Q13 Fox starting a 9 p.m. newscast

Q13 Fox News is launching a 9 p.m. newscast and changing anchors on its No. 1-rated 10 p.m. news show.

The new one-hour 9 p.m. newscast debuts Monday on sister station KMYQ-TV (Channel 22/Cable channel 10).

"It's a real convenient time period for people to watch local news who don't want to stay up until 10 or 11 p.m.," says Steve Kraycik, news director for the local Fox affiliate. The 9 p.m. newscast, believed to be the first of its kind in this market, will replace the reality and feature-film programming currently airing that hour on the station known as MyQ2. To accommodate the newscast, primetime programming on KMYQ will shift from 7 to 9 p.m. instead of 8-10 p.m.

Anchoring the new 9 p.m. newscast will be the anchors of Q13 Fox's 10 p.m. newscast, Lara Yamada and now, David Rose.

Rose, currently a weekend anchor, is moving to the nightly Sunday-Thursday newscast. Bill Wixey will now co-anchor weekends. And Mark Wright, currently co-anchoring at 10 p.m., is moving to mornings.

Staffing changes as major as who anchors a newscast aren't usually done when a newscast is succeeding, which is the case for Q13 Fox. The station's 10 p.m. news show now averages 30,000 more viewers than KONG's 10 p.m. newscast. It's also the No. 1 newscast of any nightly local newscast for adults ages 18 to 49, according to local ratings.

So why move Wright to mornings?

"It's simply about putting what we felt were the best talents and skills in the best time periods," Kraycik says. "We're playing to each of their strengths." Wright had been part of the top-rated morning newscast in Salt Lake City before arriving at the station. His last 10 p.m. newscast is Thursday.

Wright, who has been at the station for five years, says he's looking forward to the move. "There's a wider range in terms of what you can do. You can laugh a little more, and the topics are a little bit out there. What I really believe is every morning show has to give people weather and traffic, but there's time and room for people to have fun."

Florangela Davila: 206-464-2916 or fdavila@seattletimes.com