And considering 4am newscasts now seem to pretty much be the norm for many US affiliates how well exactly do they rate? I'd have thought anyone having to get up that early isn't likely to want to get up that bit earlier to squeeze in a bit of news before they leave for work.
In pre-pandemic times, the ratings for 4am news were somewhat soft, but people were definitely watching, especially in areas where some people might be commuting longer distances. What is probably more important, though is that early newscasts generally improve the ratings of later hours. If you can grab the early audience, they’ll stick around, and you will also get the usual audience that tunes in around 6:30-7:30.
In pandemic times, the ratings for early morning news have definitely gone down, but late morning and midday (8/9am and noon) have gone way up. With people working from home, they’re waking up later, but they seem to be more willing to keep the TV on all day. With that said, more people seem to be waking up early and commuting again more recently, so I’ve noticed that the early morning ratings are starting to tick back up again.