Ntropolis

 

It's been an active couple of weeks as far as personnel changes in the Hampton Roads region go; and now WTKR announces Bianca Martinez will be stepping down as an anchor; though she will still be the station's military reporter and will also file special reports.

http://www.vartv.com/pdf/WTKR_2014_05_27.pdf

 

I assume Beverly Kidd will take over her anchor position? Guess we'll have to wait and find out.

VARTV reports Beverly Kidd is returning to WTKR in June. She reported/anchored for WTKR from 1993-2001 before going to KTVK in Phoenix.

 

I'll give you the benefit of the doubt as the local media historian, then; but it's surprising (and rather concerning thinking about it) that there would be that much change to a special based on one Wikipedia edit.

 

On a side note, it's really a shame WAVY never kept that footage up on their site (or uploaded it to YouTube).

 

All it takes it a lazy producer.

 

From bpar73's channel, here are a couple of local sports reports

 

First is one from WAVY featuring a young, slimmer Bruce Rader (listed as 1981; but the date is probably no later than January 8, 1982 due to Bruce making his conference championship predictions* {WAVY switched to "Gold 10" logo/Daily News branding in 1982 last I checked}):

 

This may have very well been from 1981. Back in 2007, right before WAVY did their 50th anniversary special, someone edited the WAVY Wikipedia article putting 1982 as the switch date to that logo and The Daily News, much so that WAVY noted 1982 as the start date for that logo/name in their 50th special. After the special, WAVY uploaded an extensive amount of archive material to their website, including a newscast (sportscast?) that mentioned the then-ongoing 1981 MLB strike.

 

I honestly believe the gold 10 and The Daily News began in 1981.

Part 124 of the NewsActive 3 collection, so much good stuff in here! My personal favorites being the WXII open from around 1990 with their custom Wall-to-Wall theme, WNCT from 1993, and Jeremy Wheeler pre-WAVY

 

WRAL News with Bob Vernon from 1994:

 

eyeontv has struck again with a Telesound demo reel from 1982 featuring many opens you may recognize, and several previously-unknown uses, including...

• KSBW: Look for Us
  
• WCKT: Count on Us
  
• KNTV: Count on Us
  

There's also "Saturday Live" from KRON featuring Streets of..., production elements, and a boatload of promos. Truly a huge haul!

 

 

Seriously digging that WTKR stuff! I saw that News 3 open on TV Ark but it never had a year attached to it. Now we know, and that also means the NMSA is wrong on the dates there... it currently lists And You from 1984-86. I always thought those dates seemed wrong. By the looks of it, And You was gone by at least 1985.

 

Hmm maybe it's a Gari theme afterall..haha he seemed to be inspired by the show.

 

https://www.dropbox.com/s/y5ob90mqxrp8clf/gari_loves_er.mp3

 

There's actually a cut of the original series of Enforcer that sounds nearly identical to the ER theme.

Short-lived WVEC news open from 1996:

 

And the open that came after that... WVEC from December 1996. Also has some WAVY from 2001:

 

Now that I'm hearing this this morning I completely agree that this is Stephen Arnold. But how did an Arnold package from the 90s manage to go undercover for so long? I bet we're talking about a "WCSC Custom News Package" here.

 

Not to mention the relationship between the Jefferson-Pilot stations and Arnold, with WBTV and WWBT both using Signature during that time.

Great find! WCSC actually started using Stravinsky in late 95 or early 96...

. The jazzy early 90s theme was in use until at least 1993, so this must have been the theme used in between. And I definitely heard an Arnold vibe. I instantly recognized the Wall to Wall breaking news cut connection (WNCT used it for stingers). The whole thing sounds very similar to Newsleader.

 

Here's another cut from a satirical/fake WCSC promo from 94:

 

WOWK's 1997-2003 image is a pretty close Hearst knockoff as well....the biggest difference is using the 1990's ESPN-style font in place of Bank Gothic. But the oversized bug, font kerning, overall style, and use of Gari's "Image News" give it away.....

 

 

I already said it in the comments on that video, but I'll discuss it again, haha... the now-defunct Gecko Productions from Virginia Beach did those. They also did work for KRGV, WVEC, and

.

 

https://web.archive.org/web/20010803155318/http://geckoproductions.com/NewFiles/stations.html

Any clue as to who did the WMAQ 1997 News Theme?

 

Among the WABI ones were an open based off the

from KMOV...

 

That was some sort of syndicated graphic element...

and used it, among others.

 

That's correct: the NMSA lists three cuts of 615's On Your Side as being placed into production libraries.

 

I'd imagine that would have been years after that WTSP clip though... at that point (1992) it was still being used on WKRN. Guess we'll have to wait and see if it was ever used on their newscasts.

 

Also a side note on that clip, anyone think the part of the cut at :39 sounds a lot like WWL News?

 

Several vintage WTSP clips from 1992 on this channel:

 

 

615's On Your Side? Now that's a surprise!

 

After less than 6 months at WSET, former WALA news director Bob Cashen is out.

 

It's too late for him to go back to WALA....as they have JUST hired WCBD news director Scott Flannigan.

 

http://www.rickgevers.com/news-director-updates/

 

Now, WSET says he's still employed by the station.

 

http://www.mediabistro.com/tvspy/wset-denies-news-director-out-after-four-months_b116503

 

Yeah, I don't recall ever hearing that softer cut used on any WAVY newscasts that I've seen on tape. When I worked there, I saw the old SAM original reel to reel of "The Team" which of course got renamed to Wall-to-Wall News and a box from Tuesday Prod. Unfortunately, someone must have scurried off with the VTS reel from the super-secret theme collection closet.

 

Here's a clip of WAVY using that KCRL open cut...

 

And that awkward moment when there's a clip of Barbara Ciara

 

Also, I think I remember posting that WHP video earlier. Great finds are posted alike, I guess.

 

Oops. Wasn't sure if it was posted already because it's not on the NMSA. Then again, the fact there there's a lot of missing info on the NMSA has been a hot topic lately! Can't complain because I know the webmaster's busy.

Internet Archive finds...

 

Richmond news opens from 1991: https://archive.org/details/tobacco_rep23e00

 

At the 1:07:05 mark, WFMY (says 1992 but I think this date might be wrong) with the Working For You open: https://archive.org/details/tobacco_aey99d00

 

WHP noon open from 1989, with a theme I can't identify. It's not Real News. Sounds like a production track from Network Music: https://archive.org/details/tobacco_iar91f00

 

On a side note, check out the WLOX 1990 news theme and the WAVY VTS 1985 theme. This might call for another @TServo2049 investigation when he has time in his hectic schedule to talk with Hal Brown. Maybe he can inquire about WLOX and play some of the '90 theme. I put both tracks in Protools and the intros almost lined up, the main difference was placement of the toms and kicks, but the drum and instruments sound pretty darn close in character. If it's not VTS, first guess would be a writer/composer that also did freelance work with VTS on the WAVY package. If I'm wrong even there, I'd call it a matter of HEAVY use of inspiration, errrr imitation by another composer or company.

 

Speaking of WAVY 1985, I was really surprised to see the new KCRL (KRNV) entry for it... looked it up on Youtube, and sure enough,

. I haven't seen a clip of WAVY using the opening cut KCRL used (which definitely sounds like it's from that package), but they certainly used the theme from the teaser and close in that clip.

 

Yeah, but I am just looking for music.

 

Haha, I know. Just messin'. It's likely production music, probably from one of the major libraries.

 

WBKB

 

wrong thread, I think you mean this one... http://forums.tvnewstalk.net/index.php?/topic/3543-the-worst-news-opens-of-all-time/

say the theme known as the "WSB 1991 News Theme" on the NMSA was composed by Cheryl Rogers, wife of WSB programming director Art Rogers. It hasn't been changed on the NMSA and I haven't heard much else beyond there.

 

WJZs chroma cues drive me crazy. To me their sonic branding is like nails on a chalkboard to a teacher.

 

 

To me, it's more the gaudy graphic animations that make this one bad... not the music. I can see the new O&O graphics somehow working with Chroma Cues. Still not the worst ever, but probably the worst O&O open out there right now. This series of Chroma Cues WJZ opens would have to be my fave...

 

 

Has the WKZX News 28 open been mentioned? I file it under the most awesomely bad opens: