WWUpdate

If anyone has missed it, Part 81 of NewsActive3's compilations has an amazing collection of mostly national news opens (1952-1984), including quite a few special reports:

In 1977, a group of French Communist aerospace unionists (protesting New York's ban on Concorde flights) occupied the studios of television network TF1 in Paris just as the headline sequence of the 8PM national news was getting underway. This report about the studio invasion aired the following day -- it shows how the protesters startled the anchor, how the director then cut to a slide, and how the negotiations continued behind the scenes:

WFLD, Chicago, News Headlines (fragment), 1982:

Another Bulls-themed newscast from WMAQ in Chicago, this one from 1993 (the Newswire era): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vln4USC5hrI

Speaking of WFLD in Chicago, here's a segment of the station's first full-length newscast, 1987:

CNN Headline News, 1982 (as seen on WFLD in Chicago):

Here's another one... HSV7, Melbourne; promo and news open, 1978:

Here are some more Aussie news opens from the '60 and the '70s: GTV9, Melbourne; Today promo and open, 1968: ATN7, Sydney; open and long segment of a newscast, 1978 (starts at 2:22): HSV7, Melbourne; news open, early '70s: ABC (public); news open, 1970: HSV7, Melbourne; promo, news open and close, 1967:

And, as we've seen here before, yet another version of the theme was used by BTV in Ballarat and GMV in Shapparton:

The one used by Brisbane's BTQ in the clip above? Sorry, no, but you can hear the original version of the theme in this 1983 BTQ open, right after the "Love You Brisbane" promo: ATN in Sydney (and possibly other Seven Network stations) also used this version, but not as long as BTQ. (Don't let the word "National" mislead you, by the way; these were all locally produced newscasts, but with national and international stories in addition to the local news.)

WMAQ, Chicago, news promo, 1993: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VCPJ1-psW4

Thanks, Raymie!

KTVK, Phoenix, 5PM weekend news, 2012: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-fcSIDLaN8 KTVK, Phoenix, 6PM news, 2012: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8tgf1JroNw

WMAQ, Chicago, 10 PM news, 1998 -- during the NewsChannel 5 era: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZvIaEwCPSbU This is the first part of an extended 90-minute newscast devoted to the Bulls' NBA Championship victory. Parts 2, 3, and 4 are also on YouTube.

It's definitely real. Here are a few of comments about the open from the Australian site mediaspy.org and YouTube: "I just had a LOL moment looking at that bizarre opener. I'm going to have to see that again." "OMG, how cheesy is that 1987 Opener for Seven National News Brisbane! It makes the current Seven News Brisbane opener look half decent, and that's saying something because the current Seven News graphics (especially local bulletins from outside Sydney with little, if any animating graphics) are terrible IMO. The remix of the classic Seven National News theme isn't too bad though." "The news opener at the end of the clip is possibly the weirdest news opener I've ever seen, but then again, it was the 1980s."[/size] By the way, here is their competitor, TVQ (Channel 0 -- yes, Australia had a channel 0), from the same night -- again preceded by a few news promos: The theme is Gari's Turn to News. EDIT: Or an Australian version of that theme -- I just saw Raymie's post in another thread.

BTQ, Brisbane, Australia, 1987 -- 6PM news intro (on the day the 6PM news expanded to an hour) preceded by news and current affairs promos: (Via TVCynic at mediaspy.org)

WMAQ, Chicago, 10PM long close, 1983:

WMAQ, Chicago, news close (at 2:14), 1980:

WFLD, Chicago, news promo, 1991: WGN, Chicago, 9PM news, 1989 (the clip includes commercials; the news starts at 11:18):

WLS, Chicago, news promo, 1979:

WMAQ, Chicago, noon open, 1982:

This edition of Antenne 2's news from two years earlier contains a long report on the 1976 U.S. presidential election, beginning at the 20:10 mark:

Live from New York, here's a French TV newscast (the network is Antenne 2) from 1978, during nuclear arms talks held at the UN: Antenne 2 had a few major technical difficulties with the live link, but it's still an interesting clip; it includes reports from U.S. television -- and even a weather forecast for the U.S. following the French one.

WBBM, Chicago -- the bridge collapse dates this to 1982: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcEZOnDpYg4

WBBM, Chicago, 1975 promos: