Whither WTMJ-TV’s “The Now: Milwaukee?”
And what does its failure to launch tonight as originally scheduled say about the E. W. Scripps Co. station’s 10 p.m. anchor search?
“The Now,” a syndicated news-lite-infotainment format with contributions from local stations, currently airs on other Scripps stations. It will replace WTMJ’s “Wisconsin Tonight” news package at 6:30 p.m.
According to my – and your – cable guide it was scheduled to premiere tonight. I set my DVR accordingly.
But it is not listed on the schedule posted on the station’s website nor are any announcements about it posted there. It’s premiere is expected to be delayed for several weeks.
Radio silence from WTMJ being the rule, what follows next is supposition based on available evidence.
“The Now” is produced by E. W. Scripps and airs on its stations, like KGTV in San Diego, where former WITI-TV anchor is the host. State joined WITI as an anchor in 2010 and left last July without making much of an impression.
She joined KOIN-TV in Portland, Ore., to be closer to her parents who have medical issues. In a story on her departure from KOIN in April of 2015 State said that “for personal reasons, I have decided to commit my full-time care and attention to my parents for a while.”
Now she hosts KGTV’s version of “The Now” – not to be confused with the Milwaukee rock cover band – at 4 p.m. “The Now: Milwaukee” will air at 6:30 p.m. where it will compete with “Wheel of Fortune” on WDJT-TV and “Entertainment Tonight” on WISN-TV. “The Now: Milwaukee” is produced by Stacey Naughton.
According to a release from Scripps in TVNewsCheck “The Now” features a mix of local, national and international news as well as viral stories, video, entertainment and lifestyle stories.”
It also airs in Scripps stations in Cincinnati, Detroit, Cleveland, and Tampa, Denver, Kansas City, Phoenix and West Palm Beach. Several of the station’s websites mention that The Now is “not a newscast,” per TVNewsCheck.
Below is a promo for “The Now” from Scripps Detroit station. Below that is the promo from Scripps Arizona station which uses a longer variation of the same script.
Scripps fingerprints are also found on WTMJ’s inaction in replacing longtime 10 p.m. anchor Mike Jacobs, who left the station in May. The delay in doing so suggests Scripps is looking outside the WTMJ family.
WTMJ’s 10 p.m. newscast, which jumped from fourth ranked to second ranked in the market during the November sweeps, is currently anchored by Steve Chamraz and Carole Meekins.
Cincinnati based Scripps acquired WTMJ from locally owned Journal Broadcast Group last April.
This was followed by a string of departures.
Tags: Anne State, Scripps, Steve Chamraz, The Now: Milwaukee, WTMJ Posted by