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News Openings.. Sure do miss em

A

azenergyfan

Guest
I have noticed as of late (not sure why just as of late) that many newscasts don't have an opening any more. They simply go right into the news. I am 36 and don't think I am from the OLD generation but I can remember the cool openings as I was growing up as a kid in buffalo,ny. I mis the openings. I know they are trying to cram in as much as they can in the newscasts but sure wouldn't mind a 15-20 second opening with some cool graphics, images of phoenix etc. Call me old school but I like that.
 
If they have any opening at all it is usually just to tout their "news in HD" (as if that adds anything to the content) or image ("telling it like it is").

Not much imagination out of the media folks.
 
As late as 1994, Channel 10 had a decent opening (so good that I do not hesitate to label it the best of all time). 15's always been kinda sucky with its opens (doesn't help that their philosophy WAS We Won't Waste Your Time). 5 had good opens in the late 1990s. Haven't seen enough of 12 from the switch era to say anything. Right up until the switch 3 was using the same open format it had in 1988, with some nice shots of Phoenix.

This is why I want into TV news: to FIX it.
 
I, too, grew up on long news openings -- loved hearing longer versions of the news themes.

However, there is also a downside to longer openings. It gives the viewer a chance to change the channel. For example, I spent my college years in Providence, RI back in the long news open days. Literally, people would change the channel as soon as they heard the theme music of the third-rated station. OTOH, if the station launches right into the news, the first story might "hook" the viewer into watching the newscast (even on the bottom-rated station).
 
Yes, we sometimes get hooked into the news stories - The long opening does give us a chance to wake up and switch away from Lin Sue...
She is so annoying. :'(
 
formeraa said:
I, too, grew up on long news openings -- loved hearing longer versions of the news themes.

However, there is also a downside to longer openings. It gives the viewer a chance to change the channel. For example, I spent my college years in Providence, RI back in the long news open days. Literally, people would change the channel as soon as they heard the theme music of the third-rated station. OTOH, if the station launches right into the news, the first story might "hook" the viewer into watching the newscast (even on the bottom-rated station).
Click to expand...

And in this era of LPM measurement, it is as critical as ever to minimize viewers' opportunities to change the channel.
 
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