ABC30 has announced plans to expand its half-hour midday newscast to one hour.
Beginning Sept. 12, ABC30 Action News Midday will run from 11 a.m. to noon and be anchored by Jason Oliveira and Margot Kim, with StormWarn30 weather forecasts by meteorologist Rob Bradley.
The expanded midday newscast will kick off a new daytime schedule. Following ABC30 Action News Midday at 11 a.m. will be The Chew at noon, General Hospital at 1 p.m., Who Wants to be a Millionaire at 2 p.m., a new syndicated show Right This Minute at 2:30 p.m. and Dr. Oz at his new time at 3 p.m.

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“We’re very excited to expand to an hour-long newscast at 11 a.m.,” ABC30 President and General Manager Dan Adams said. “The expansion of ABC30 Action News Midday reinforces our commitment to providing the best local news to our viewers in the Central Valley, whenever and wherever they are.”
Once the change is made, ABC30 will be producing nearly 40 hours of local news every week.
— George Lurie

Small handful’ of NBC employees opt out of Olympics
(AP) — Savannah Guthrie of the “Today” show put a public face Tuesday on what NBC says is a “small handful” of employees who will not travel to Rio de Janeiro this summer for Olympics coverage because of concern over the Zika virus.
The co-host of the morning news show, who is 44, announced she was pregnant with her second child. Brazil is the country hardest-hit by the mosquito-borne virus, which can cause severe birth defects, including babies born with abnormally small heads.
NBC is sending more than 2,000 employees to Brazil to cover the Olympics, which take place Aug. 5-21. The company advises anyone concerned about the virus to check with their own doctors, and said no one will be required to travel if they believe their health would be at risk.
The network would not specify what it meant by a “small handful” of employees, NBC Sports spokesman Chris McCloskey said. Guthrie is the first employee to drop out of the trip to identify herself publicly.
It’s an important trip for the “Today” show, which is a close second to ABC’s “Good Morning America” in the ratings. NBC plays up the Olympic connection for its morning news program, in the hopes of drawing new viewers who will stick with the program after the games are over.
“You’ll have to go to female beach volleyball without me, Matt,” Guthrie said to co-host Matt Lauer on Tuesday.
Many of the employees who won’t make the trip to Rio are assigned instead to NBC Sports’ facility in Stamford, Connecticut, just outside New York. The network runs its digital operation from there, and even has broadcast teams that work on some of the lesser-watched sports from the Stamford offices. All of the Olympic competition is streamed online.
The World Health Organization said in Geneva on Tuesday that it will convene a special Zika emergency committee to examine the present stage of the virus. There have been outbreaks of the virus throughout Latin America. The WHO and Centers for Disease Control recommend that pregnant women shouldn’t travel to any country where Zika is spreading, including Brazil.
The WHO’s director-general asked the emergency committee to examine the risks of holding the Olympics in Brazil.
— David Bauder, AP Television Writer

Law enforcement looking into hacked Goodell tweet
 (AP) — The NFL has “engaged law enforcement” to look into how its Twitter account was hacked with a post purporting that Commissioner Roger Goodell had died.
“We have engaged law enforcement to look into the matter,” NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said Tuesday. “We are reviewing and strengthening our cyber-security measures.”
Around midday Tuesday, a post went up on the league’s official account that read: “We regret to inform our fans that our commissioner, Roger Goodell, has passed away. He was 57,” followed by a hashtag and “RIP.”
That tweet was soon deleted, as were follow-up tweets that said: “Oi, I said Roger Goodell has died. Don’t delete that tweet,” and, as other Twitter users surmised it was a hack: “OK, OK, you amateur detectives win. Good job.”
Goodell later jokingly tweeted, “Man, you leave the office for 1 day of golf” with former Bills quarterback Jim Kelly and “your own network kills you off,” followed by a hashtag and “harsh.”
— The Associated Press

Mogul mocks millennial customers
(AP) — Casino magnate Steve Wynn mocked his millennial customers as he emphasized nightclubs and other non-casino parts of his business as the driving force for revenue at his resorts.
The outspoken developer made the comments Tuesday at the International Conference on Gambling and Risk Taking at The Mirage hotel-casino on the Las Vegas Strip.
Wynn said that his nightclubs, including the popular XS at the Encore, made $40 million a year, but that he distances himself from the lucrative offering within his business.
Calling himself “one of those old white guys,” he also mocked his millennial customers.
He said they spend too much “dim-witted” time on social media and suggested that the nightclubs either allowed people to “check their human sensibilities at the door” or “attracted every moron in the world.”
— The Associated Press

‘Ali’ to return to theaters to celebrate legend
(AP) — The 2001 Muhammad Ali biopic “Ali” will return to theaters this weekend to celebrate the late boxing legend.
Sony Pictures said Wednesday that Michael Mann’s film, starring Will Smith, will play in a few hundred theaters nationwide. “Ali” earned Oscar nominations for Smith and supporting actor Jon Voight as Howard Cosell.
Following Ali’s death Friday at 74, numerous theaters have also scheduled screenings of “When We Were Kings.” The 2006 Oscar-nominated documentary chronicles the 1974 “Rumble in the Jungle” between Ali and George Foreman.
— The Associated Press