In a move designed to strengthen the position of an affiliate of The CW Network against the ABC, NBC and CBS affiliates in Indianapolis, DuJuan McCoy-owned Circle City Broadcasting has moved forward with the relaunch of an 11pm newscast at one of his two properties — a sign that WISH-8‘s local news presence seeks to be unrivaled.
Introducing News 8 at 11 with Phil Sanchez, a reformatted, live weeknight 30-minute late news offering.
Sanchez is perhaps the leading face of WISH-8’s newscasts, and is the co-anchor alongside Alexis Rogers of the station’s 5pm, 6pm and 10pm newscasts. He first worked at WISH-8 from 2007-2011, and returned to the station in August 2015 after a four-year run at a station in Raleigh. Sanchez stayed with Circle City through its ownership transition in 2019. McCoy spent $42.5 million to acquire WISH-8 and sibling WNDY-23 from Nexstar Media Group.
Under his ownership, WISH hasn’t shirked from serving Indianapolis with a strong news department. “WISH-TV already produces more than 80 hours of local programming per week, more than any other station in Indiana, and we’re always seeking new ways to engage our viewers across all our platforms by offering creative and unique ways to keep our community informed,” McCoy said. “News 8 at 11 with Phil Sanchez is an original approach to local news in Indiana that will help educate and keep our audience engaged via a non-traditional delivery with more robust and compelling content.”
The 11pm newscast is designed to be fast-paced and is the home of UnPHILtered, a content feature that will include interviews with community newsmakers, two-sided debates on pertinent local and national topics, and “community feel-good stories.”
Al Carl, Vice President and News Director at WISH-8, comments, “I love that we at WISH-TV continue to be creative and differentiate ourselves from our competition in how we deliver news. We believe our News 8 at 11 with Phil Sanchez will have a significant impact on this community because it will be filled with unique content delivered by Phil who Indiana viewers have grown to love and trust.”
