Alan Pergament: Importance of WGRZ's new 7 p.m. newscast highlighted by Maryalice Demler anchoring (2024)

This is what I’m thinking:

WGRZ-TV (Channel 2) has started running promos featuring anchor Maryalice Demler and meteorologist Dan Russell for its new 7 p.m. newscast premiering on Tuesday, Sept. 10.

Channel 2 General Manager Mark Manders confirmed Tuesday morning that Demler and Russell will headline the newscast.

Manders said Demler will continue as co-anchor at 5, 6 and 11 p.m. so that will be a heavy workload for the long-running anchor and a heavy dose of her for viewers.

The decision to have Demler anchor speaks to how important the station believes it is to get the new newscast off the ground.

The promos for the newscast speak to the creativity of Channel 2’s excellent promotions department.

“You told us that you want a live nightly newscast that fits your schedule,” says Demler in the promos. Russell repeats something similar later in the same promo.

I’m not sure who “you” is in that promotion.

I haven't been told by readers that Western New York needs another 7 p.m. newscast. Quite the opposite.

Channel 2’s 7 p.m. newscast will be the third in the Buffalo market.

WKBW-TV (Channel 7) has been running a half-hour, 7 p.m. newscast for some time to relatively decent viewership by the standards of the third-rated news department in the market.

WNLO-TV (CW 23) has carried a low-rated, hourlong newscast featuring anchors from its sister station, WIVB-TV (Channel 4), at 7 p.m. as well.

Channel 2 needed to fill a half hour in its 7 to 8 p.m. schedule after its owner, Tegna, ended the run of new episodes of “Daily Blast Live.” “Entertainment Tonight” is carried after the new newscast at 7:30 p.m.

The station settled on a new newscast that will run Tuesdays through Fridays. Mondays during the Buffalo Bills and Buffalo Sabres seasons will be filled with “Sports Talk Live.” It is anchored by Adam Benigni and regularly features Vic Carucci and Paul Hamilton.

Interestingly, the Channel 2 promo doesn’t mention whether there will be any sports coverage for the 7 p.m. newscast.

In an email, Manders said "sports will be flexed in and out depending upon the news/sports of the day."

The new newscast provides Channel 2 the opportunity to sell more local advertising time, which undoubtedly is as much or more of a reason for it to start a new newscast than “you” wanting one. It is the same reason that Channel 7 and WNLO have 7 p.m. newscasts.

I’m sure “you” also realize from watching the other two 7 p.m. newscasts that it is rare for any big news to happen between the end of Channel 2’s 6 p.m. newscast at 6:30 p.m. and the start of any 7 p.m. newscast.

A 7 p.m. newscast can be valuable when breaking news – including severe weather events– happens.

Of course, when that occurs stations typically extend their 6 p.m. newscasts beyond 6:30 p.m. anyway.

I’m sure “you” know that, too.

With the Buffalo Bills regular season beginning with Sunday’s opener against Arizona carried by Channel 4, the CBS affiliate better hope the picture problems during the final preseason game against Carolina don’t reoccur.

Channel 4 GM Joe Abouzeid said the glitches occurred from a technical problem outside of the station’s control.

It would be a bigger issue during a regular season game.

It’s been a good month for fans of Tom Fontana, the Emmy-winning Buffalo writer-producer.

The classic series “Homicide: Life on the Street” that ran on NBC from 1993-1999 is finally streaming on Peaco*ck. Fontana is credited as being the executive producer and a writer on the series, but he was much more than that. Some people feel he should have been given credit as co-creator.

Fontana’s latest series “Monsieur Spade,” starring Clive Owen as the legendary private detective Sam Spade unsuccessfully trying to move from San Francisco to retire in the south of France, just landed on Netflix. It also is available on other streaming sites.

The series co-created by Fontana and Scott Frank (“The Queen’s Gambit”) is only six episodes. It imagines Spade 20 years after Humphrey Bogart played him in “The Maltese Falcon.” It originally premiered on AMC, AMC+ and Acorn.

The series is unusual in part because it has dialogue in English and French. For those viewers unfamiliar with French, subtitles explain what the characters are saying.

It has a complicated plot involving the murder of six nuns, Spade’s marriage to a French woman who owns a vineyard, Algeria-French relations and a mysterious boy who is believed to have extraordinary powers.

There hasn’t been any word about whether there will be a second season.

Much has been made about the rookie-of-the-year competition in the WNBA between Caitlin Clark of the Indiana Fever and Angel Reese of the Chicago Sky, whose rivalry has led to stronger ratings for the league.

If you happened to watch the Fever’s 100-81 victory over the Sky over the weekend on ION affiliate WPXJ (Channel 18 on Spectrum), you might have wondered why the voting will be close.

Clark had an outstanding game with 31 points and 12 assists.

Reese was able to continue her double-double record (points and rebounds) only by playing late in the game for several minutes despite the Sky being down by 20-25 points.

Amazingly, the game announcers didn’t question keeping Reese in the game when many coaches might have taken her out for fear of injury at a meaningless point in the game.

Of course, Reese has had an exceptional season, and rookie-of-the-year awards aren’t usually determined by a performance in one game.

But that game might end up becoming an exception.