This afternoon Pope Francis leaves Washington, D.C. for New York. The owned and operated locals will go all out to cover the pontiff’s first visit to New York. Here’s a look at the plans.
Fox-owned stations:
WNYW is preparing to go live with coverage at all of the Pope’s events while he is in the cityy. The station has produced nearly 30 stories over the last few weeks about the significance of this visit and has special coverage planned throughout the week on all of newscasts including coverage of his Evening Prayer at St. Patrick’s on the 24th and his Evening Mass at Madison Square Garden on the 26th.
Here’s one of the stories the station has aired. It’s from Ben Simmoneau. It explores the connection between God in Faith and Science.
The station is also using the twitter hashtag #PopeinNY
NBC-owned stations:
Pope Francis’ first-ever visit to the United States, which includes stops in Washington, D.C., New York and Philadelphia will receive comprehensive and extensive coverage on-air, online, on digital and social media channels, by the NBCUniversal Owned Television stations located in all of these markets. The stations include NBC4 Washington / WRC, NBC 4 New York / WNBC, Telemundo 47 New York / WNJU, NBC10 Philadelphia / WCAU and Telemundo62 Philadelphia / WWSI. Additionally, NBC 6 South Florida / WTVJ will cover Pope Francis’ visit to Cuba, directly.
“Covering this major event in our viewing area is an incredibly important part of what we do as a television station,” said WNBC gm Eric Lerner “We’re providing a lot of information to help those who want to attend events or catch a glimpse of the pope. At the same time, we’ll also serve those thousands of people who just want to get in and out of the city and avoid the huge traffic or commuting issues.”
Sister-stations NBC 4 New York / WNBC and Telemundo 47 New York / WNJU are combining efforts to provide English- and Spanish-language viewers in the New York Tri-State area with the most unique and comprehensive coverage of Pope Francis’ visit to the United States and Cuba. From on-air, to online, to its digital and social channels, viewers all across New York, New Jersey and Connecticut will be able to follow Pope Francis’ visit beginning Friday, September 18 when he arrives in Cuba. NBC 4’s live coverage will be kicked off by Today in New York news anchor Darlene Rodriguez as she tracks the Pope’s five-day visit to Cuba. As a bilingual journalist, Darlene Rodriguez will report for both NBC 4 and Telemundo 47. NBC 4 New York news anchor David Ushery will then travel to the nation’s capital where His Holy Father will meet President Obama and address Congress, among other events and masses he will preside over. NBC 4’s viewers will be able to watch all of David Ushery’s coverage online on nbcnewyork.com/Pope. From the moment that Pope Francis arrives New York, both NBC 4 and Telemundo 47 news teams will provide live coverage, from all angles and in two languages. NBC 4’s live coverage will be anchored by Chuck Scarborough and Sibila Vargas and Today in New York’s Darlene Rodriguez and Michael Gargiulo. Among some of the coverage that viewers will be able to watch live, include the Pope’s evening prayer service at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, the Mass at Madison Square Garden, his address to the United Nations General Assembly, his first visit to the World Trade Center and 9/11 Memorial and Museum, his ride through Central Park to East Harlem school, where he is expected to meet every-day New Yorkers.
Telemundo 47’s comprehensive live coverage will include special and extended editions of its afternoon and morning weekday newscasts. Beginning September 24, Telemundo 47’s weekday newscast, Noticiero Telemundo 47 will be on-the-air from 5 PM to 7 PM and its morning weekday newscast, Telemundo 47 Primera Edición will air from 5 AM to 10 AM and both will include reports from Telemundo 47 reporters reporting live from the region and special commentary offered by panels of religious experts. Some of the stories that Telemundo 47 has featured on-air include interviews with the day laborers who built the chair the Pope will use at the mass at Madison Square Garden and the Mexican woman who helped make the linens that will adorn the altar at one of the masses he will preside over. Once the Pope departs New York, Telemundo 47’s news anchor Nilda Rosario and reporter Pablo Gutierrez, NBC 4’s news anchor David Ushery and reporter Ray Villeda will set off for Philadelphia where the Pope will spend a weekend in the birthplace of America, to provide viewers with more coverage of the Pope’s events.
CBS-owned stations:
For WCBS, Dick Brennan will report live from JFK airport when the pope arrives in New York. Kristine Johnson will join Maurice Dubois for live coverage of the Evening Prayer Service at St. Patrick’s Cathedral.
On Friday, Sept. 25, Mary Calvi will anchor coverage from the United Nations when Pope Francis meets with the General Assembly. Chris Wragge will anchor from Ground Zero as the Pope pays tribute at the 9/11 Memorial and Museum. Hazel Sanchez will provide live reports from the Pope’s visit to Our Lady Queen of Angels School in East Harlem. Maurice DuBois and Kristine Johnson will be Madison Square Garden to anchor live coverage of the procession through Central Park and Mass at Madison Square Garden.
On Saturday, Sept. 26, Chris Wragge and Mary Calvi will anchor coverage as Pope Francis departs for Philadelphia.
Coverage will continue with Tony Aiello reporting live from Philadelphia. Aiello has previously covered several events at the Vatican, including the Papal conclave to elect Pope Francis.
CBS 2’s coverage will also include interviews with several area priests who will provide insight and commentary during Pope Francis’s U.S. visit.