WNBC/4 Canceling "New York Live"

[DToTheJ]

It was no "Live At Five" - in fact, its original name was "LX New York." Now, the show currently airing at 3 PM has been announced that Channel 4 will be yanking the program in the fall "to make way for syndicated programming."

http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/482224-WNBC_s_New_York_Live_to_Be_Canceled.php

[TimeIsTight]

So it looks like a local show aimed at female demos can't be economically justified at 3-pm.  The fact that they are announcing dropping it now, and it will keep running for six-months, could mean it isn't a total flop, just that cheaper syndicated programming might be more profitable.

At 5-pm it was probably just some programmer's attempt to differentiate the channel from rival news offerings at that hour, while trying to attract, the most valuable to advertisers, female demos.

The move to 3-pm showed some confidence in the concept, but the available audience is probably much thinner at that hour.

In these days of pre-packaged easy to run syndicated daytime programming NBC deserves some credit for giving local production a good shot in a mostly syndicated daypart.

[DToTheJ]

WNBC added a noon newscast in addition to the 5 PM newscast that replaced "New York Live." So it seems to me that the local programming they're concentrating the most on - just like the other area O&O's - are news programs.

[Pab Sungenis]

The whole concept of programming "for women" in the early afternoons is outdated.  The days of soap operas and women-targeted talk programs were based on the model of the stay at home housewife and mother.  Nowadays the demographic mix of audiences in that time period are a lot more balanced than they used to be.

Not to mention that DVR's and ease of time shifting have made it harder for time-sensitive programming (like news) to compete with stuff that you can record and then watch in the +24 hours that the ratings services count for time-shift.  And someone home ar 3PM, if they're watching TV, is liable to be watching something they recorded earlier.  News is appointment viewing and there's not much appointment viewing going on at 3 PM today.