Global Montreal splits evening news in two

Global Montreal this week made a small change to its weekday schedule, swapping the second half-hour of its evening newscast with Global National. So as of this week, the evening news works like this:

  • 5:30: Local news
  • 6:00: Global National
  • 6:30: Local news
  • 7:00: ET Canada

As far as I can tell, this is the only Global station to do this so far. Okay, there are some counterexamples in the comments.

I watched three of the five newscasts this week to see how the new format works. The two newscasts are virtually identical, with the same stories (sometimes repackaged differently), same weather segments (literally the same prerecorded segments played again for the second newscast), and same stories taken from other Global stations to fill the schedule.

A typical 5:30 or 6:30 newscast comes down to roughly this:

  • A minute-long intro
  • 10-12 minutes of local news (four packaged or live reports, plus 2-5 briefs)
  • A minute-long weather segment (pretaped with the weather presenter in Toronto)
  • Commercial break
  • One or two stories from another Global station or a U.S. news source
  • Commercial break
  • A three-minute weather segment
  • Closing market numbers
  • Teaser to a local story being discussed on Facebook
  • Commercial break
  • More briefs, a promo for Morning News, and either a promo for Global National (during the 5:30 newscast) or a two-minute ET Canada promo that doubles as entertainment news (during the 6:30)

On average:

  • 12m15s local news
  • 3 min non-local news
  • 4m15s weather
  • 15 sec business
  • 2m30s promos, bumpers and other filler

There’s no duplication with Global National, so this new schedule means you can sit down for an hour starting at 5:30, or an hour starting at 6. It also means that people who get home after 6pm can still catch a local newscast (though CTV’s newscast does a top stories recap at the top of the half-hour).

The Global Montreal news team has also expanded by two, hiring away Kalina Laframboise from CBC as a web producer and Cora MacDonald from City as a photojournalist. MacDonald had been hired at City Montreal for their new newscast, but that hasn’t even launched yet. No news about it has been announced.

13 thoughts on “Global Montreal splits evening news in two

  1. mbr

    Global Okanagan/CHBC has a similar schedule, except they have an hour of local news at 5:00. Then it’s Global National at 6 and then local news at 6:30.

    Reply
  2. mbr

    Global should also move Global National to 6 PM and move the local news to 6:30… keep the news schedule consistent 7 days a week.

    Reply
  3. Brett

    I like that they moved away from repaing a story that will air on Global National. I always thought what’s the point of that. CKWS in Kingston Ontario airs the Global National at 5:30 as does Global BC.

    Reply
  4. Mediaman

    So possibly some strategy against CTV. But looking at this based on a 60-minute package , Global only has 12 minutes of local news and for all intents and purposes, and sports is a secret at Global.

    But at CTV, I’m somewhat disappointed in terms of total local coverage whether you look at it as separate one hour shows or a two hour thing, their local content seems to have dropped drastically since their mighty sports coverage was eliminated, thus needing more international and national from Toronto with some items we could see for ourselves somewhere online.

    But have you noticed an increased amount or repetition in their articles and reports? Astounding! Is there such a lack of solid news in this city?

    Reply
  5. Ian Howarth

    News, news and more news. They are tryimg to catch people out of their cars and if they’re radio news junkies, they certainly are getting properly filled when they sit down for dinner in front of the tube. No wonder people are depressed and cynical.

    Reply
  6. Darlene

    Global Edmonton has 5PM local news, 530PM Global National, then 6PM NewsHour local news … really the “local” news consists of 11 minutes of actual content, the rest is weather, health news and assorted supplied stories from the drug companies and public relations departments of governments and large corporations.

    Reply
  7. DS

    I cannot imagine that CITY’s Newscast will present any formidable competition to CTV, CBC , or Global. Kudos to Global for consistently striving to deliver quality content to Montrealers on an off the island. Ms. MacDonald’s departure from CITY speaks heaps.

    Reply
    1. Sam H

      No kidding! For her to leave for Global Montreal less than one year after beginning at city & bt tv things must not be peachy.

      Reply
  8. dilbert

    It’s a pretty simple formula, and one that has been incredibly successful in the US.

    Wrapping the local news around the national news cast creates plenty of viewing options. You can watch an hour from 5:30 to 6:30, you can watch an hour from 6 to 7, or you can take any half hour.

    It is especially important considering that the time from say 5 to 6 has been traditionally filled with syndicated crap that isn’t particularly relevant for people coming home from work. It leverages what you are already paying for (news gathering) and turns it into more local ad sales with programming that is locally relevant.

    There is also the “suck up the CRTC” factor. While not significantly more expensive to put on the air (everyone is already working), it does add 2.5 hours a week of local programming. That kind of vapid commitment to local programming pleases the blank suits at the CRTC very much.

    Reply
  9. Alain

    Gone are the days when we watch a news program from beginning to end. Smart thinking Global Montreal. I like it. Regardless of what the suits say the writing is definitely on the wall for local morning shows once thee new evening formats are sorted.

    Reply

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