DAYTON — WDTN-TV, the NBC affiliate owned by Nexstar Media Group Inc., Channel 2 in Dayton, has announced the expansion of its weekday local programming with the launch of “2 NEWS First at 4,” the Miami Valley’s first and only 4 p.m., local newscast, beginning Sept. 11.

The hour-long program will kick-off the station’s evening news block, airing Monday through Friday live from WDTN-TV’s studios at 4 p.m. before “FIVE on 2” (5 p.m.) and “2 NEWS” (6 p.m.), followed by “NBC Nightly News With Lester Holt” (6:30 p.m.).

With the addition of “2 NEWS First at 4,” WDTN-TV will now provide more hours of local news and weather coverage than any other television station in the market. Award-winning reporter and “2 NEWS” anchor Mark Allan and co-anchor Brooke Moore will bring their fresh, innovative approach to local reporting as the hosts of “2 NEWS First at 4” with weather coverage from Chief Meteorologist Brian Davis.

“Dayton’s heritage of entrepreneurship and innovation is rooted in the exceptional people and local communities of this great city. That legacy inspired WDTN-TV to expand our local news leadership by bringing our viewers the most comprehensive local coverage available in the market, including the first and only 4 p.m. newscast with the upcoming launch of ‘2 NEWS First at 4,’” said Joe Abouzeid, WDTN-TV vice-president and general manager. “At Nexstar and our Dayton operations, the local communities we serve remain at the center of every decision we make. Our local news programming is an important public service and 2 NEWS is committed to serving the needs of our viewers across the Miami Valley by delivering more hours of local news, sports and weather coverage in underserved dayparts when other stations are airing network content.”

“WDTN-TV has a strong history of responding to the needs of our viewers and the launch of ‘2 NEWS First at 4’ is the latest example of how we are living up to our promise of bringing local communities across the Miami Valley more local news stories than any other station in the region,” added Loni Blandford, WDTN-TV news director. “For Nexstar and WDTN-TV, it’s all about localism. Our viewers have requested more local news content from the 2 NEWS team and expansion of our early evening local news programming, combined with the 24/7 support of our digital content delivery through WDTN.com and our mobile apps, gives our audiences more opportunities to access the local content they want and the information they need at a time that is convenient for their busy schedules.”

WDTN-TV will now broadcast five and a half hours of live local programming every weekday, with four and a half hours of nonstop local news in the morning (4:30 to 7 a.m. on WDTN-TV and 7 to 9 a.m. on Dayton’s CW), an hour mid-day lifestyle show, “Living Dayton” (noon to 1 p.m.), two and a half hours of early evening news (4 to 6:30 p.m.) and an hour and a half of late evening news (10 to 11 p.m. on Dayton’s CW and 11 to 11:30 p.m. on WDTN-TV).