Lights Out

Wee-hours TV news flops

It looked like the fertile territory for network TV news. Stymied by the resistance of affiliate stations to proposals for an hour-long evening newscast, troubled by the growth of Ted Turner's round-the-clock Cable News Network, and eager for new advertising opportunities, all three networks turned last year to the postmidnight, wee-hours wasteland of reruns and B movies. NBC and ABC each added an hour of late, late news; CBS added four. Vowed NBC News President Reuven Frank: "If changing life-styles mean people are ready to watch, we will do programs for them."

Little more than a year later, the boom has gone bust. ABC canceled its late-night effort and may trim the expanded 60-minute Nightline back to half an hour. CBS has reduced its Nightwatch to two live hours plus repeats, and last week announced further on-air staff cuts. Also last week, the ax fell on the best of the shows, NBC'S Overnight, which drew 1.5 million households a night but lost $10 million. Said Executive reducer Deborah Johnson: "Apparently cable is no longer viewed as such a threat " Explained Frank: "Overnight was our finest hour but the cost was much greater than the income." This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.