A big change is coming to local television's noon news lineup.

WSLS (Channel 10) announced this week that the station will replace its news program at noon with a half-hour show focusing on entertainment and lifestyle topics such as travel, dining, gardening, fashion and interior design.

"Our Blue Ridge" debuts March 1. The co-hosts include a familiar face and a familiar voice. Natalie Faunce, once the anchor of the Fox 21/27 10 p.m. news show, has joined WSLS full-time. Her co-host will be Jay Prater, formerly a radio DJ with WROV.

Faunce described the show as akin to "a local 'Regis and Kelly.' " She said she's looking forward to the new show, which will be quite different from her stint with Fox. "It's not news. It's all entertainment."

WSLS Vice President Warren Fiihr said the change is permanent. The change frees reporters up to pursue stories through the day for the afternoon and evening broadcasts, he said.

"The noon news is a product that's really born more out of the early days of TV," he said. During the day, most people are getting news instantly from other sources, such as the Internet.

The new show is intended to better serve a daytime television audience, Fiihr said. "TV is changing really quickly and we're changing with it." The half-hour show's format will allow for a lot of flexibility in its content, he said.

"Our main demographic is going to be women," Faunce added.

Nielsen ratings from November 2009 show the WSLS noon news program trailing those produced by WSET (Channel 13) and WDBJ (Channel 7), which has long been the ratings leader in the region.

Fiihr said ratings weren't behind the decision to change programming. All noon news shows have relatively small audiences, he said.

Amy Morris, WDBJ news director, said her station has no interest in pursuing a similar change. "I do think people still want news on television.