WKYT Plans to Add Half-Hour Newscast at 10 a.m.

By Merrill Knox 

WKYT will become the first station in the Lexington, KY market to have a 10 a.m. newscast beginning September 12.

The Lexington Herald-Leader reports that station management at WKYT, which is the market’s CBS affiliate, has been planning the additional newscast for two years, since Oprah Winfrey announced she would depart from daytime television. Several stations have chosen to fill the Oprah timeslot with news, but WKYT — which will replace the daytime queen with Anderson Cooper’s syndicated show this fall — wanted another timeslot for an additional newscast.

“We do very well at noon, and we’ve constantly improved in show growth in the mornings, so we’re wanting to bridge those time periods,” news director Robert Thomas told the Herald-Leder.

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The new show will be staffed by the midday news team: anchors Bill Bryant and Barbara Bailey and meteorologist Todd Borek. The station will slide “Regis & Kelly” from the 10 a.m. hour to the 9 a.m. hour to accommodate the half-hour newscast.

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