WHDH, with the highest story count at 11 p.m., had the lowest score. It's no surprise. Producers shortening stories for the late news often cut out important content. In one instance, when WNBC shortened a medical story for the late news, sourcing became completely generic. In contrast, WBZ in Boston had the lowest story count at 11 p.m., the highest score, and the lowest quality gap between its two newscasts.
Station managers say yes.
While most of the stations studied were different in nearly every category at 6 p.m. and 11 p.m., WBZ's two newscasts retain certain similarities. Their story counts were similar. Unlike most stations, it ran about the same proportion of short stories to long stories in both newscasts. According to WBZ's news director, Peter Brown, it's no accident. We put a lot of emphasis on our 11 p.m. newscast.