EAST PEORIA, Ill. – The news departments on two Peoria television stations — one of which is our news partner — were somewhat separate even though they were based under the same roof.
But now, that artificial competition of sorts is over.
“We decided the competition is over between the two of us, and we’re going to bring everybody under one brand: 25 News,” said Pete Russell, WEEK-TV General Manager. “We’ll have newscasts, additional newscasts, to be able to take up all the talent that we have. We haven’t gotten rid of anybody; in fact, we’ve hired a couple additional positions.”
Russell tells WMBD’s “The Greg and Dan Show” what is essentially the merging of 25 News and Heart of Illinois ABC News under the 25 News brand has already begun with the two stations’ weather team, and will continue Monday with a new newscast airing on both stations.
“The research came back and said, ‘Hey, you know what? It doesn’t make sense for you to do two separate newscasts and compete with each other,’” said Russell. “There is a need for news in the marketplace, but we really were just fighting ourselves.”
A new newscast to air on both the NBC and ABC channels starts Monday, with more moves after that.
CLICK HERE to see all of WEEK-TV’s newscast changes.
