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WPIX 11 NYC Sign-on and Sign-off Newscasts

G

Gregg

In the days before WPIX had a 10pm newscast and still had booth announcers, Channel 11 would do thirty minute newscasts at sign-on and sign-off. But it was purely for the FCC. I doubt anyone would watch these newscasts.

The booth announcer was never seen. There'd be a slide for national news, a slide for world news, one for NYC news (the skyline), one for sports and one for weather. The booth announcer would rip the stories from the wire and simply read them. No video clips, only one voice. I'm sure it would be tough for the guy (it was always a guy) to talk for a half hour continuously. Maybe there'd be a few filmed PSAs to break it up but I don't remember any.

I remember he'd identify himself and say good morning or good evening, trying to be informal. But then he'd launch into the wire copy, reading it word for word, story after story, filling the 30 minutes.

I suppose for a major NYC station with no news department (even though it was owned by the NY Daily News) these two 30 minute newscasts each day would be a way to have the FCC believe that WPIX had a commitment to news. On FCC forms, these two newscasts would count the same as if WPIX had a full news department, with film, sportscasters and weather forecasts on the network stations. The FCC didn't tell you HOW you had to do news. You just HAD to do news.

Many other stations, even those with news departments, still felt they had to do some brief 5-15 minute newscast at sign-on and sign-off. The sign-on one was often done by the booth announcer. But the sign-off news brief was usually done on the news set with a real anchor. TV Guide would often list these programs, along with a brief religious address by a minister, priest or rabbi. Early TV Guides sometimes even gave us the name of the clergy person doing the sermonette.
 
We used to get WPIX on cable in the 1970s in Pennsylvania.

Even after it started to do newscasts on weekdays with anchors, sports and weather people, on weekends at 10 pm, they would do this format: an announcer you never see reads copy.

Not sure of my memory on this ... but I think eventually, as sources of world and national news became available, sometimes the announcer would read copy over video, too. Maybe even introduce a packaged report.

So on the weekdays on WPIX at 10 pm (and also for a while at 7:30 pm on weekdays ... odd hour for news, but at last they had no competition) you'd have what would pass for a normal weekday newscast with Steve Bosh and Pat Harper. On weekends you'd get the unseen announcer version.
 
If I am not mistaken, PIX was one of, if not the first station, to broadcast a fireplace for about 12 hours on Christmas Eve to the sound of Christmas music..or was it a Christmas tree in the lobby of The Daily News?

Could have done both.. ::)
 
Gregg said:
Many other stations, even those with news departments, still felt they had to do some brief 5-15 minute newscast at sign-on and sign-off. The sign-on one was often done by the booth announcer. But the sign-off news brief was usually done on the news set with a real anchor. TV Guide would often list these programs...
Click to expand...

More often than not, many stations, both with or without news departments, did both sign on and sign off news using the slide and announcer method. Some stations also did the local news segments of the Today show and Good Morning America in this matter too (I think WJRT Flint did their segments in this matter the first few years, with the local weather done by the station announcer speaking over the video of GMA's national weather map).

Beginning in the 1980s, many stations did away with sign-on news (opting for a full, live newscast down the road), while sign-off news consisted of a repeat of the 10PM / 11PM newscast. In Tampa Bay, WTOG's sign off newscast was originally an announcer reading news over a slide, but later switched to a repeat of its 10PM newscast after that started up in 1982.
 
HippieGuy said:
If I am not mistaken, PIX was one of, if not the first station, to broadcast a fireplace for about 12 hours on Christmas Eve to the sound of Christmas music..or was it a Christmas tree in the lobby of The Daily News?

Could have done both.. ::)
Click to expand...

The Yule Log was originally filmed in Gracie Mansion, the official residence of the NYC Mayor. (It was later reshot in a California cabin.) The film and music originally ran for, I believe four hours on Christmas Eve and again on Christmas Day. These days WPIX airs it on Christmas Day for three hours.
 
I remember WSBK Channel 38 in Boston doing the booth announcer-read news at sign on and sign off back in the 1970's, usually 15 minutes of wire copy with I believe a TV38 News slide or a WSBK TV 38 Boston slide on screen.

Also, back in the day (pre-1981), WMUR Channel 9 in Manchester NH ran a bare bones news department. They only did a live on camera newscast at 6 & 11PM weekdays only, weekends the only news was the 10 or 15 minute booth announcer rip and read at sign on and sign off. WMUR's live news was a one studio camera production with the anchor reading his script (no teleprompter), was in black & white until they went studio color in 1973, used newsfilm up till 1981, can't recall if the newsfilm went color post 1973. Most folks in the Manchester area would point their antennas south to get their news from one of the Boston VHF's. Then owner United Television ran the place on the cheap. Imes bought the station in 1981 and spent money to make them a player and added weekend newscasts and expanded the weekday news as well. Today they are owned by Hearst and are very competitive with the Boston stations.
 
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