• Get involved.
    We want your input!
    Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.

    After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
    If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.

    After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
    https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/

    Thanks in advance and have fun!
    RadioDiscussions Administrators

Unusual newscast titles

Tim L said:
The old WJAN-TV 17 in Canton, Ohio used "Update" for the title of their news shows in the early 1970's..They used Mason Williams "Classical Gas" as theme music..I was naive enough to think that "Classical Gas" was written just for the newscast till I found out later it was a hit song..

"Classical Gas" by Mason Williams was used in many major markets in the mid-70's, so perhaps Canton was one of the first. Seattle's KIRO-TV (CBS) used it, as did a station in Minneapolis, I think it was KSTP. Probably many others...
 
bpatrick said:
"Total News" isn't all that uncommon; another that had
it was WCTI New Bern, NC.

How many stations had "The Big News"? I keep thinking
KPRC Houston was one.

KPRC's was actually called "Big 2 News".
 
Mentioned this awhile back as well..WKYC-TV 3 Cleveland from 1969-73 or so named their early evening news "Newsday 90" Two half hours of local news with Huntley-Brinkley sandwiched in between..
 
WFIE-14-NBC in Evansville, Ind. used "Channel 14 Newslense" for most of the 1970s and perhaps into the early-1980s before branding as "Newswatch" (which lasted until 2006).

There were a lot of stations in the late 60's with the "News Watch" title. One of my teachers couldn't stand it and always called it "New Swatch"

Also, one of the earliest Christian stations (ch.46/CBN/Atlanta) had a newscast titled "Information". For almost 30 minutes, the news of the day was presented, and then the anchor closed with a couple of Bible verses and said, "That's the real news; all this other stuff we've shown you is just - information."
 
KCOP's news in the early '80s was "World Network News" anchored by Charlie O'Donnell. Yes...that Charlie O'Donnell of Wheel of Fortune (and countless other shows) fame!

And in the '90s well into their affiliation with UPN, their newscast title was "Real News". They originally went the CityTV route with no desk and the anchors roaming around the open newsroom, but that flopped and they put in a desk.
 
Tim from Springfield said:
KeithE4 said:
Mike said:
For a time in Detroit, WJBK merged the "Eyewitness News" and "Newscenter" names to say "Eyewitness Newscenter".

WTHR/13 Indianapolis did the same thing in the late '70s/early '80s. WRTV/6, in the same era, called theirs "The News," while WISH-TV/8 had "The Big News" going back to around 1970. No, WTTV/4 did not call their newscast "The Really Big News." ;D
YouTube has a July 1977 aircheck of WTHR-13's newscast (with Paul Udell) during its "Eyewitness NewsCenter 13" days (the big switch in Indy was two years away--as indicated in Ernie Anderson's station ID announcement):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qTfl7AEdHg

you are correct that IS Ernie Anderson's short ID- but the Next Voice is Steve "Daugherty" Michaels- i good friend of mine who sadly we lost less than a month ago.
 
bpatrick said:
For longevity, the champ may be "The Texas News" on WBAP/KXAS Ft. Worth. They used that title from their inception in 1948 into
(I think) the '80s; they were still using it in the late '70s when I lived in the Metroplex.

Actually, for a few years, they tried using 'Action News' for their title
weeknight open: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3DCsDqIl5E
weekend open: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mnmiW9ngWw

In the mid-80s, simply 'Channel 5 News'
1985 open (spotty quality): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9LWwexZ6HI
1986 6p and 10p opens: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRrlCXRh1xU

They did go back to 'Texas News' afterward, till the sale to NBC.
 
WAVY Portsmouth-Norfolk used "The Daily News" from 1981-89. It's now "WAVY News 10."

WBOC Salisbury, MD used to call their news "The Delmarva Report."

WTRF Wheeling called its newscast "TV 7 Newsfront" in the 70's.

"Newsday" was used at WCHS Charleston, WV in the 70's, even at night.

And WMGM Atlantic City currently uses "News Channel 40 NBC." That's a mouthful. It used to be NBC 40 News, and before that, NewsCenter 40.
 
I wish that channels 2 and 4 here in Nashville would stop using their channel numbers as prepositions, as in "working 4 you" (channel 4's slogan for many years now), and channel 2 has segments with names like "2 your health."  You would think that Prince works for these TV stations!
 
WPIX Channel 11 in NYC, Mid '70's (before 11 Alive), Harper News...with Joe and Pat Harper.
 
SteveRichards said:
KTVO (ABC) in Kirksville, Missouri used "Extra Effort News" for the title of its newscasts from around the mid-70s (I think) to the very early 80s.


Now THAT's really odd. It sounds like an elementary school teacher came up with that title. Did the anchors "put on their thinking caps" before the broadcast began? Hopefully they all put their "best foot forward" while reporting.
 
I remember in the 1950s, WNEM channel 5 in Bay City Michigan, called their 6:pM news cast "The Top of the News". I was about 5 years old then, and I thought it was funny. The 11:eek:-clock one was "The Five Star Final". Channel 6 in Lansing was "Six Star Addision". Hmmmm.
 
KTVO was an interesting little statiom when I lived in Quincy briefly. It's the defacto ABC affiliate for Hannibal-Quincy. I remember them having ads for every podunk radio station in Iowa and Missouri.
 
Status
This thread has been closed due to inactivity. You can create a new thread to discuss this topic.


Back
Top Bottom