WRDE Coast TV launches local news

WRDE Coast TV has launched its local news program with local anchors, reporters and meteorologists.

The NBC affiliate now airs local news at 5:30 and 11 p.m. weekdays, and at 6 and 11 p.m. weekends.

“Since Draper Media acquired WRDE Coast TV at the beginning of the year, our team has been working diligently to build a truly local news department with journalists right here on Delmarva,” said Molly Draper Russell, CEO, Draper Holdings. “As my father would say, ‘It’s our moral obligation to serve Delmarva,’ and that’s what we’re now doing with local news on WRDE.”

“We have renovated our Milton offices to now include a full newsroom as well as a studio that includes a news set and a weather desk,” said Craig Jahelka, Draper Media president. “We’ve moved well-known and respected journalists Madeleine Overturf and Matt Pencek from WBOC to WRDE. Plus, we’ve hired meteorologist Paul Williams.”

Jahelka said WRDE News won’t be a repeat of WBOC News; their news teams may share resources at times, but WRDE is Coast TV. It will cover the major stories that happen on Delmarva, but its focus will be stories that happen in and around the eastern coastal areas of Delmarva.

“Whether or not you live at the beach, you still want to know what’s happening at the beach. Be it events, traffic, or even the weather, WRDE Coast TV will have it,” said Jahelka.

With the launch of WRDE News, Draper Media will have the first TV station in the nation to direct a newscast from one state while the news talent is in another state.

“We have installed a new, state-of-the-art Sony control room in Salisbury, Md., that remotely controls the studio equipment and cameras in Milton,” said Jahelka. “By doing this, it allows for easy communication between the news control room and master control, which runs all of the TV stations.”