WNBC New York is tweaking its early fringe again, introducing News Channel 4 at5:30 P.M. Oct. 15 in favor of News 4 You, a feature-based half-hour that launched in March.
WNBC, which scrapped its 5 p.m. news last month for a 7 p.m. newscast, is also adding a second run of Access Hollywood at 4:30 p.m. in place of a second run of Merv Griffin’s Let’s Play Crosswords.
Sue Simmons and Michael Gargiulo will anchor the 5:30 news.
Senior vice president Dan Forman said the station is “constantly evaluating and making changes to our lineup” to stay competitive. “Quickly returning to a hard-news format at 5:30 is the right direction to take at this time,” he added.
In announcing the schedule tweak, WNBC president and general manager Frank Comerford reiterated his support for the 7 p.m. newscast, which he has said was brought on by people returning home from work later and later.
