WRC-TV / CH.4 / (NBC)
The problem with D.C. news is that the political "National" news is local news here. This makes most of the news very dull. WRC is probably the better of the newscasts in the District, which isn't saying much. The anchors are a little bit stiff looking here, but the field reporting is done very well. The set is generic, but not bad. The 5PM news is the best in D.C., otherwise WRC is a standard NBC affiliate. WRC delays NBC's "Nightly News" by a half hour for it's own news, big mistake.
WTTG-TV / CH.5 / (FOX)
Fox 5 has the best morning news in the District. Similar to WNYW in NYC, WTTG has a good mix of local news, political news, traffic and weather - far better than the network morning news shows, and they are the only D.C. station with a helicopter. The news is typical "Foxified" news, meaning that it has a fast pace and can sometimes be a bit tabloid-ish. The 10pm news is not as good as FOX Morning News, but still not bad. Too much political stuff, but that's D.C.
WJLA-TV / CH.7 / (ABC)
Another standard newscast, kind of generic and boring. Lots of political news mixed with the latest murders in Death City. They do ok at 5pm due to the "Oprah" lead in, but for the most part, WJLA's news isn't a ratings winner. Maybe it's the lack of top notch talent, or the revolving door of the talent....but WJLA news just isn't inviting to watch. This could easily be a Baltimore station, rather than a D.C. one because WJLA just doen't look major market. In 2001 WJLA adopted the "ABC7" logo and seems to be attempting to look more like an ABC owned and operated station, rather than a mom 'n pop station. Washington D.C. is a top ten market, and maybe channel 7 realises the need to look like a top 10 station. Albritton seems to put out a cheap product judging by WJLA-7 and by Newschannel 8, but even low budget can sometimes work.
NEWSCHANNEL 8 / Cable CH. 8 / Local News
A pretty cheesey 24HR local cable newschannel. It's about as good as Cablevision's "News 12" on Long Island. They tape an hour long newscast and re-run it until the next taping. The anchors aren't bad and neither are the reporters, although some are a bit stiff on the air. Unfortunately Newschannel 8 doesn't get coverage on my cable system in Annapolis. As cheesey as they might be, there is a need for local news. Lately NC8 has been airing Wizards and Caps games - is sports news? I don't get that one. Newschannel 8 is owned by the same company (Albritton) that owns Washington DC's ABC affilite WJLA-TV. Because of the ABC ties, Newschannel 8 re-runs "ABC World News Tonight" after it airs on WJLA.
W*USA-TV / CH.9 / (CBS)
A standard CBS affiliate with a pretty standard newscast. The news seems to be a bit faster paced than the other stations, like WCBS in NYC. They use the same music as WCBS too. Too much blue on the set, but otherwise, it's not bad. Anchor Jim Ryan seems to banter on a bit too much, sometimes not making too much sense. Back in the 90's W*USA had a very popular newscast, but not anymore. They use a lot of "CNN Newsource" material in their newscast, rather than local production. To show the new commitment to news that W*USA has, they dropped the 4PM news in favor of "The Montel Williams Show". While stations like WJLA are making improvements to their local productions, W*USA seems to be caring less about their news, and ratings reflect that.
WTMW-TV / CH.14 / (Ind.)
WTMW is a hard catch in many parts of the DC metro area. WTMW is part of the Univision roster and will start airing the Spanish language "Futura" network when their current contact with the "Renaissance Network" runs out in Spring 2002. WTMW-TV was part of the ill-fated "Military Channel" after the station dumped its "Multicultural" programming. When The Military Channel tanked, WTMW started airing the Panda Network's version of Home Shopping. Then WTMW was an affiliate of the American Independent Network which provided first run and re-run syndicated shows.
WDCA-TV / CH.20 / (UPN)
A pretty bad station. Almost no local productions. No news either. They cater to the younger adults with their re-runs and UPN, which speaks for itself. WDCA is also the place to see a lot of first run syndication fare.
WETA-TV / CH.26 / (PBS)
One of the best PBS affiliates in the country, along with WGBH in Boston. They do a lot of local productions that air around the country. Far better than Maryland Public Television (MPT) in both content and the quality of their local productions. WETA enjoys an unusually large audience in the Washington area. It is also the flagship station for "The News Hour", PBS's answer to network nightly news.
WHUT-TV / CH.32 / (PBS)
Along with WHUR-FM, WHUT-TV is one of the few minority owned full power TV stations in the country. While WHUR-FM is a top notch commercial station, WHUT-TV is a slightly below average non-commercial PBS affiliate. I guess it's hard to keep up with a station like WETA. This station is owned and operated by Howard University in Washington, D.C., an African - American university, otherwise it is a standard PBS affiliate.
W28BY-TV / CH.28/ IND
The "Information Super Station"
"ISS" is a low-power UHF station that only covers the District over the air. A local C-SPAN kind of station that used to be tied in with Hugh Downs' "EXBTV" (Executive Branch TV) internet political station. This station also is involved in Internet webcasting which it hopes to gain a national audience through. Also relayed on Low Power TV-41.
WMDO-TV / CH.30 / UNIVISION
A low powered Univision affiliate with studios in suburban Maryland. This Spanish language station doesn't really make it out of the District line which is too bad because there is a growing Latino population in the Washington D.C. area.
WBDC-TV / CH.50 / (WB)
As bad as WDCA. No local news or productions. They used to be WFTY-TV50 before becoming a "WB" affiliate. The only local productions that I have seen are Orioles Baseball games, but they originate from Baltimore's WJZ. People that have worked at WBDC have told me horror stories about poor management, antiquated equipment, and low wages. WBDC airs lots of syndicated programming like Ricki Lake and those first run night time game shows. "Tribune Broadcasting" who owns WPIX (WB) in New York, among many others, purchased WBDC in 1999 and is planning on some form of local news as early as 2002. The overall quality of the station has been improving, and hopefully the DC area will get another good 10PM newscast.
WNVC-TV / CH.56 / IND
Another Rim Shot Northern Virginia station broadcasting from down in Fairfax. WNVC has an "International" format, meaning mostly ethnic programming. WNVC isn't carried in most of Maryland, so I can't get this station either. I have seen them in the District, and they are very low budget (cheesey looking). With a diverse population, this station serves the Northern VA and D.C. area well.
WPXW-TV / CH.66 / PAX-TV
PAX-TV for about three quarters of the Washington Market. WPXW is another Fairfax VA station (a "rim-shot"), so a lot of suburban Maryland cable companies don't carry it. No local productions, just infomercials and the family friendly PAX-TV programming. PAX-TV will be joining with NBC soon, so maybe there will be more of a push for cable operators to carry this station.
