Insight Does Local News,Starting With the Weather

Insight Communications has
become a local programmer, launching
“cn2” local news and information channels
across five markets in Kentucky and
Indiana — starting with 24-hour local
weather coverage.

After several weeks in “soft launch” mode,
cn2 is on channel 2 in Insight’s Louisville,
Lexington, Bowling Green, Northern Kentucky
and Evansville, Ind., markets, CEO
Michael Willner told the world in a blog post
(Michaelsinsight.com) last Thursday.

Initially, cn2 is an all-weather channel
with “up-to-the-minute, in-depth coverage
of the most reliable local forecasts,”
Willner said. Local updates come every 10
minutes.

Channel 2 is a familiar place for Lexington
customers to find the weather: Insight
moved The Weather Channel from there
to channel 17 (where the local-origination
channel was) ahead of the launch.

The format will expand this fall, with new
programming focused on local news, the
2010 elections and sports. To that end, Insight
hired former Lexington Herald-Leader reporter
Ryan Alessi to head up political coverage on
cn2 and to write for its politics blog, http://politics.mycn2.com/.

Willner described cn2 as “one of most
significant investments we’ve ever made in
serving our customers.” He recalled growing
up in Miami and riding his bike down to the
local NBC station, where he was allowed to
help out in the studio while they produced
and aired an after-school children’s show
and the local news. “Since then, I’ve always
paid close attention
to what’s going on in
the television world
— especially when it
comes to news.”

Check out Insight’s
new weather-themed
TV spots promoting
the new channel on
Willner’s blog.