Well, at least only for the 5pm half hour. Once NBC Nightly News came on, KPNX was #1 until 6:30pm.Good Evening Arizona frequently outrated KPNX in this period--an unusual achievement for an independent station. The other stations were far behind.
Well, at least only for the 5pm half hour. Once NBC Nightly News came on, KPNX was #1 until 6:30pm.Good Evening Arizona frequently outrated KPNX in this period--an unusual achievement for an independent station. The other stations were far behind.
It took years for KPHO to grow into an appropriate major market CBS affiliate. Hard to believe they kept the mini 10pm newscast followed by reruns leading into Letterman for as long as they did. As I've said in another post, the big '94/'95 affiliate shake up aftermath was a very interesting time in Phoenix.
Very interesting! By 2004, when I moved here, ABC 15 was advertising "LESS chit chat, More News..." for the morning newscast.Some promos for KNXV from the station's first year with a news presence, right after it switched from Fox to ABC:
A Phoenix New Times article from 1997 about how that quirky era at KNXV ended:
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Chit Happens
The parking lot at KNXV-TV Channel 15 contains a vestige of the station's earlier, quirkier incarnation. The rusting "Al's World" convertible, which once carried reporter Al Feinberg around the state for a series of offbeat stories, now rests under a tarp. One tire is flat. Like many trademark...www.phoenixnewtimes.com
Watching those ads back-to-back gave me a headache! I didn't recognize anyone. Was that Royal Norman? The voice over Guy sounds like the person who does 12 News.Some promos for KNXV from the station's first year with a news presence, right after it switched from Fox to ABC:
A Phoenix New Times article from 1997 about how that quirky era at KNXV ended:
![]()
Chit Happens
The parking lot at KNXV-TV Channel 15 contains a vestige of the station's earlier, quirkier incarnation. The rusting "Al's World" convertible, which once carried reporter Al Feinberg around the state for a series of offbeat stories, now rests under a tarp. One tire is flat. Like many trademark...www.phoenixnewtimes.com
At this time, Channel 15 had taken over most of the ABC network news programs, although they were still officially a Fox affiliate. Channel 3 still aired most ABC prime time programming, including sports, until the following January when 15 took over as the ABC affiliate fulltime (they lost Fox to Channel 10 about a month earlier, and were a semi-independent at the end of 1994).Watching those ads back-to-back gave me a headache! I didn't recognize anyone. Was that Royal Norman? The voice over Guy sounds like the person who does 12 News.
Yes, Charlie Van Dyke was the VO guy at KNXV for their first two years with ABC. He was rendezvousing as the Arizona Republic's radio columnist at the same time.Watching those ads back-to-back gave me a headache! I didn't recognize anyone. Was that Royal Norman? The voice over Guy sounds like the person who does 12 News.
He was VO at KPNX before and after his brief stint at KNXV.The guy who did the voiceover was indeed Charlie Van Dyke, who later moved to Channel 12.
I'm old enough to remember him as a DJ at WLS Chicago circa 1970.He was VO at KPNX before and after his brief stint at KNXV.
He was VO at KPNX before and after his brief stint at KNXV.
The meteorologist was Ed Phillips.Watching those ads back-to-back gave me a headache! I didn't recognize anyone. Was that Royal Norman? The voice over Guy sounds like the person who does 12 News.
Watching those ads back-to-back gave me a headache!
Back when I was a young ASU Cronkite School student, Mary Cox, the first news director at KNXV, came to visit my news reporting class. This was early 1994 months before the debut of their newscast. She very openly shared what was planned. It was to be a boutique 9pm newscast with an "MTV style" look and feel for their young skewing Fox audience, unlike anything the traditional network affiliates (3/10/12 at the time) were doing. They were using WSVN in Miami as a model - the attitude, shaky camera work, flashy graphics. I clearly remember she said they might not even have a meteorologist and were considering just putting up a graphic for the weather forecast. They really wanted to do something groundbreaking for Phoenix.It's very apparent that KNXV's first look-and-feel was developed for a young-skewing Fox affiliate--and then the affiliation switch happened.
I clearly remember she said they might not even have a meteorologist and were considering just putting up a graphic for the weather forecast.
