WDCA, Fox Television’s MyNetwork affiliate in Washington, will launch a daily primetime local newscast July 17, part of the group’s larger effort to more closely align the station with the market’s O&O, WTTG.
The 8 p.m. newscast, Fox 5 News on the Plus, will air seven days a week. WTTG’s Tony Perkins and Shawn Yancy will anchor the show.
WDCA will also air breaking news updates throughout the day.
The addition of local news is part of Fox's plan to leverage WDCA—recently rebranded Fox 5 Plus—as a platform to expand the group’s offerings in Washington.
WDCA, however, will continue to air its syndicated MyNetwork programming, including Judge Judy, Big Bang Theory and Dr. Oz.
The change comes as Fox prepares to move its programming from ch. 20 WDCA to WTTG's spectrum (it is on ch. 5). Fox sold WDCA's spectrum in the broadcast incentive auction for $119 million. Stations will have 39 months to give up their spectrum and, as in the case of WDCA and most stations in the auction, start sharing spectrum with a station in the market with which a sharing agreement has been struck.
