Up next: A 24-hour news station in LA
LOS ANGELES - Local TV news has settled into a familiar routine: a pingpong of live shots with reporters standing near the scene of a crime, a wildfire or the wreckage of a deadly crash. Newscasts are peppered with helicopter views of freeway tie-ups, followed by weather reports and sports.
Cable TV giant Charter Communications is looking to break that mold. At a time when other local news outlets are cutting resources, Charter is launching a 24-hour local news channel in November that will be available in the 1.5 million homes in greater Los Angeles that receive the company's Spectrum pay-TV service.
The channel would be the first of its kind in L.A., representing a bold effort to challenge decades of dominance by such broadcast stations as KABC-TV Channel 7, KTLA-TV Channel 5 and Spanish-language KMEX-TV Channel 34.
And, in what may be heresy in local TV circles, Charter
