Fairbanks, Alaska, is and will always remain to be, the Worst TV News Capital of the World, and I should know.
KTVF's news set in the '80s was a blue wall with the word "NEWSCENTER" in big orange letters and a desk with an "11" on it inside a curved square; I remember seeing it in 1983. But when KTVF changed logos in 1985 after I moved back to Fairbanks, the same old set was still there! All of their anchors read off copy (they couldn't afford teleprompters) as well as the weather; they didn't get a weatherman (Jack Mercer) until 1989. At least they had a kick-ass open to "The Fairbanks Evening News" with their music being the one that's been used to open "Coach's Corner" on Hockey Night In Canada (they used other cuts as well).
A year after I moved to Mississippi (and much better TV there), KTVF moved as well...out of the Northward Building (where they'd been from day one) and into their current home off Van Horn Road, and that's where things got a little better. There was a new set and opens for "The Fairbanks Evening News" (6:00) and "NewsCenter Final" (11:00), but the graphics remained the same until about the late '90s. It all caught me by surprise when I moved back here for good in 1992. Teleprompters would be added; Jack Mercer would be replaced by Mike Shultz; and the two weather maps -- one for Alaska and one for the Lower 48 -- would finally be replaced by a green screen in 1993. The sets and desks would change a couple of times over the years.
NewsCenter Final was always pre-taped, but for a while under then-News Director Carla Browning at the turn of the century, it would be live at 11:00. They even expanded their news to Sunday; that didn't last long.
Today it's a joke, and has been since longtime anchor Ann Secrest stepped down in 2001. The set is stripped down to a blue wall and an HDTV monitor in the middle; Mike Schultz is still there, which is the only bright spot.
KATN (pre-Alaska's Superstation): Also had poor sets, and for a time in the early '90s they opened and closed their news with the original ABC News theme music. Their news camera was a Canon L1 camcorder (predecessor to the XL1), which explained their low budget. Thankfully when new ownership took over, it would be a Betacam SP and now DVCAM (probably the same ones that are used to film "Cheaters").
KJNP (the religious station in North Pole) had an evening newscast for a time in the '80s; it too was a bore compared to the "high-quality" of KTVF and KATN. But in the early years, they did carry INN News. Their music was the same one TBN used to open their Praise-A-Thons for dozens of years until the '90s.
KFXF/KXD: Can't say much about them, so I'll pass. At least their graphics put the other stations to shame.
But I heard that the local TV news here was even more laughable in the '70s. Too bad all the visual evidence is gone forever, unless of course somebody happens to keep those tapes but is ashamed to put it on YouTube!
Jonathan Allen
KTVF's news set in the '80s was a blue wall with the word "NEWSCENTER" in big orange letters and a desk with an "11" on it inside a curved square; I remember seeing it in 1983. But when KTVF changed logos in 1985 after I moved back to Fairbanks, the same old set was still there! All of their anchors read off copy (they couldn't afford teleprompters) as well as the weather; they didn't get a weatherman (Jack Mercer) until 1989. At least they had a kick-ass open to "The Fairbanks Evening News" with their music being the one that's been used to open "Coach's Corner" on Hockey Night In Canada (they used other cuts as well).
A year after I moved to Mississippi (and much better TV there), KTVF moved as well...out of the Northward Building (where they'd been from day one) and into their current home off Van Horn Road, and that's where things got a little better. There was a new set and opens for "The Fairbanks Evening News" (6:00) and "NewsCenter Final" (11:00), but the graphics remained the same until about the late '90s. It all caught me by surprise when I moved back here for good in 1992. Teleprompters would be added; Jack Mercer would be replaced by Mike Shultz; and the two weather maps -- one for Alaska and one for the Lower 48 -- would finally be replaced by a green screen in 1993. The sets and desks would change a couple of times over the years.
NewsCenter Final was always pre-taped, but for a while under then-News Director Carla Browning at the turn of the century, it would be live at 11:00. They even expanded their news to Sunday; that didn't last long.
Today it's a joke, and has been since longtime anchor Ann Secrest stepped down in 2001. The set is stripped down to a blue wall and an HDTV monitor in the middle; Mike Schultz is still there, which is the only bright spot.
KATN (pre-Alaska's Superstation): Also had poor sets, and for a time in the early '90s they opened and closed their news with the original ABC News theme music. Their news camera was a Canon L1 camcorder (predecessor to the XL1), which explained their low budget. Thankfully when new ownership took over, it would be a Betacam SP and now DVCAM (probably the same ones that are used to film "Cheaters").
KJNP (the religious station in North Pole) had an evening newscast for a time in the '80s; it too was a bore compared to the "high-quality" of KTVF and KATN. But in the early years, they did carry INN News. Their music was the same one TBN used to open their Praise-A-Thons for dozens of years until the '90s.
KFXF/KXD: Can't say much about them, so I'll pass. At least their graphics put the other stations to shame.
But I heard that the local TV news here was even more laughable in the '70s. Too bad all the visual evidence is gone forever, unless of course somebody happens to keep those tapes but is ashamed to put it on YouTube!
Jonathan Allen
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