Silliest TV Station Slogan

[only1moore]

A little bit in the same vein of "Where 7 Stands for News..." About a year or two after NewsCorp bought WITI-TV6 in Milwaukee and flipped it from CBS to FOX, TV6 dropped its long-time "Dot-6" logo for a big jarring block of... <b>"FOX is SIX."</b> They also had an accompanying moniker, <b>"SIX is NEWS."</b> Mercifully, WITI dropped all that sometime afterward for the standard FOX/CHANNEL# logo, and although it wasn't "Dot-6," the "6" used in the original "FOX6" was patterned after the old golden "6" insignia from the 1960s that still adorns their transmitter.

Funny you should mention Milwaukee: WVTV-18's slogan during the 70s was "Good Lookin' 18," while WCGV-24's early 1980s slogan was "Milwaukee's Daytime TV station" (Thats because the evenings were reserved for SelecTv, the ill-fated pay-TV service).

 

[Ultimajock]

...not in itself silly, but made so by subsequent events, was the slogan of KFIZ-TV/34 in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, circa 1971-72: "People are Watching." KFIZ-TV went dark in November 1972 because its owner was getting out of Fond du Lac media and couldn't find a buyer, so obviously not enough people were watching...

 

[Apollo7979]

To this day, Clear Channel's WKRC-TV in Cincinnati uses the silly moniker "Local 12."

Also, up until a couple weeks ago before the flip to the CW, WTTV 4/WTTK 29 in Indianapolis used to use the slogan..."Indiana's WB4...Women Get It." I suppose they were trying to make WB4 a station geared specifically toward women...well, minus the Pacers and Big Ten games they also carried.

 

[LKellerIII]

In the Bay Area, I remember "There's only one...two" (KTVU, Channel 2) - which I always thought was clever. KICU TV 36 used "the Perfect 36" for a number of years - their on-camera spokesperson was Carol Doda, a local stripper.

The silliest I ever heard was in a city I was visiting (can't remember which city) - "Eleven Alive." As a station slogan, it was no worse than silly, but it was also the name of the local news. Hearing the field reporters saying "Joe Schmo, Eleven Alive" was lame.

 

[Tim from Springfield IL]

The Moline/Quad Cities ABC affiliate, WQAD's, use of Active 8 as their nickname (starting as early as 1978) lasted well into the '90s (according to the station history section of WQAD's website, it was 1995 when Active 8 changed to "NewsChannel 8"). But I had thought that name was discontinued a few years before then.

Actually, come to think of it I am pretty sure WQAD may have actually dropped their "Active 8" slogan in favor of "NewsChannel 8" by 1993 (the year of the station's 30th anniversary). I remember seeing commercials for the station that fall (replete with brief clips of various classic ABC shows), with a background song which began "From '63 to '93, you've become a part of us..." with the song ending with "News Channel 8--The Best is Yet to Come!"

 

[donnyg]

The silliest I ever heard was in a city I was visiting (can't remember which city) - "Eleven Alive." As a station slogan, it was no worse than silly, but it was also the name of the local news. Hearing the field reporters saying "Joe Schmo, Eleven Alive" was lame.

My guess would be that you were in Atlanta, GA Because their NBC affiliate WXIA has been using the "11 Alive" moniker for decades

 

[bpatrick]

During the Bicentennial, WTVT Tampa/St. Petersburg
called itself "The Original 13," complete with a logo
consisting of the number 13 surrounded by thirteen
stars, a la the Betsy Ross flag. Now this may have
been meant to pay homage to the original thirteen
colonies/states (of which Florida was not one), but
WTVT is not the original (channel) 13.

At any rate, after the Bicentennial they went back
to their more familiar "Big 13" moniker.

Another Florida station, WESH/2 Daytona Beach/
Orlando, used to proclaim that "Florida's Watching 2."
You might get an argument on that from somebody
400 miles away in Pensacola.

And one more: WAGA Atlanta, trying to copy "11
Alive," used "5 Belongs" in the early '80s. Belongs
to what? WAGA is a heritage station and has always
held its own with market leader WSB. It did prove
to be the basis for a decent ad campaign during the
WSB/WXIA switch of 1980: Channel 5 had newspaper
ads showing stars of CBS shows saying, "We're right
where we belong." (I've heard they came close to
using WCCO's "You know where to find US" when
KSTP went to ABC, KMSP went independent, and
WTCN/KARE got NBC.)

 

[bhayes1016]

To this day, Clear Channel's WKRC-TV in Cincinnati uses the silly moniker "Local 12."

Most of the Post-Newsweek stations use the "Local" branding also.

 

[ten_four]

One of the silliest slogans I can remember happened in Indianapolis in 1971 when Time-Life sold WFBM-TV to McGraw-Hill Broadcasting. The WFBM calls remained with the AM/FM radio stations that had to be sold separately because of then recent FCC rulings. WFBM was also called WooFBoomM in their own marketing. Channel 6 became known as WRTV.

The television slogan became: We R TV in central Indiana.

 

[TexasTom]

Funny you should mention Milwaukee: WVTV-18's slogan during the 70s was "Good Lookin' 18,"

This must have been a Gaylord thing (they owned WVTV in the seventies and eighties), because similar slogans were used on Gaylord-owned KTVT-11 Fort Worth/Dallas and KSTW-11 Tacoma/Seattle. Both were identified as "Good Lookin' 11".

 

[bpatrick]

Possibly "good lookin'" was a Gaylord thing, although
I don't remember it on KTVT in the late '70s. I do
remember that in the early '70s WBRC/6 Birmingham, AL,
then owned by Taft, identified itself as "Birmingham's
Good Looking Station."

 

[BRNout]

This was mentioned briefly above, but Salt Lake's KUTV-2 (owned by CBS) brands itself as "Fresh Air". Huh? What's it supposed to mean? Is the air still fresh when they cover the Days of '47 Rodeo?

Not to be outdone, my alma mater - Clear Channel's KTVX is "ABC 4 - Close to Home". Really? Odd statement for a station with a coverage area of several hundred miles and studios located in an industrial area that is miles from the nearest house.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

On a different note, this time about the "Land of the 3" thing, wasn't WFSB in Hartford another station which used that slogan at one time? I seem to recall that there was a jingle that went along with it.

 

[mjlarochelle]

Possibly "good lookin'" was a Gaylord thing, although
I don't remember it on KTVT in the late '70s. I do
remember that in the early '70s WBRC/6 Birmingham, AL,
then owned by Taft, identified itself as "Birmingham's
Good Looking Station."

CKND in Manitoba used a slogan like that around 1989:

"It's all here, turn to us, turn to us-good looking, CKND!"

 

[RALfan]

Speaking of CKND....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJ4VewYFaRw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qFEk9qdFC8

 

[Apollo7979]

The "Land of the 3" slogan reminded me of a couple more slogans used for WTTV in Indianapolis from the past. They used several slogans over the years where they placed a double meaning with their channel number. It wasn't only used to identify channel position (ch. 4) but the "4" could also be interpreted as the word "for". A couple that immediately come to mind...

In the late 90s, early 2000s, they called themselves "WB 4 Indiana"

In the mid-80s, their slogan was "WTTV...4 the good times"

 

[bpatrick]

> What's the silliest slogan/catchphrase you've ever heard for
> a TV station?
>
>
>

A toss-up between 2 Pittsburgh stations....

WTAE-TV 4 for a time used "Channel Four Loves You!"
(yeah, right...it wants to hug you, kiss you, go to
bed with you, bear your children, etc. etc.....)

Was Channel 4 using the Frank Gari "Hello, ..." jingle?
WXII/12 Winston-Salem was using it ("Hello Piedmont")
in the early '80s and it closed with "TV12 loves you."

A few years ago Greensboro's WFMY was calling itself
"Today's FMY2" (well, it did need a new look, from sets
to programming), but that sounds like an admission that
it's been behind the times (as some of you say Savannah's
WTOC is).

 

[rwells2265]

....but that sounds like an admission that it's been behind the times (as some of you say Savannah's WTOC is).

Not sure if I've mentioned WTOC on this board (I live in the Sav'h market), but while its production values are good, and most of its anchors first rate, the overall look of WTOC-11 (CBS; Raycom) is a mite bit outdated. I don't know how long they've used their current theme package - a version of Gari's "Hello News" - but it's been in use as long as I've been here (summer 2000). The logo for the station goes back to the '80s.

But this is Savannah, Georgia - a city which prides itself on embracing the old. Many here don't take too well to change. Case in point: Doug Weathers, TV news legend, retired from WTOC in 2001 -- and his mug is STILL (!) on <a href="http://www.wtoctv.com">the station's website.</a> He's the silver-haired fellow on the right.

The current team of Sonny Dixon and Jody Chapin are hard to beat, and they have a great chemistry. Jody is one of my favorites, and she's a class act -- while Sonny is a bit over-the-top with his "folksy" nature. Their metereologist (Pat Prokop) is the best in the market, and maintains a section on his website devoted to Savannah weather history, a real candy store for weather geeks.

WTOC is doing something right - they're far and away #1 in this market. WSAV-3 (NBC; Media General) has the slickest, most polished look, and they too do a great job. Our ABC, however, is WJCL-22 (Grapevine). 22's performance is what you'd expect from a U competing with two established Vs.

Oops, what a tangent. Since this is about "silliest slogans" - I'll say that honor out here belongs to WSAV: "On Your Side" At least it wasn't what WJCL used in the 2000-2003 time frame: "Real people ... Real news"

--Russell

 

[FilmCritic3K]

....but that sounds like an admission that it's been behind the times (as some of you say Savannah's WTOC is).

Not sure if I've mentioned WTOC on this board (I live in the Sav'h market), but while its production values are good, and most of its anchors first rate, the overall look of WTOC-11 (CBS; Raycom) is a mite bit outdated. I don't know how long they've used their current theme package - a version of Gari's "Hello News" - but it's been in use as long as I've been here (summer 2000). The logo for the station goes back to the '80s.

But this is Savannah, Georgia - a city which prides itself on embracing the old. Many here don't take too well to change. Case in point: Doug Weathers, TV news legend, retired from WTOC in 2001 -- and his mug is STILL (!) on <a href="http://www.wtoctv.com">the station's website.</a> He's the silver-haired fellow on the right.

The current team of Sonny Dixon and Jody Chapin are hard to beat, and they have a great chemistry. Jody is one of my favorites, and she's a class act -- while Sonny is a bit over-the-top with his "folksy" nature. Their metereologist (Pat Prokop) is the best in the market, and maintains a section on his website devoted to Savannah weather history, a real candy store for weather geeks.

WTOC is doing something right - they're far and away #1 in this market. WSAV-3 (NBC; Media General) has the slickest, most polished look, and they too do a great job. Our ABC, however, is WJCL-22 (Grapevine). 22's performance is what you'd expect from a U competing with two established Vs.

Oops, what a tangent. Since this is about "silliest slogans" - I'll say that honor out here belongs to WSAV: "On Your Side" At least it wasn't what WJCL used in the 2000-2003 time frame: "Real people ... Real news"

--Russell

WTOC is hands-down the worst TV station in this market. I abhor its "pickin and a grinning folksy" crap. If I wanted to know about Murtha Von Speckleheimer's prize-winning squash at the county fair or the lame-ass Claxton Rattlesnake Roundup, I'd go. Bill Cathcart needs to stop being scared of the CBS affiliation. If I ran the station it'd become CBS 11 and I'd spend a hell of alot of money upgrading their studios. I've seen middle school morning newscasts with higher and better production values.

IMHO, WSAV really gets it right. Media General at least realizes that coming into the 21st century with graphics, imaging, and broadcast studios is worth the extra money. They may be #2 in the market but they're #1 in my books. I'm a loyal viewer and really love "Coastal Sunrise". Lyndy Brannen and Kim Gusby are great. I really enjoy Tina Tyus-Shaw and Russ Riesenger's evening newscasts as well. I've actually met Mrs. Shaw and her husband and they're both very nice, friendly people.

The less said about WJCL and WTGS's newscasts the better. They need to spend some money and stop playing musical chairs with new anchors every year.

 

[radiorob2.0]

Here's another one....

WTOG Tampa St Pete used a jingle in the 70's that sung, "WTOG....as far as the eye can see!" They followed that with another jingle, "Look who's doing more, 44". Both were catchy little tunes that were etched in my brain.

 

[Obtuse1]

I remember WIVB...We're 4 Buffalo. (The "IV" being the roman numeral 4. Clever....)

...or how about "WEVU-LP....The Real Channel 7" in Ft. Myers, FL.

The UHF ABC affiliate WZVN refers to itself as ABC7 (it's cable position), and used to have the WEVU calls. I can imagine this caused some Neilsen diary issues....