TheBuzz Erika Engle

KHNL-TV plans 11 a.m. weekday newscast

News 8 Today morning anchor Kristine Uyeno will anchor the half-hour broadcast, in which current KHNL midday Web anchor Cindy Cha will also have a presence, said John Fink, vice president and general manager of KHNL and KFVE-TV.

The show will fill an 8-a.m.-to-5-p.m. void for local news viewers, Fink said.

If nobody else jumps into the water, it will be the company's second newscast to have no direct competition -- the other being KFVE's 9 p.m. news.

The number of people watching local TV at 11 a.m. on a weekday is similar to early morning viewer numbers, and "we believe there is an under-served audience who would like to watch a regular local newscast in the midday," Fink said. KHNL may also add news to other times of day.

"We're done (with the morning news) at 7 a.m., so there are four hours to update Wall Street, Washington D.C., and whatever else is going on internationally. It's the end of the day for a lot of the mainland major stories that will have been put to bed," Fink told TheBuzz. The show will also update local news.

KHNL's Web site also offers local newscast clips as well as updates of, or links to national and world news, as do other local station sites.

Hawaii's last midday TV newscasts were an hour long and aired on KITV in 1987 and 1988, according to Mike Rosenberg, president and general manager. They were anchored by Leesa Clark, when Paul Udell was the news director, recalled former news reporter and anchor Tina Shelton.

The station consultant said at the time, "We're gonna go with the girls," Shelton added, as she, Clark and Nina Kay Berglund were put on the air as anchors.

KITV's midday Webcast, launched in June 2002, continues. The station also offers live online streaming of its morning and its 5, 6 and 10 p.m. newscasts.

KHON-TV is planning a noon Webcast, but it won't begin until after the station's ownership transfer and some upgrades are completed, said Joe McNamara, president and general manager.

The KGMB-TV Web site recently underwent an overhaul along with the station's news infrastucture. "We plan to put as much attention into the content that goes into our Web as we put into our station," said Rick Blangiardi, senior vice president and general manager.