Cincinnati's “first and only 10 o'clock news” soon may have competition. WB affiliate WSTR-TV (Channel 64) has been preparing budgetary plans for a 10 p.m. newscast to compete with Fox affiliate WXIX-TV (Channel 19), which has leaped into second place among local late newscasts.

        “It's something we're interested in. It seems to make sense,” says Merry Ewing, Channel 64 general manager. “It's a strategic issue.”

        News isn't in the 2002 budget being finalized by Ms. Ewing for the Bond Hill station, owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group.

        But it could be added as a capital item, because adding a news studio, newsroom and 18 news employees would require “building a new facility,” she says. Channel 64 is located at 5177 Fishwick Drive, near the Interstate 75 Towne Street exit.

        “We were talking a lot about adding news at this time a year ago,” she says. “We were crunching the numbers.”

Channel 19's success

        That would have been before Channel 19's 10 p.m. news started routinely drawing a bigger audience than long-established newscasts on WCPO-TV (Channel 9) and WLWT (Channel 5).

        Halfway through the 28-day November sweeps, Channel 19 was averaging a 7.5 rating at 10 p.m., second to the 11 p.m. news on CBS affiliate WKRC-TV (10.7). Channel 9 was third (7.3) in late news, and Channel 5 fourth (7.1). One ratings point here equals about 8,000 Tristate homes.

        Ms. Ewing looks at those big ratings numbers, and dreams of what could be.

        “Forty percent of the TV advertising revenues in this market is news,” she says, “and we'd like to get in on it.”

        One local TV executive said that Channel 64 “could do well (financially), if it got 15 percent” of the 10 p.m. news audience.

        But it won't come cheap. Channel 19 spent about $2 million creating a news department from scratch in 1993.

        Alternative options under consideration are:

        • Have another TV station produce a newscast for Channel 64. In Lexington, Sinclair's Fox affiliate, WDKY-TV (Channel 56), airs a 10 p.m. newscast provided by CBS affiliate WKYT-TV (Channel 27).

        In Dayton, where Sinclair owns two stations, NBC's WKEF-TV (Channel 22) produces a 10 p.m. news for sister station WRGT-TV (Channel 45), the Fox affiliate.

        • Or Channel 64 could sell time for a 10 p.m. newscast to another station. In Indianapolis, NBC's WTHR-TV (Channel 13) pays to air a 10 p.m. newscast on Sinclair's UPN affiliate, WNDY-TV (Channel 23). ABC's WRTV-TV (Channel 6) also buys time for a 10 p.m. news on WB's WTTV-TV (Channel 4).

        Indianapolis has three 10 p.m. newscasts, in addition to three 11 p.m. newscasts. Jon Lawhead, Channel 19 general manager, expects a challenge here.

        “I've heard rumors for three years that somebody would do a 10 p.m. newscast. I'm sure people are looking at those (ratings) numbers and saying, "Hey, there's got to be money there',” says Mr. Lawhead, who recently expanded Channel 19's morning news to four hours, 5-9 a.m.

        “We've obviously entrenched ourselves at 10 p.m. We've been "the first and only 10 o'clock news' for eight years. We have the 10 o'clock brand,” he says.

        Competition could come later — not sooner — because of slumping broadcast revenues due to a declining advertising market.

        Sinclair, which owns 63 TV stations in 40 markets, reported a 12 percent drop in third quarter net broadcast revenues, according to Electronic Media magazine. Sinclair bought Channel 64 in 1997, and switched it and four other stations from UPN to WB in 1998.

        Tribune Co., which owns 22 TV stations, the Chicago Tribune and Los Angeles Times, last week announced a hiring freeze and 5 percent pay cut for 140 senior managers. CBS' 60 Minutes, TV's top-rated news magazine,plans to lay off two employees.

        “It's a tough economy to take on capital,” Mr. Lawhead says.

        But Ms. Ewing has her fingers crossed.

        “We might hear something in December,” she says. “Maybe we'll get an early Christmas present.”

        Stay tuned.

        E-mail jkiesewetter@enquirer.com. Past columns at Enquirer.com/columns/kiese

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