Global expands ‘Global News at Noon’ across Canada in fall schedule shift

Global News has unveiled a refreshed morning, afternoon and evening schedule for fall that includes the expansion of Global News at Noon to all of its local markets.

Starting Sept. 8, hour-long afternoon broadcast, Global News at Noon, will debut in Central Canada and the Maritimes, while adding an additional half-hour to the existing broadcast in Ontario and Quebec. Hosted by the same team leading Global News Morning, the network says the expanded news offering will give viewers more up-to-the-minute coverage and on-the-ground content during the day.

Following the noon newscast, the previously-announced TMS2 debuts in the 1 p.m. ET time slot – a new daily lifestyle and entertainment news program hosted by Morgan Hoffman. It largely promises to feature the stars of Corus Entertainment’s network TV and speciality channel programs across Global, W Network, Home Network, Flavour Network, Slice, and Showcase.

Evening newscasts Global News at 5, Global News at 5:30, Global News at 6 and Global News at 6:30 also return with Dawna Friesen continuing to helm flagship newscast, Global National, weekday evenings at 6:30 p.m. EDT/ADT and 5:30 p.m. PDT/MDT/CDT.

The Morning Show, hosted by Carolyn Mackenzie and Jeff McArthur, returns for a new season on Sept. 8, weekdays at 9 a.m. EDT/PDT and 10 a.m. ADT.

Additional changes to the lineup see veteran network correspondent Jeff Semple take over hosting duties on political and public affairs weekend program, The West Block, starting Sept. 20. Ben Mulroney hosted the show’s 15th season last year while regular host and Ottawa Bureau Chief Mercedes Stephenson was on parental leave.

“We are proud to expand our local news offering with Global News at Noon and TMS2, while continuing to evolve our programming across television, digital and streaming, giving audiences more ways to access the news and information they need, whenever and wherever they choose,” said Ward Smith, Senior Vice President, Global News, in a network announcement. “At Global News, our commitment has always been to provide Canadians with trusted journalism and the stories that matter most to their communities. This fall, we’re building on that commitment with even more coverage that informs, connects and reflects Canadians from coast to coast.”

The revamped lineup comes following an overhaul of Global News Morning over the summer, which saw the program centralized into one show for the network’s markets from Nova Scotia to Saskatchewan, while Global Edmonton, Global Calgary and Global BC maintain their local morning shows.

Layoffs have been ongoing across Global News and Corus Radio, with an additional 10 editorial positions impacted on the television side alone last week, included five staffers at Global BC, four positions in Toronto and one in Calgary. Roughly 45 unionized positions were eliminated in June, many of those tied to the centralization of news production for Global Edmonton and Calgary in Toronto.