When the station's news department began in March 1996, WDJT carried newscasts at 5p.m. Monday through Saturdays, 5:30 p.m. on Sundays, 6p.m. weeknights and at 10p.m. seven nights a week. Unlike most CBS affiliates, WDJT does not have a weeknight 6p.m. newscast; the station carried a newscast in that timeslot from the news department's launch until it aired "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" in the slot from its September 2003 launch, and continued to do so when "Wheel of Fortune" and "Jeopardy!" moved to WDJT in September 2005, when the station chose to air both shows during that hour. Although this is unusual scheduling in the Central Time Zone due to the reduction of one hour from early primetime, it is the common default scheduling for stations in the Eastern and Pacific time zones (Green Bay Fox affiliate WLUK-TV also carries both shows in the 6p.m. hour). WDJT is also currently the market's only Big Four affiliate without a newscast on weekend mornings, since WITI reinstated the weekend edition of its "WakeUp News" broadcast in April 2011 after a two-year suspension (local weather inserts are taped after the Friday and Saturday 10p.m. news for broadcast during the Saturday edition of "CBS This Morning" and "CBS News Sunday Morning", except during ongoing severe weather events). The station opted to fill the noon half-hour with a lower-profile syndicated show from the debut of its news operation until it launched a noon newscast on September 12, 2011.