-minute newscast at 10 p.m. provided by WBTV (Channel 3) and anchored by Molly Grantham.

Szulczewski said station research conducted in the spring of this year indicated there would be an audience and desire for an expanded newscast. Executives have been talking about it since March but were waiting until other projects were finished, like the months-long renovation of the station's newsroom, which is now complete.

There will be no change in format for the show, she said. On weekends, the 10 p.m. newscast will continue with its half-hour length. 

Panthers soar in ratings on Monday Night Football

Nearly 650,000 viewers in the region tuned in for Monday night's Panthers game against New England, making it the most-watched game of the season in Charlotte.

"This absolutely crushed any previous regular season game this year," Robert Wendt, research director for WSOC (Channel 9), said Tuesday.

Final overnight ratings from Nielsen showed that in the Charlotte market, 348,000 people on average watched the game on Channel 9 and 309,000 on ESPN.

By comparison, the previously most-watched game to date this season, the Nov. 10 Panthers-49ers match-up, attracted 456,000 viewers.

Nielsen numbers show that 66 percent of household televisions in the 22-county Charlotte market -- which stretches from the Virginia line to Chester, S.C. -- were tuned to the Monday night game.

It was the first time since 2008 the Panthers appeared at home on "Monday Night Football."

Peak viewing came during the last half of the second quarter, about 9:30 p.m., when the Panthers were up by 7, Wendt said.   

ESPN spokesman Bill Hofheimer said Nielsen data showed that 38 percent of people with televisions in the Charlotte region watched the game and 36 percent in New England.

Elsewhere in the Carolinas, 23 percent of all viewers in Greensboro tuned into the game, 17 percent in Greenville, N.C., and 15 percent in Raleigh-Durham.

Here are TV audience figures for earlier Panther games in Charlotte this season, on Fox (WJZY, Channel 46):

Sept. 8: Vs. Seahawks (1 p.m. game) -- 374,000.
Sept. 15: Vs. Bills (1 p.m.) -- 316,000.
Sept. 22: Vs. Giants (1 p.m.) -- 382,000.
Oct. 6: Vs. Cardinals (4 p.m.) -- 312,000.
Oct. 13: Vs. Vikings (1 p.m.) -- 424,000.
Oct. 20: Vs. Rams (1 p.m.) -- 403,000.
Oct. 24: Vs. Tampa (8:30 p.m., Thursday) -- 287,000.*
Nov. 3: Vs. Falcons (1 p.m.) -- 407,000.
Nov. 10: Vs. 49ers (4 p.m.) -- 456,000. 

*Carried on the NFL Network and WMYT (Channel 55).

Bo Thompson adds an hour on WBT

Slight schedule shake-up is coming Monday at WBT-AM (1110): "Charlotte Morning News" adds an hour, cutting Keith Larson back to 10 a.m. to noon.

Bo Thompson

In the 9 a.m. hour, morning host Bo Thompson will preside over a topical segment keyed to the day's major story or something trending in the news. Expect extended interviews and calls from listeners.

Larson, who's held the hour since coming to WBT in 2002 and announced the change on the air Tuesday morning, says he's fine with it. He hopes to do more writing after the success of his book on Hope Stout and the Panthers, "That Season of Hope," and his side advertising and marketing business is picking up steam. 

"A change in daily schedule and body-clock will work well," says Larson, who habitually shows up at WBT at dawn to prepare for his show. "WBT is a part of who I am and what I do."

WBT program director Jason Furst says it will give Thompson, who succeeded Al Gardner as the morning news show host in 2012, a chance to do more long-form content and give him a more prominent role.

"Bo is the rising star at the station," says Furst.

Thompson is one of the few local broadcast personalities who grew up in Charlotte. He was still a student at Myers Park High School when he started working part-time at WBT in 1990, and here's an irony: His first gig there was as an intern for Mike Collins, whose hour-long "Charlotte Talks" show runs at 9 a.m. on WFAE-FM (NPR 90.7), opposite Thompson's new hour.

Andy Griffith mini-marathon on WCCB

WCCB (Channel 18) has scheduled a weekend mini-marathon of the old "Andy Griffith Show."

WCCB will air old episodes Saturday and Sunday 2 to 8 p.m. Next weekend, the station has scheduled episodes 5 to 8 p.m.

Griffith, a native of Mount Airy, died a year ago this week. Mount Airy is said to be the model for Mayberry, the North Carolina hamlet featured in the folksy show that ran on CBS for eight years beginning in 1960. 

Andy Griffith

Episodes will be shown in order. First up is "The New Housekeeper," in which Aunt Bea is introduced.

WCCB switched to the CW network this week after losing the Fox affiliation to WJZY (Channel 46). 

One small bit of trivia associated with the switch: Ashley Anderson was a reporter for WCCB on its first 10 p.m. news show broadcast New Year's night in 2000. On Sunday, the last night the station carried the Fox network, she anchored the newscast.

WJZY names Houston executive to lead newsroom

Geoff Roth, a news executive with the Fox-owned station in Houston, will lead the development of a news operation for WJZY (Channel 46), which will begin carrying Fox programming Monday.

"Geoff is a solid journalist and news leader with a proven track record of innovation in news gathering and content presentation," said WJZY's general manager, Karen Adams, in making the announcement Tuesday. "Geoff is the perfect choice to lead FOX 46 Carolinas News."

Geoff Roth

WJZY was purchased by Fox Television Stations this year and the network will be moving its programming from longtime affiliate WCCB (Channel 18) effective 4 a.m. Monday, which is considered the beginning of the broadcast day. WJZY will continue to air a 10 p.m. newscast produced by WBTV (Channel 3) through the end of the year, and is expected to launch its own news department in January.

A 30-year veteran of TV news, Roth is executive producer for the Fox-owned station in Houston, KRIV (Channel 26). Before that, he taught journalism at Hofstra University on Long Island, N.Y., and worked as a news director in Fresno, Calif.; Fort Myers, Fla.; San Diego; Salt Lake City; and Richmond. He also worked at stations in Pittsburgh, Denver, Miami, Washington and Jacksonville, Fla.

His first job in TV was as a producer at CNN. He is a graduate of Northwestern University.

In addition to building a news staff over the next six months, Roth will be involved in construction of a newsroom at the studios WJZY shares with sister station WMYT (Channel 55). Adams said this week that the stations will continue to operate out of the building on Performance Drive off I-85 in west Charlotte, and she does not expect to move to the former Speed channel complex that will house Fox Sports 1's cable channel beginning in August.

"Being able to build a next generation digital news operation from the ground up in a growing market like Charlotte is a unique opportunity," Roth said in a statement distributed by Fox. "I am looking forward to utilizing the latest technology across multiple platforms to keep our viewers constantly informed on relevant news of the day."

Fox Carolinas 46 will become the fifth Charlotte TV station with its own news operation.
 

John Hancock gets a promotion at WBT

John Hancock, whose voice has been part of the soundtrack at WBT-AM (1110) for more than 20 years, is getting a promotion.

John Hancock

Beginning July 16, Hancock is moving from evenings to afternoon drive-time. He's swapping places with Brad Krantz and Britt Whitmire, whose "Brad and Britt Show" will move to the 6 to 9 p.m. shift.

Hancock is one of Charlotte's most venerable radio personalities. He arrived at WBT in 1990 doing mornings. Then to afternoon drive in 1996. Then he left for an ill-fated morning stint at WEND ("End" 106.5), returning to WBT a week before the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001.

“Hancock has been a staple of WBT for years, earning him the title of Charlotte’s most beloved,” Rick Feinblatt, senior vice president of WBT and Greater Media Charlotte, said in announcing the move Tuesday.

"Hell has frozen over," said Hancock about his return to afternoons.

WBT has been roiling through afternoon hosts since the departure of Jason Lewis in 2006 with Jeff Katz, Tara Servatius and Vince Coakley all taking a shot until "Brad and Britt" launched last July.

Hancock's move was one of two high-visibility changes announced Tuesday in Charlotte radio. CBS Radio said that Phil Harris, who hosted middays on the old "Lite," will take over as morning host on WKQC-FM beginning July 1.

Harris will replace Todd Baker, who is going to CBS's KZZO-FM in Sacramento. Baker's last day on the air in Charlotte is Wednesday.

Anchor Israel Balderas leaves WCCB

Israel Balderas, evening anchor at WCCB (Channel 18), parted ways with the station Monday.

Balderas, who anchored the 10 p.m. newscast with Morgan Fogarty, left before his contract was due to expire late this year. He could not immediately be reached for comment.

Balderas joined WCCB in 2010 on the station’s morning show, then was named 10 p.m. anchor in 2011 when longtime co-host Brien Blakely left the station in 2011. Balderas, a key figure during the station’s coverage of the Democratic National Convention, worked for Fox News Channel while getting his law degree at Catholic University in Washington.

Balderas was named TV news anchor of the year in November by the Radio Television Digital News Association of the Carolinas.

His departure follows that of veteran sports director Bruce Snyder and news director Ken White in the last six months. In January, WCCB was told by Fox that it was losing its affiliation with the network after the network bought rival WJZY (Channel 46). WCCB recently announced it would affiliate with the CW network beginning July 1.