ABC's World News Tonight accused of "playing dirty" by airing twice each day in LA

https://pagesix.com/2018/09/25/abc-accused-of-playing-dirty-in-bid-to-win-network-news-war/

David Muir's nightly newscast airs live in L.A. at 3:30 P.T., when its broadcast to much of the nation. World News Tonight is then re-aired in L.A. at the normal timeslot of 6:30 p.m. PT. "Since it started the early broadcasts in July, ABC has netted an average of about 125,000 extra viewers a night," according to Page Six. World News Tonight just finished the full season as the No. 1 nightly newscast in total viewers, but ABC News says the extra L.A. viewership doesn't make a difference. “We are thrilled LA asked to air our newscast live at 3:30 in the afternoon," says an ABC spokesperson. " This is not about ratings, we would win handily without it. This is about the hunger for news in this moment and the strength of our newscast.”