2 Austin TV stations now starting morning news at 4:30 a.m.

At a time when most Central Texans still are sound asleep, the KVUE newsroom is buzzing with activity.

Printers hum. Scanners blare police and fire calls. And a dozen-plus anchors, producers, video editors and members of the studio crew scurry to prepare for the station's 4:30 a.m. newscast.

Yes, 4:30 a.m.

Late last year, KVUE and KTBC bumped up the start time for their early news by 30 minutes, joining a growing list of stations across the nation.

"We believed there was an opportunity there," KVUE news director Frank Volpicella explained, "and it also acts as a platform for the rest of our newscasts during the day."

Shocking as it seems, there are indeed people up and functional at that hour. A lot of them. The latest numbers from the Nielsen Co. show an estimated 20,000 Central Texans are watching Austin's two local 4:30 a.m. newscasts, with most tuned to "KVUE News Daybreak." The audience has nearly doubled since the shows debuted in fall.

"Our lives are starting earlier and earlier," said Olga Campos, one of "Daybreak's" anchors. "For a lot of people, we're their alarm clock. We're part of their morning routines."

New face to start day

"A different feel, a different look, a different personality."

Those were Volpicella's goals when putting together plans for the 4:30 a.m. edition of "Daybreak." It's why he selected morning reporter Jessica Vess to anchor that first half-hour before turning things over to Campos and Melissa Gale at 5 a.m.

"They've given me the best of both worlds," said Vess, who races out the door to file live reports from 5:30 to 7 a.m. as soon as she wraps up her 30-minute stint at the anchor desk each morning. "This just feels right with my personality, and it's been a lot of fun."

She's joined by meteorologist Albert Ramon, who hangs around for "Daybreak's" entire 2 1/2-hour run.

"You're stuck with the same people for hours at a time, so there's a very special bond," he said. "Everyone knows each other so well."

Presiding over it all is executive producer Jenelle Shriner, who arrived last year from a station in Fort Myers, Fla.

"KVUE's unlike any other place I've worked before," she said. "We're very proud to be No. 1, but we don't take it for granted.

"They'll have to kick me out."

Early-morning set

Gym rats. Shift workers. Parents prepping kids for school. They're all up before the sun rises, and many are looking to Austin broadcasters to help get them out the door.

"I like the weather and the traffic," said Diana Alexander, a Round Rock resident who watches KVUE as she preps for early morning dialysis trips.

"I'm wanting to know, 'Is it raining? Is there traffic?'

"It starts my day off, and I know what's happening before I go out and about."

Swim practice is what gets Brian Vance, an Austin financial consultant, out of bed at 4:15 a.m. a couple times a week.

"I've been swimming since I was 12," he said. "I've always been a morning person."

But that's not the case for everyone in his house.

"Most of the time, even the dogs won't get up with me."

An inexpensive start

Sure, stations are eager to serve early risers like Alexander and Vance, but there's another motivator to get things started earlier: money.

In Austin, a 30-second commercial costs, on average, $25 at 4 a.m., according to local ad agencies. That price rises as more viewers roll out of bed. It's up to $120 by 4:30 a.m., and at 6 a.m., advertisers are spending around $440 per spot. Broadcasters keep all that cash, with the most-watched stations — KVUE and KXAN in most cases — commanding the highest prices.

Syndicated programs such as "Oprah" and network shows like ABC's "Dancing With the Stars" draw plenty of viewers, too, but they typically claim a chunk of the ad revenue and, in some cases, cash up front as well.

With a morning news team already in place, the cost to add an extra half-hour of news is minimal. KVUE's Volpicella says he only needed to hire two additional staffers — a producer and a video editor — to get the 4:30 a.m. show on the air.