Year-Round DST In Florida Troubles Radio, TV

The nation springs-forward this weekend when Daylight Saving Time returning Officially at 2 AM Sunday, but if the proposed year-round Daylight Savings Time goes through in Florida, radio and TV along with listeners/viewers could be impacted.

According to the Sun-Sentinel, a bill called the “Sunshine Protection Act’’ that calls for Florida to stay on Daylight Saving Time all the time is on its way to Governor Rick Scott’s desk after the state Senate okay’d the bill 33-2 March 6.

If Scott signs the bill, it may affect your TV viewing because the state will be one hour later than the rest of the East Coast, including big TV markets like New York City, Atlanta and Washington, D.C. (Northwest Florida is on Central time.)

Here is a glimpse at how the DST time change could create a TV programming domino effect. in the Sunshine State.

• Morning news: National morning shows such as NBC’s “Today”, ABC’s “Good Morning America” and “CBS This Morning” most likely wouldn’t start broadcasting in South Florida until after 8 a.m. instead of the current 7 a.m. slot. The same goes for the cable news networks morning programs.
• Prime time: Prime time shows which now start at 8 p.m. wouldn’t begin until 9 p.m. and finish around midnight. So NBC’s “This Is Us” would be “This Is Late.”
• News at 12: The local TV stations’ late newscasts, which are now at 11 p.m., wouldn’t get started until midnight. One possible exception may be WSVN-Ch. 7, the Fox affiliate in North Bay Village. Their popular hour-long 10 p.m. newscast with Belkys Nerey and Craig Stevens could easily slide into the 11 p.m. hour when the station has a half hour newscast and a rebroadcast of its gossip show “Deco Drive’’.
• The Jimmys and Stephen: But shifting the local news to an hour later would also mean that NBC’s “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,’’ and ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” and “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,’’ on CBS would (y-a-w-n) move well past 12:35 a.m. That would also move the following late, late shows with Seth Meyers and James Corden to later.

Radio stations airing network fed programming would also be impacted. Three examples:

• Rush Limbaugh would air starts at 1pm vs. 12n
• Coast-To-Coast would air 1am to 6am
• Non-Coms airing NPR programming would also be impacted

Florida Association of Broadcasters is now racing to convince the governor that the bill—which easily won widespread approval in both houses of the legislature—should be rejected. “It sounds like a good idea, but it’s the dumbest thing in the world,” FAB president Pat Roberts said.

Florida broadcasters have more than just worries about what time daytime-only AMs sign-on. Roberts said the impact on programming could be severe. Network radio programming would suddenly be an hour later. Television stations are even more alarmed since it would mean primetime TV would run from 9pm-12am with local news running at midnight in the state. “It’s a disaster—it throws all the networks off,” Roberts said.

Roberts told InsideRadio businesses and school systems in the state are only now coming to grips with the impact. What had been seen as a long-shot bill aimed at promoting the state’s tourism marketing position quickly has secured broad support in the legislature. Governor Scott, who is running for an open U.S. Senate seat, hasn’t said whether he intends to sign the bill. If he does, the proposal will be submitted to the U.S. Department of Transportation, which will then present its findings to Congress. “If he signs it, then we’ll be fighting it in Washington,” Roberts vowed.