How many stations still call their late editions "updates"?

[bmasters1981]

WFAA in Dallas still does that to this day, and WXYZ did back in 1987 (as did WFTV in 1983). Outside of those, do you know of any others?

 

[azumanga]

Living in Tampa Bay with relatives in Michigan, I always found it weird that WXYZ called their 11PM news "Action News Update", as the word "update" was more synonymous with short-form news briefs and promos for the 11PM news.

 

[bmasters1981]

Living in Tampa Bay with relatives in Michigan, I always found it weird that WXYZ called their 11PM news "Action News Update", as the word "update" was more synonymous with short-form news briefs and promos for the 11PM news.

That's a good point! I kind of found that weird myself. Maybe their use of "update" in the title (as w/WFAA and WFTV) was as sort of a corollary to the 6:00 report, a recap if you will.

 

[quadraphonic]

Yeah it's "update" in the sense that they are giving you a fresher, hotter, more steaming version of the news that they gave you at 6.
That sounds more "professional" than 6:00News Rewind at 11:00 or 6:00Rehash.

 

[DToTheJ]

An 11 PM "update" would truly be a five-minute newscast from a network affiliate that doesn't have the wherewithal to afford a fully-staffed newscast (followed by a syndicated program at 11:05 PM, then Letterman, Leno or whatever at 11:35 PM).

 

[LKellerIII]

This was big in the 80s in the Bay Area...I recall "NewsCenter 4 Update" and "Eyewitness News Nightcast" but that ended years ago. Other than "Eyewitness" on KPIX, nobody names their newscasts anymore, either.

 

[quadraphonic]

An 11 PM "update" would truly be a five-minute newscast from a network affiliate that doesn't have the wherewithal to afford a fully-staffed newscast (followed by a syndicated program at 11:05 PM, then Letterman, Leno or whatever at 11:35 PM).

Why does "update" have to mean "truncated?"

 

[bmasters1981]

An 11 PM "update" would truly be a five-minute newscast from a network affiliate that doesn't have the wherewithal to afford a fully-staffed newscast (followed by a syndicated program at 11:05 PM, then Letterman, Leno or whatever at 11:35 PM).

Why does "update" have to mean "truncated?"

That's exactly what I'd like to know! Using it in that sense would more than likely leave little to no time for sports or weather.

 

[searadiofreak]

I think the idea was that the late news would have "updated" stories from 5 or 6:00. (not just repeating the same story).

The trend was big in the late 80's and early 90's, but I don't see too many doing it today. "Nightcast", "Nightside", "Night edition", or other names using the word "update" probably still exist, but the trend today is to brand your news under one main, strong umbrella name. "News7", "Channel2News", "Newschannel8", or putting your channel after the network affiliation, "NBC5", "CBS2", etc. Some are even dropping the channel number completely, though I question that.

 

[mightynine]

WWL-TV in New Orleans ("Eyewitness News") still calls their 10pm newscast "Nightwatch" but in recent years, any promotion of stories on that cast usually says "Tonight at 10".

 

[bpatrick]

I can't even imagine WFAA without the "News 8 Update" at 10;
they've been using it since the '70s and I'm sure it's ingrained
among Metroplex viewers.

One I do see occasionally is "Tonight"; WFMY has "News 2 Tonight,"
and I think sister station WXIA has "11 Alive News Tonight" (although
I may be wrong on that one; they at least did at one time).

Some others I've heard of: "Nightbeat," "Nightcast," "Late Edition."