My 2 cents. Whether I'm right or wrong....
Who has to "wait" for the news. In 2018, in Houghton-Hancock Michigan, there was "the Father's Day flood."
https://www.weather.gov/mqt/fathersday2018weekendflooding
Drove to the area, and talked to people: asked where they got their news. "Facebook" was the only thing I'd heard. One cluster had some reporting, while another ran the usual satellite stuff.
House, roads, bridges washed out. I could not believe my eyes.
Too, "weather"...why must you wait until the local
newscast when you can look on your phone, NOW? (On music stations, haven't heard weather in decades, much less a current temperature.)
Weigel doesn't have the cash that WGN has. Possibly runs on the cheap as they have to.
In my own case, haven't watched news in years. The cackling, inside jokes, guffawing got to be too much, separated by 4-5 minutes of ads over & over & over & over....

My take. Know I'm an outsider, but there were start ups in Milwaukee years ago: Channels 18, 55.
All are gone, while 18 runs a national feed nights, mornings.

In Marquette, "Local 3" began Saturday & Sunday newscasts with hype, only to have them fold within six months.

My guess is if there is a new start up, station A B C or D will do whatever for market share.