News Operation
As an NBC affiliate, WALA-TV ran newscasts at times that were similar to that of other NBC affiliates. When the switch to Fox occurred, the move confused many viewers who were expecting to watch NBC programming instead of Fox, which had swapped affiliations with WPMI; because of this, for several years after the switch, WALA maintained a similar newscast schedule as its days as an NBC affiliate, even keeping its 10 p.m. newscast and airing syndicated programming in the 9 p.m. hour, a move that was atypical of a Fox affiliate with local newscasts. Over time, the airtimes of WALA's newscasts have evolved to include slots that of a typical Fox affiliate with a news department carries, adding news in the 7 a.m. hour, dropping the noon newscast, and moving the 10 p.m. show to a full hour at 9 p.m.
Currently, WALA-TV broadcasts a total of 26 hours of local news each week (five hours on weekdays, a half-hour on Saturdays, and one hour each on Sundays). WALA-TV is the only station in the market that airs a local newscast at 5:30 p.m. and it does not broadcast local newscasts in midday timeslots or at 6 and 10 p.m. Unlike most other Fox stations that produce their newscasts in-house, WALA-TV's 9 p.m. newscast does not air for an hour seven nights a week as the Saturday edition airs for a half-hour. The Sunday 9 p.m. news was also aired as a half-hour newscast until April 3, 2011, when WALA-TV expanded the Sunday evening edition of its 9 p.m. newscast to one hour, by adding an additional half-hour at 9:30 p.m. On September 12, 2011, WALA debuted an hour-long 4 p.m. newscast, serving as a replacement for The Oprah Winfrey Show. It is the second 4 p.m. newscast in the Mobile market (ABC affiliate WEAR-TV also carries a 4 p.m. newscast).
On April 21, 2012, WALA-TV began broadcasting its local newscasts in high definition with a brand new set and graphics. It is the third television station in the Mobile/Pensacola market to make the switch to HD news (WPMI-TV would soon follow one day later).
On Monday, August 27, 2012, WALA-TV was the first station in the Mobile-Pensacola market to debut a 4:30 a.m. newscast. However, due to Hurricane Isaac, other stations were doing expanded coverage as well due to the impending storm, which would eventually affect the New Orleans area and spare Mobile from the brunt of the storm.
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