In the news: TV newscasts without live newscasters
No live anchors. No friendly banter between familiar newscasters. WMAR, Maryland’s oldest TV news station, rolled out a new look to broadcasts that the station’s owners are expanding to cities nationwide. The change to two WMAR evening broadcasts highlights a major shift in how technology is reshaping local TV news, reports The Baltimore Banner.
According to The Baltimore Banner, WMAR-2, an ABC affiliate owned by E.W. Scripps, “had a round of layoffs and is reprogramming some shows to stream prerecorded stories in place of live, on-air reporting and live anchors. The new format, which debuted Wednesday night, kicked off with a weather segment and was followed by local, prerecorded news stories and national reports from a Scripps team.
“The decision to forge a new course comes as executives of the station’s parent company embrace an AI-driven, 24-hour streaming model for news. Scripps is rolling out the change in a dozen smaller markets, including Baltimore, before it’s adopted at the company’s dozens of local stations. Other broadcasts are expected to switch over in the coming weeks and months.
“Americans’ consumption of local news has shifted in recent years, with more people saying they get information from online forums and platforms. But many U.S. adults still prefer television to any other local news sources, according to a 2025 study from the Pew Research Center.
“Kelly McBride, a senior vice president at the Poynter Institute, said many news networks are experimenting in hopes of finding their way to a more efficient future as audiences’ news preferences evolve.”
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