CBS News taps Atlanta affiliate to handle ‘CBS Weekend News’ April 18 and 19

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WGCL, the Meredith owned CBS affiliate in Atlanta, will handle production of “CBS Weekend News” April 18 and 19, 2020.

CBS News‘ New York City Broadcast Center, which normally handles production of the broadcast, is mostly closed due to a small coronavirus cluster that popped up in March.

Since then, the broadcast has originated from various CBS stations around the country, including CBS owned stations in Denver, Dallas and Los Angeles (Dallas had two turns).

For April 11 and 12, KHOU in Houston handled the broadcast — making it the first non-CBS owned station to help out.

WGCL will be the second non owned station to step in.

The station’s main anchor team will split anchoring duties, with Rick Folbaum appearing Saturday, April 18 and Shon Gables on Sunday, April 19.

Prior to this weekend the coronavirus era editions of “CBS Weekend News” have been anchored by the same person both Saturday and Sunday.

“CBS Weekend News” is the weekend version of “CBS Evening News,” which is normally anchored by Norah O’Donnell from the network’s Washington, D.C. studio.

The current iteration of “Weekend News” debuted in 2016 but is often shortened or pre-empted due to sports or other special programming. With most major sports shut down, however, the broadcast has been back on the schedule regularly.

That studio, which is in the network’s D.C. bureau, has remained opened and even was used to produce an edition of the displaced “CBS This Morning.”

In March 2020, CBS’s New York City owned station, WCBS, which normally broadcasts from the NYC facility used by “This Morning” and other CBS productions, had its local newscasts handle by the L.A.-owned station KCBS.

Meanwhile, CBS News has moved almost all broadcasts out of the building out of an “abundance of caution.”

“CBS This Morning” moved out of the facility in March in favor of the Ed Sullivan Theater, which is normally home to “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.”

“Late” was on hiatus at the time but has since returned with episodes produced from Colbert’s home.

“This Morning” normally originates from Studio 57 in New York from a loft like set that was built for it in 2012.

During the 2016 election cycle, “CBS Evening News” moved from the newsroom set in nearby Studio 47 to Studio 57, a change that eventually became permanent.

Studio 47, meanwhile, was eventually renovated to become the network’s “news hub.”