There might be some logic in the fact that three out of four Kansas City TV stations either have or will be moving from an early morning start time of 5 a.m. to 4:30 a.m., according to a story in the New York Times.
Last month KSHB-TV and KMBC moved their morning broadcasts to 4:30 a.m. KCTV said it will make the move Sept. 13.
The lone holdout in KC (so far) is WDAF-FOX4, which has been the morning ratings leader in the market.
The Times story says moving to an earlier start can provide a competitive advantage:
"Stations in Boston, New York, Washington and other cities are adding 4:30 a.m. newscasts this month, joining a backward march that started in earnest a few years ago. And those are not even the earliest. One station in New York, WPIX, will move up its start time to 4 a.m. on Sept. 20.
"In catering to the earliest of the early risers, stations are reacting to the behavior patterns that are evident in the Nielsen ratings. Simply put, Americans are either staying awake later or waking up earlier — and either way, they are keeping the television on.
"In the past 15 years, the number of households that have a TV set on at 4:30 has doubled, to 16 percent this year from 8 percent in 1995. At 11:30 p.m., by comparison, when most local newscasts end, 44 percent of televisions are on, up 10 percent from the levels 15 years ago."
Link to entire story.
