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Worst local TV Newscast ever.

Lkeller said:
The climax was in spring of 1974, the day Hank Aaron broke Babe Ruth's home-run record with #715. A very excited Kahn opened his sportscast by saying:

"Babe Ruth hit his 715th home run today, breaking the record Hank Aaron set in 1935."

Kahn was gone the next day.

Disclaimer: Sorry: my stats may be off - I'm not a big baseball fan.
Click to expand...

Aaron's 714th dinger (tying Ruth) was hit off Jack Billingham in broad daylight in Cincinnati in the 1974 NL opener. Bad Henry's 715th took place at night, off LA's Al Downing, in Atlanta. Kahn's faux pas must've taken place on that night's late newscast.

Someone mentioned "podunk towns" on this thread. There really is at least one Podunk, in upstate NY.
http://www.mapquest.com/maps?city=Podunk&state=NY

ixnay
 
Pat Cook said:
BarryATL said:
I remember when 11 Alive (Atlanta) made the debute. For a month they kept teasing us on the air about the big change coming. It was definately better than Pro News which was their previous name.
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Speaking of the worst newscasts & newscast titles, let's also not forget the worst newscast news MONIKIERS either.

My vote doesn't have to travel very far. It only has to go 123 Speer Blvd. here in Denver where KMGH 7 is located. Anyone remember the REAL LIFE.....REAL NEWS moniker they had? That was back when they also had THE WORST news anchor this town had ever seen. Anyone here in Denver remember NATALIE PUJO?????

On top of that, their logo didn't look very impressive either.

I mean, not even then-NBC affiliate KOA-TV 4 (Now CBS O&O KCNC 4) was that bad. The problem that KOA, which later became KCNC 4 & a NBC O&O, had was the rise of KBTV (Now KUSA) 9 as a major player in news and viewers liking of Bob Palmer & John Lindsey on KMGH. KCNC knew it had to land Bob Palmer (Who BTW once worked at KOA-TV as a photographer back in the early days of Denver TV) if they stood a chance of improving their own ratings. If they hadn't made that move, who knows where they'd be now.

That's my contribution (Not to mention the free Denver TV History lesson :D ).

Cheers :D

Pat
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Ah..BOB PALMER !!!!! Sadly he passed away recently and according to my friends who live in Denver ( Aurora to be exact ) they told me that all the Denver stations made it clear....the general public would not be allowed to attend Palmer's funeral despite Bob being remembered as he was. The reason they told me goes back to the death of KOOL 105's Paxton Mills. From what they told me some joker got into the service, aircheck/resume in hand hoping to "meet" some of Denver's radio bigwigs at Paxton's funeral hoping to find a job. Over the years I have heard many of stories of people willing to do ANYTHING to get a gig, but this really does take the cake.

KMGH...when I attended the University of Denver back in the late 80's, I remember when KMGH fired a number of people over an incident that took place over the air. I don't remember Pujo ( maybe thats a good thing LOL ) but from what I remember then "KMGH 7 News" did a story about some kids who were sexually molested by some doctor (?). KMGH somehow was able to show on air the names of those kids whow were molested thanks to a clear shot of a black board with the names and I think even addresses of the victims listed. I am not sure if KMGH was ever sued over that ( I heard they were but I don't know ) but I do remember KMGH getting rid of some of their staff over that incident.
 
mleach said:
KMGH...when I attended the University of Denver back in the late 80's, I remember when KMGH fired a number of people over an incident that took place over the air. I don't remember Pujo ( maybe thats a good thing LOL )
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Natalie Pujo was with KMGH from 1995 till 1996 (??). She was there just prior to the big switch & (Mercifully!) left the station (I think it was) the following year (I say mercifully because she was a HORRIBLE anchor. I feel sorry for the people who have to endure her now. Hopefully she's on some low-ranking newscast that no one watches :D )

But during her tenure there, they used the aforementioned REAL LIFE.....REAL NEWS moniker.
but from what I remember then "KMGH 7 News" did a story about some kids who were sexually molested by some doctor (?). KMGH somehow was able to show on air the names of those kids whow were molested thanks to a clear shot of a black board with the names and I think even addresses of the victims listed. I am not sure if KMGH was ever sued over that ( I heard they were but I don't know ) but I do remember KMGH getting rid of some of their staff over that incident.
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They should've been fired for that. Today, not only would they have been fired, but criminally prosecuted as well (Anyone remember Wendy Bergen's five part series on Pit Bulls that aired on KCNC 4?? The state tried to claim that the fights were staged for TV & charged her with Cruelty To Animals among other things. Luckily, she was cleared of that at trial).

Ohh well....What can ya say? That's life as a journalist for ya.

Cheers :D

Pat
 
Pat Cook said:
Hi everyone:
Eric Stein said:
The recently-defunct Independent News Network was another example.
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That's funny. I saw a recent Independent Network News newscast which featured SECRETARY OF STATE Hillary Clinton's trip to Asia as its top story on a new America One affiliate that just signed on here in Denver.

Perhaps America One revived Independent Network News?

It's cheaply produced & it looks like they exchange local news clips like local TV stations do (They cut off the reporter as they close & the anchor reiterates who did the reporting after each clip), but at least it's a newscast. If I can find a video somewhere, I'll post a link to it.
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I've heard MyNet affiliate WMYD in Detroit has been airing such a newscast nightly at 10 PM. Has anyone seen this newscast? Any local Detroit content or is it fully produced elsewhere?
 
M.J. said:
Pat Cook said:
That's funny. I saw a recent Independent Network News newscast which featured SECRETARY OF STATE Hillary Clinton's trip to Asia as its top story on a new America One affiliate that just signed on here in Denver.

Perhaps America One revived Independent Network News?

It's cheaply produced & it looks like they exchange local news clips like local TV stations do (They cut off the reporter as they close & the anchor reiterates who did the reporting after each clip), but at least it's a newscast. If I can find a video somewhere, I'll post a link to it.
Click to expand...

I've heard MyNet affiliate WMYD in Detroit has been airing such a newscast nightly at 10 PM. Has anyone seen this newscast? Any local Detroit content or is it fully produced elsewhere?
Click to expand...

I guess they may be still around, but under new management (according the the Wikipedia pages of WMYD and KLJB, two of INN's clients). While I've only seen clips of the INN newscasts, it's not as bad production-wise as American News Network, which uses an awful-looking "virtual set" and its clips look like they came from video news releases.
 
I think that KXGN In Glendive, MT which you may not know
is the smallest TV market in the county has a pretty bad
newscast it looks like an 8th grader produced it in the
basement of their house
 
tested said:
Let's be honest here: this is about on par with what you would see on a cable access channel.
These people don't know any better. There is likely no one at that station who has worked in a big time network affiliate newsroom and knows how it should be done. If they could hire someone like that to take over and fix things, they would look a lot better in short order.
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I've seen much better on public access.
 
On another thread someone had claimed that the Richmond, Virginia TV market was ( when he lived there ) a "worthless market".

Today I was talking about this to a friend of mine who lives in that city about that statement and not only did he agree but he was telling me that back in the 70s the Richmond market ( at least when it comes to local news ) was so bad that the Washington DC and Raleigh-Durham stations would actually monitor Richmond TV on a regular basis and if some breaking news of national interest would take place in Richmond ..well down 95 the DC stations would go ( up 95 for Raleigh )..quickly they would get the footage and send it to the networks before the Richmond stations do the same. because they didn't want nationwide viewers to see who was on TV in Richmond. as they were "ashamed". That is what i was told anyway.

Now I am not sure whether or not if I would buy that or not. Raleigh? DC OTOH...I do remember when Frank Sinatra passed out on stage during a show in Richmond in the early 90s. WTVR had tape of that ( I believe WTVR had sponsored the concert ) but when the footage aired on CBS it was DC's WUSA who got the credit.

Was Richmond TV news really THAT bad in those days? I was a kid then so all I remember was bits and pieces of watching their news ( I was more into WLEE and Q94 WRVQ radio at the time ). However I have had many over the years tell me about "Wanda the Banjo picker weathergal" on WXEX channel 8 during the early the mid 70s. I would love to see a clip of that. IF such a person existed. LOL
 
My vote would have to be for WKPT Kingsport, TN, before they contracted out their news with WJHL. Most of the talent (not all) was pathetic, and the set was even worse (a plain gray, sheetrock backdrop with a banner draped on it!) And this was in market 93! Just before the start of the new century, they were still using 3/4 inch that jumped all over the place. A far cry from their radio properties, which actually sounded quite well.
 
PDXREXX said:
I think that KXGN In Glendive, MT which you may not know
is the smallest TV market in the county has a pretty bad
newscast it looks like an 8th grader produced it in the
basement of their house
Click to expand...


KXGN doesn't produce that much news anymore - I think five minutes per night. Most of the news comes from KTVQ in Billings. Sports Illustrated profiled KXGN some years ago, noting the same man anchored news, weather, sports, shot his own stuff on a home video camera, as well as produced and edited the newscast. I've been to Eastern Montana, and it is empty. I'm surprised they have enough news for five minutes.

KXGN is also the only full-powered station not simultaneously broadcasting a DTV signal.
 
elchupacabras said:
MarquisP4 said:
Just take at this:

http://www.youtube.com/user/CH8NEWS

Wow. Sad.
Click to expand...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6CxvwW80R0 This is worse! LMAOROFL! They lead with a crime story, and then toss to a reporter who says he has "Breaking news! It was just handed to me, even though it is two days old!"

Oh my goodness! Later in the 'cast, one of the reporters does an interview and says, "We're looking at some b-roll shots right now..."
Click to expand...

One of the reporters??? It's all the same reporter... our old friend Wes Small. In the first part of the newscast, Wes has the breaking news (that's two days old), then does the interview with the b-roll, then it's the 2nd part of Wes' interview with a senator.

In the second part of the newscast, Wes covers the governor speaking at a school, followed by yet another Wes Small report about a rocket being launched.

Five stories, all by Wes Small.
 
TheRob said:
KXGN doesn't produce that much news anymore - I think five minutes per night. Most of the news comes from KTVQ in Billings. Sports Illustrated profiled KXGN some years ago, noting the same man anchored news, weather, sports, shot his own stuff on a home video camera, as well as produced and edited the newscast. I've been to Eastern Montana, and it is empty. I'm surprised they have enough news for five minutes.

KXGN is also the only full-powered station not simultaneously broadcasting a DTV signal.
Click to expand...

I visited there a few years ago, just to "see" the KXGN - I was doing one of my "Circle" trips - this one was Houston to Denver to Wyoming/Montana/North Dakota then Kansas City then back home to Houston. I recorded the newscast - back then it was 25 minutes at 10:35pm, all Ed Agre, pre-recorded. It was also the exact same script (if not the same tape) used on KXGN-AM at 6pm, except for the "video feature" on the updates to the local Golf Course - which appeared to be recorded on a nice VHS Camcorder (not even DVC...). I am surprised it was 25 minutes long, but I've seen other mid-western and small market newscasts, and they always seem to fill up their allotted 30/35 minutes - there's enough footage and features out there to fill the time...

Agreed - there isn't much there, nor is there much to do. The big event for the night was when the train came into town and the shifts changed... Of course, the Best Western there was clean and fairly cheap (plus they had full analog cable...).

Jim
 
TheRob said:
KXGN doesn't produce that much news anymore - I think five minutes per night. Most of the news comes from KTVQ in Billings. Sports Illustrated profiled KXGN some years ago, noting the same man anchored news, weather, sports, shot his own stuff on a home video camera, as well as produced and edited the newscast. I've been to Eastern Montana, and it is empty. I'm surprised they have enough news for five minutes.

KXGN is also the only full-powered station not simultaneously broadcasting a DTV signal.
Click to expand...

I suspect KXGN will go off the air for good in the next couple of months because of the inability to upgrade. It sounds like the have budget smaller than many small PBS stations. They probably cannot afford a digital transmitter. Market #210 will be no more, and the area will become part of a nearby market.
 
elchupacabras said:
MarquisP4 said:
Just take at this:

http://www.youtube.com/user/CH8NEWS

Wow. Sad.
Click to expand...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6CxvwW80R0 This is worse! LMAOROFL! They lead with a crime story, and then toss to a reporter who says he has "Breaking news! It was just handed to me, even though it is two days old!"

Oh my goodness! Later in the 'cast, one of the reporters does an interview and says, "We're looking at some b-roll shots right now..."
Click to expand...

Who picked the graphics and music? They're the worst I've ever seen! And, pity poor Les - doing a stand up with all the light behind him! Who's the photog, his mother? I'll say one thing, the guy must have to hustle pretty hard as he's the ONLY reporter!

Hard to imagine KXGN being worse than this. Particularly when you consider that "Channel 8" probably serves 25 times the population of Glendive.
 
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