CBS Atlanta Expands Local News Line-Up

CBS Atlanta is launching a new hourlong weekday newscast at 5 p.m. starting Monday in response to viewer demand for more early evening news.

Anchored by Sharon Lawson, alongside meteorologist Dagmar Midcap and traffic reporter Orelon Sidney, the 5 p.m. broadcast will feature daily headlines paired with lighter, lifestyle-oriented stories. The new show will lead directly into the station’s existing flagship 6 p.m. newscast.

CBS Atlanta President and General Manager Tom Canedo noted that the 5 p.m. hour was a natural place to grow the station's programming. “The 6 p.m. had such a great response, and what the data was showing us is that the viewers wanted more early evening news prior to CBS Evening News (at 6:30 p.m.),” Canedo said.

The new broadcast is the latest step in CBS Atlanta’s ongoing expansion since launching its newsroom from the ground up last August. The network took over national programming on the formerly independent WUPA-TV last year after Atlanta News First (formerly CBS46) ended its CBS affiliation to become an independent station.

To build its local news operation, CBS Atlanta has hired approximately 70 people across its editorial, production, and digital teams. The station also implemented a virtual and augmented reality studio—the first of its kind in the Atlanta market—and previously expanded its programming in February with the debut of a 6 a.m. weekday morning newscast.