Looking to make its mark as the on-air news source in New York during the upcoming Republican National Convention, NY1 News said it will begin its coverage Aug. 27, with most of its stories addressing how the convention will impact New Yorkers. The Time Warner-owned 24-hour local news cable channel will anchor nearly all of its morning, afternoon and evening news wheels from the skybox at Madison Square Garden, the site of the Republican party’s event, during the convention, set for Aug. 30-Sept. 2.

With a schedule that goes way beyond the broadcast networks’ scaled-back coverage, NY1 plans to go live every evening from 7 p.m. to midnight, starting with “Inside City Hall.” That five-hour span will allow the channel to carry all key convention speeches live and to conduct live interviews with major political figures, NY1 said.

At the homestead, anchors in the newsroom will man what’s being called the “Info Desk” to update viewers on traffic, transit alerts and breaking news. A live call-in desk will allow viewers to discuss a topic of the day or ask a question of the anchors in between convention coverage and stories.



WAGA, Publix Partner to Raise Money for Hurricane Victims

Fox-owned WAGA-TV in Atlanta put the power of TV promotion behind the Red Cross last week when it activated its Careforce network to raise money for disaster relief after Hurricane Charley devastated parts of Florida. The station is partnered with grocery chain Publix and the Red Cross for Careforce and began running from 10 to 20 public service announcements daily as well as mentions in every newscast of how to donate to the Red Cross at Publix stores in Atlanta.

The task force was put in place five years ago and raised nearly $1 million at metro Atlanta Publix stores to provide disaster relief after 9/11 Publix raised $2 million companywide at that time. Careforce also raised money for tornado relief a few years ago.

The success in Atlanta is due in large part to the partnership with the TV station, since a media partner helps the chain get the word out more efficiently than does sending press releases, said Brenda Reid, Publix’ community affairs manager in Atlanta. Newscast mentions of Careforce generally follow news stories about the hurricane relief work, said Gene McHugh, VP and general manager at WAGA.

Publix has 133 stores in Atlanta and 824 nationwide. All of the money collected goes to disaster relief.



WFXT Adds More Morning News

As it continues to grow its presence in Boston, Fox-owned WFXT-TV plans to add a one-hour Sunday newscast starting Sept. 12 at 9 a.m. The station has expanded aggressively over the past year, including adding a three-hour morning newscast, a street-level studio and a full-time political reporter and a helicopter. The Sunday morning show will include a mix of local and national news, weather, features and sports. The station’s Molly Line will anchor the show while continuing her work as a general assignment reporter.



Packers Beat Olympians

No one in Wisconsin is likely to be surprised that the state’s beloved Green Bay Packers beat out the Olympics in ratings. Hearst-Argyle’s ABC affiliate WISN-TV in Milwaukee reported that its preseason opener telecast for the football team won the Monday, Aug. 16, time slot from 7-10 p.m., beating night four of the Olympics. WISN scored a 23/24 for the game against the Seattle Seahawks, while the Athens Games finished with a 16/24 on Journal Broadcast Group’s NBC affiliate WTMJ-TV, WISN said.



WCMH Gets New Name

NBC-owned WCMH-TV in Columbus, Ohio, has changed its name to NBC4 News from NewsChannel 4. The Web site has a new name too: NBC4i.com from NBC4columbus.com.



WLS to Carry Aerial Affair

ABC-owned WLS-TV in Chicago planned to carry the 46th annual Chicago Air & Water Show on Sunday, Aug. 22, at 10:35 p.m., with an encore airing slated for Aug. 28. The well-known summer event features the U.S. Navy Blue Angels. More than 2 million people are expected to attend the event.



On the Move: Belo’s NorthWest Cable News said Wayne Lynch has joined as news director. He most recently worked as general manager of Time Warner’s 24-hour news channel in Milwaukee.



Kudos: Belo’s Patti Smith received the 2004 Broadcaster of the Year Award from the Texas Association of Broadcasters earlier in August. She serves as VP and general manager of Austin, Texas’ ABC station KVUE-TV. She has worked in broadcast TV in Texas for nearly 30 years.