Samantha

Once upon a time, a guy worked at WEAR and recorded some opens: (close only, This Week with David Brinkley; newscast still known as "Gulf Coast News 3") (WBRZ 1985 Theme!) (new cut of WBRZ '85, 3 in the Morning) (WBRZ 1985 Theme, really late) (new cut of the Hummingbird custom theme; station moved into new building)

Either 1997 or 1998. More likely their 1998 relaunch which actually made them feel like a full news operation: The "Arizona 5-Minute News" still managed to place second in the ratings, however, once KNXV's challenge faded out.

WCPO with Newschannel, 1987. Can't find this in Archive but that's where it's from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwi_y7VJw_E WFLA with Power News, early 90s: https://archive.org/details/tobacco_zlx27a00 KMOL in 1989 with Spirit: https://archive.org/details/tobacco_cox27a00 WHEC 1988 with PNP: https://archive.org/details/tobacco_erw27a00 (at 3:00 there's an open for another program using PNP, this tape is completely mislabeled)

I just learned a lot about KNXV. Now I feel sad that we have a problem getting any good footage from their early years. I would love to see the first newscast they produced.

That certainly explains a lot. WLNS, 1987 (haven't found in Archive yet): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5PoGkf-hHM (News 88) KCST, 1983: https://archive.org/details/tobacco_hkw27a00 (Ponderosa) KNXV, 1996: https://archive.org/details/tobacco_cdw27a00 (Look, that set's a spaceship!) WSBT and WNDU, c1986: https://archive.org/details/tobacco_gtw27a00 (Thematic Package for WSBT) KCNC First News, 1992: https://archive.org/details/tobacco_qry27a00 (Image IV Mk II) WTMJ 1987: https://archive.org/details/tobacco_tyw27a00 (Image Leader)

When I saw "WTSP" and "1988" (it's mis-dated, this is November 1989 judging by the story) I knew it was worth checking out. It's graphically similar to the and I suspect John Christopher Burns either was an inspiration or partially involved (this piece probably had a 3D animator do most of the work).

Me too. The Nightdesk open has Doug Bell with a mic flag featuring a Times New Roman "42", which was what the station and probably what was on hand when WBMG tried its hand at news in 1987. Seattle news opens from 1996, KSTW included!: https://archive.org/details/tobacco_qyv27a00 That sample is further validation of something that makes this special: we have materials from stations that might not be covered (like KSTW as a CBS affiliate, WBMG, WPTF or WGPR) in a more traditional collection. Most of these are high-dial, low-rated UHF outlets with news operations. The original archive's intent to capture any and all news stories about tobacco, regardless of station and reputation, is something critical for its value as one of the country's best sets of news opens. In addition, its timespan — the 1980s and 1990s — opens up many possibilities for news open finds. Here are some of the things we've learned from the Internet Archive: The WFTV 1988 theme has an image campaign/sung jingle, "People You Can Count On" WTVJ used Tuesday16 into 1988 Finds of brand new news themes galore

It might also be 4:30 only. It's not at all like the Silvertree theme ("KFMB 1992").

The Internet Archive is going crazy with new stuff: WBMG, 1989: https://archive.org/details/tobacco_iox27a00 WCIX, 1992: https://archive.org/details/tobacco_mry27a00 WHTM, 1986: https://archive.org/details/tobacco_arw27a00 (KDFW 1979 Theme) WGPR, 1986: https://archive.org/details/tobacco_ohx27a00 WTKR, 1989: https://archive.org/details/tobacco_gox27a00 KEYT, 1992: https://archive.org/details/tobacco_wqy27a00 The WGPR theme is new and ultra rare. Apparently they had a program named "NewScope". Note the WHTM open. This is interesting because each of the three stations that used this theme were owned by Times-Mirror.

The FCC held a meeting earlier this month with public interest groups and cable companies about possible limitations to SSAs.

Yes, I have. WGHP had one of the slickest looks in the country up until Fox put the clamp on the traditionalism of its New World stations. A reel from Miami, 1988. There's a semi-major find: apparently WTVJ had a program called "Newswatch" (that is not a misprint!), and even after Tuesday16 (Reel Radio for WCCO-AM) was phased out from the newscasts it persisted there. Listen at 18:40 for the Tuesday16 signature: https://archive.org/details/tobacco_lmp91f00 In fact, here's the program from 1985, with a different set and host. Yes, this is WTVJ and not WTVG as the title seems to be trying to indicate: https://archive.org/details/tobacco_epp91f00 Also, a full 1994 (ignore the title) WXII newscast with a long open AND long close from the Otis Conner WROC theme, plus about 30 minutes of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: https://archive.org/details/tobacco_ydy99d00 And KPNX's Arizona Today from 1989: https://archive.org/details/tobacco_rnp91f00 And WTSP with THE ONE FOR ALL (!!), and I know some of you from Tampa Bay have wanted to see this for a long time: https://archive.org/details/tobacco_xnp91f00 There's plenty more, including new themes/theme entries for WFSB, KTVH, KXLF, KKTV, and WFMY.

That's an incredible image for a station. TVbD graphics, one of the best music packages ever composed, and a really unconventional approach. Given the user and the station this is probably from the Internet Archive. Understandably for the focus of a tobacco repository the Piedmont Triad is one of the more extensive markets available.

WLAC's sample sounds different from all the others... And now that you point out the link to NBC... It's a different theme! For WLAC to use that theme would be like KSNF KTVJ using the NBC Newspulse theme in the 70s. When they were a CBS affiliate. That's the worst theme entry I've ever seen in the NMSA because it flies in the face of everything. (Though KOAM, which was an NBC affiliate, probably did use it.)

Listen closely: The News Image at the beginning, in the tease for the story! They probably debuted that in 1981 (at least) or 1982 (in my opinion). The News Image was out by 1984 when KTVK adopted Turn To. Which in turn was out by 1986/87 when KTVK became NewsChannel 3. I think the clip title here is an example of people still calling it that (though KTVK last actually used it in 2002/2003). Also, those Phoenix print ads are something else. I see some of them have the same KTVK 3 logo that was in the billboard, too.

Here's another one, unfortunately not as well framed but in color, from the same era. "A Very Special Season" is here on KTVK:

Not quite a video, but still a real treat of a photo. A 1967 scene of downtown Phoenix, with the Valley National Bank building (known as the Professional Building, it's a historic building but it's vacant now) and a KOOL-TV billboard for "The Big News with Bill Close":

Thanks. Didn't think it'd have a CD number that high. I know Network's music by its sound, especially the sort of stuff that stations actually used.

WKEF 1992 open with another different theme. Network Music production track, can't figure out which one:

News out of the world of public broadcasting: The future of PBS member KMBH in the Rio Grande Valley market is cloudy as the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brownsville wants out. Apparently the station can be converted into a commercial license?

That's probably 1995. It's got the very short lived "10 News" branding that was used after the station became a Fox outlet. ——— Found thanks to an NMSA tip: KECH 1986 newscast (The News Image). The station later became KWVT, then KHSP and KBSP with home shopping, then KPXG:

Perhaps some electrical work prevents them from running all the equipment necessary or something.

More newscasts: WLNE, 1993: WCTV, 6pm and 11pm from 1992: KGAN, 1983 (full newscast!): WMT, late 1970s (back half of the newscast w/ Home Country close): And a KBAK station ID with Allegro, 1994: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-IZTqxzjE0

At the Federal Communications Commission, SSAs are going under closer scrutiny, says chairman Tom Wheeler: http://www.tvnewscheck.com/article/73226/wheeler-vows-to-take-closer-look-at-ssas

There's all sorts of stuff. C-SPAN ran the Soviet evening news like clockwork: the final edition of "TV Inform" produced in the Soviet Union and the first one after the dissolution of the USSR are among the ones in their library. The next month, C-SPAN picked up the replacement program "News 1" (with a cool channel logo), and C-SPAN continued to air the Russian news regularly into 1996. (The set, open and music changed completely by August, and by 1994 they were much more polished. They got even better in 1995 with a rename back to "Vremya".) They also ran other international newscasts on occasion: here's a Croatian program in 1994, a Japanese program in 1996 (nice open music and crazy news format) and a Chinese program in English from 1997. Looking for something more domestic, perhaps? C-SPAN liked WMUR excerpts as the New Hampshire primary neared one from January 1992. There are also good chunks of newscasts from KMOV (1992) and KSDK (1993).

Pieces of Phoenix newscasts tagging along other recordings are awesome: The late Bill Denney with sports and the close to KPNX's Action News, December 1985. At 4:55 is a fantastic bumper cut of Hello News, and at 7 minutes in the close from the We're Going Where You're Going theme (whoa, was not expecting that this early!): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCD8ZgqjWp4 And there's a KPHO news/weather update with Stu Tracey at the start of this clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9K3HdpYlPPg And a KPHO promo at the end of this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JkwzWLUa0_4 The KPNX close is significant because I didn't know they were phasing in the We're Going Where You're Going campaign in 1985—but they were. Of course the next year KPNX would rebrand its newscasts, hire Patti Kirkpatrick and Bill Austin, and begin using the theme for opens.