Global Television will on Monday launch an hour-long late-night news program in Toronto boosted by a multimedia platform — including news tweets from veteran anchor Leslie Roberts.

News Hour Final, focused on Toronto-area news, will also include live blogging and live reports and will invite users to participate online at globaltvontario.com.

Global currently runs a half-hour News Final at 11 p.m. The extension and multimedia revamp will allow it to run more news gathered throughout the day, along with longer weather forecasts and more consumer and special reports.

‘What we really want to establish is an open dialogue with our viewer,’ says Ward Smith, news director, Global News Ontario.

It’s an effort to ‘stray away from the boxcar news approach,’ he says. ‘We know that a lot of people are on their computers when they’re watching TV. Our goal really is to reflect what’s out there, already happening.’

Parent company Canwest last month said it would eliminate Global’s noon-hour newscast, to cut costs. The late-night extension taps into what Global sees as a stronger audience base among nocturnal viewers who watch more TV when they come home from work.

‘I think [it] is a better use of our resources,’ says Smith.

From Media in Canada