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Nice to have a complete and non-glitched open of the first WPTY/WLMT theme! All the opens we have from those first few months are either bugged out or incomplete. The 9pm show with Harleston and Houston was the first in Memphis (and in the nation!) to be anchored by two African-American men. Also, I'm a big fan of that theme bed. The first day of operation at WPTY News Watch 24 saw the 6pm newscast go out with a really harsh buzzing sound and the 10pm open air no fewer than three times (local newspaper accounts confirm this was how it went out!): The first WLMT 9pm show had its own big blunder, when Houston, who had been poached from WDAF, welcomed viewers to News Channel 30... Their launch was so bad they changed lead male anchors within two weeks of going on air and fired a producer in January 1996. Within five months, they had changed news themes. The problems weren't just presentation and technical, either (they kind of raced the clock to begin broadcasts). The opening night sports report mentioned "Memphis University" instead of the University of Memphis. The station essentially failed to convince Memphians that they knew the city.

WUSA / KARE 11 News Sunrise Nov 1, 1985 And here's a fun find - clips from KARE 11 Sunrise in 1990 - where they're using a smaller scale version of the national Today show living room set

A WGEM Open appears in this video

WMC News brief 1990 WLMT Newswatch 30 1996 WSJV Wake up News 2000 WCMH 1993 Hello Columbus

KKTV 1994 News close. Florida News Channel 2001 Newscast. https://youtu.be/kyVF1t_rCsM

WNGE 1977 Morning newscast 1985 KTTV Newscast WAVE 3 newsbreak 1986 WBKB 1994 Newscast

More footage from that missing kid story from December 1994 in Michigan (believe it or not, he's still missing!):

Can we steal Scott Budman from NBC-BA and have him host? I bet that would create quite a buzz . Nextstar my want to dabble in this...but expect the whole idea to go up in smoke.. That's my 2 cents...or is it a dime bag?... do they still call'em "lids"??? Or is "lids" considered some kind of slur now?. Scott Budman wonders "why"?

They're missing a great chance to tap into California's legal growing pot culture... ...eh, growing pot, that's too much of a pun. Let's call it budding weed culture, yeah... ...anyway, now's their opportunity to rebrand themselves something like KRON-IK instead. They could even retire that tired, out-dated Golden Gate Bridge-inspired "4" in favor of four joints in the shape of a "4." "Tired of the fluff on the other stations? KRON 4 News is BLUNT!" I'm giving you a license to print money here, Nexstar. You can thank me later.

The "KRON ON" brand is dumb...

They had a 7pm newscast back in the late 60's/early 70's:

Throwing this out there... https://twitter.com/jeremymbarr/status/1087038261216845824

Thank you, Marvin.

Marrrrrvin Zindler..... Eyeeeeeewitness News!

The Weekend is here, AFC/NFC Championship this Sunday, enjoy it all. Have a good weekend, good golf, good tennis, or whatever makes you happy!

Now the only Taft station ID yet to be seen at this point is WTSP, WGHP, KTXA, & KTSP/KSAZ.

KDKA 70 years nostalgia.

Some rare WXEX material from 1985:

Do we have proof they were the first to use News People? This KSTP ID has people SINGING the classic 4-note tune to The News Image!

No ownership mention—probably because NBC had already bought WTVJ at this point... Here's a New Year's rarity: the Final Edition pre-signoff newscast, with its own open!!, from KOLN-KGIN on January 1, 1985. The close mentions "10/11 Strong". The signoff follows, with the National Anthem by the Scarlet and Cream Singers and a visual mention of the employees' IBEW local. Right before cutting the carrier, KOLN itself throws up an even earlier logo slide:

Former ABC News correspondent and KYW anchor Steve Bell passed away yesterday at the age of 83. https://www.10news.com/news/local-news/delaware-county/steve-bell-former-abc-news-anchor-and-ball-state-professor-dies-at-83

ACK! WXIA’s new logo...

Bret Baier of FOX News was injured in a car crash in Montana. https://www.mediaite.com/tv/colbert-says-fox-news-bret-baier-and-family-were-hospitalized-after-bad-car-crash-theyre-going-to-be-ok/