Eric Spillman writes for KTLA:
When I first started at KTLA, our first broadcast began at 7 AM. Now look at us! We’re on the air with news at 5 in the morning. So are six other L.A. broadcast TV stations.
In some cities, the news starts at 4:30 AM.
We’re catering to an audience that is waking up earlier and earlier.
U.S. Census data confirms more of us are waking up before dawn to get to work.
In L.A. County, one out of 7 of us hits the road before 6 AM. A few years ago, that wasn’t the case. In 2000, one out of 10 commuters in L.A. were on the dawn patrol.
…This morning in Encino, we ran into a guy named Robert Bell. He wakes up at 4AM every day to get to his job as an equipment operator for the city of L.A. He doesn’t really start work until 6, but he likes to get in super-early to beat the congestion and "ease into the work day."
As for myself, I commute much earlier than Bell. My morning begins with the alarm clock ringing at 2 AM. I hit the road by 2:30, so that I can get to the station in Hollywood by 3.
