Samantha

There's one more KXAS piece of interest, and it does need a content warning. During a story on a hostage crisis, the hostage-taker, standing outside the convenience store where his victims were holed up, took his own life—and KXAS was in the middle of a live shot when it happened. (It happens at about 3:07 in)

WJTV's "News 12 This Weekend" in 1995: KSLA News 12 in 1998 with the Ellis-era E.Q. Vance open:

I have the audio of a 1982 6pm open (branded the "Eyewitness Newshour") but can't load the video. It is a theme not in the NMSA.

I hope you like KSTU...

Has to be 1984 or early-mid 1985, as after that Welch went to CapCities/ABC and WCCO was the final non-ABC station he serviced. (KMGH, then also a CBS affiliate, was also on his client list in '85.) Meanwhile, the full 1992 Wisconsin Broadcasters' Association awards! Highlights for TV include a snippet of WAOW with the Palmer package, WXOW in 1992 with Signature (a full two years ahead of NMSA), plus a little bit of footage of WITI's coverage of the Dahmer trial airing nonstop on WDJT. Several other WBA awards presentations are on the channel.

Tom Joles and Mari Bennett on KOB's "News 4 New Mexico" in June 1989, using the Otis Conner theme that may well have been written for them:

A happy holiday greetings from Mark Curtis (!) of KSTP's Eyewitness News in 1989:

A KOVR sports report from 1982 showing the red-white-blue (!) set they used at the time:

Some KXTV promos from 1984:

A partial KIMA open from 1990 with the CBS affiliate package of the era: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=id=PtcHI9Gf-F0;t=67

What's up on WMUR's NewsNine in 1986?

I'm just taking a wild guess — it's definitely a library, but which one I have no clue. The Battle of the Video Games clip definitely means it was out by 1983.

It's almost certainly from a production library then. Maybe it's in KPM's LP set?

That is cringeworthy!

Some sort of syndicated "alternative" program? It was apparently headquartered in the Twin Cities area. I found this on some St. Paul cultural interview schedule from 2016: "Ramsey County Historical Society Television: Medium to the Mind — Preserving the Interviews of TELLSTAR NEWS TELLSTAR NEWS, a nationally syndicated news and commentary television program, brought viewers alternative perspectives and information on critical issues facing the nation and the world; 112 half-hour interviews have been saved from its six years of production. Ramsey County Historical Society would like to conserve, preserve, and share these important stories with youth and adults within the Cultural District and Saint Paul Public Schools. Funding in the amount of $12,430 from the Cultural STAR program will enable the conversion of all interview videos into a digital format, produce four 10-minute videos for classroom use, and make all of these resources available to the public on the RCHS website." The video description says 1986-1995.

Hmm, that's the theme used by NJN. Almost sounds like it might have an image song? I can easily hum something like "People You Can Count On, 27 Eyewitness News"... (Certainly explains WXOW having that theme) Here's a KOVR newsbrief from 1981: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=id=g-mQix0sGP0;t=834

The oldest newscast on file at KTRK — August 23, 1978:

Thirty years ago tomorrow, a tornado slammed into Middlesboro, KY, killing one, causing tons of damage and resulting in this WYMT special:

WALB's 11 O'Clock Report on this date in 1988: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=id=4hV7gi4h4g0;t=46

That curtain backdrop for the talent... What were they thinking?

It sounds like the 96 theme a little bit, honestly... We really need more KXTV from this period.

A new Canadian open found: CFRN Eyewitness News from 1993: The obvious comparison is the CBS Newsnet end-80s/early-90s graphics:

The KSL late 80s pack debuted not in '89 but late in '88: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=id=OfZue5S8fDU;t=185 And who dared to trim the open from this!?

No music but some rare WPBN-WTOM material from 1993: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=id=hNct0v1R5tE;t=452 Plus this volume of commercials starts with an Ed Hopkins-voiced Jeep/Eagle ad: It appears they used the News Leader production track from FirstCom: From later in the 90s, more WPBN, including footage of their equally rare Television by Design graphics and march-like music theme:

They need to get that typeface off their weather computer and put it on their CG. Myriad, to me, always will be the default or the indicator of a missing font. That's just the way it is.