T.L. Hughes

FTS is expanding newscasts at its stations in New York City, Washington, Phoenix, Detroit, Minneapolis, Charlotte and Tampa. Among the additions include the return of noon news at WNYW after a nine-year absence, and new hour-long newscasts at 4:00 p.m. on KSAZ and WTVT, and at 5:00 p.m. on WJZY. News expansions will also occur in two other markets to be named later.

BTW, how long did that set (which has a vertically skewed version of the tri-lined "4") and newsroom paint job last? A brief glimpse of the set appears in a promo from around 1990 that was featured in Bob Barry Jr.'s memorial retrospective reel, though a tape I have from early summer '92 that included a few KFOR news promos (including a "Fresh News" promo promoting the 10:00 p.m. newscast) showed that the newsroom had already been repainted all white, and the station had converted its set to the "working newsroom" structure that was used until 2006 (after the wall that separated the anchor desk from the newsroom was removed).

A similar situation happened in Milwaukee, too. From 1990 to 1992, WTMJ branded itself as "Milwaukee's 24-Hour News Channel," while WISN branded as "Your 24-Hour News Service". Other than these instances, for the most part, the "24-Hour News Source" format wasn't used simultaneously among competing same-market stations in very many places during the period it was widely used.

And, apparently, KFOR's 1990-92 graphics package was a somewhat better put together version of KREM's package of that same period. As for the 1994 graphics, I didn't know that Television by Design was responsible for the KRON package; I'm just saying both packages are similar enough that they could be made by the same firm. Unless KFOR got someone who could do a knockoff that could convincingly pass for a TVBD package. KRON (1995-99): KFOR (1994-97) - Again, the opens are all we have to go on as far as YT content goes, since there yet has to be an upload of a partial or full KFOR newscast during that timeframe: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=id=epUvR-XhlIw;m=11;s=21 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=id=ba9FA6rL6_U;m=8;s=56

One white whale spotted. In addition to some of the other Oklahoma City TV news white whales on our wish list, I think one should be complete KFOR newscasts from between 1994 and 1997. NewsActive3 has a couple of opens from that period, although those were culled from editions of NBC Nightside. The graphics KFOR used then were the best they ever used prior to the modified version of the Tribune Fox package they introduced last August. I'm not sure, but the '94 package may have been made by the same firm that created KRON's 1995-99 graphics package, there are a lot of similar elements in both. (I do have a video featuring most of a 4:30 p.m. newscast from early 1997, but I can't upload it since I don't have a capture card plus my laptop is being repaired.) BTW, the "24-Hour News and Information Source/Station" slogan introduced with the "4 Strong" rebranding was the subject of a legal challenge filed by KOCO days after it took place. From Wikipedia (with articles from The Daily Oklahoman about the case linked in the quote): Within months, KFOR switched to obliquely referencing its 24-Hour News Source format in the news slogan it used until the fall(?) of '97, "Where the News Comes First, 24 Hours a Day," which was also used by sister station WHO during that period. In hindsight, KFOR's on-air look during the News Team 4 era was basically a knockoff (unintentional or not) of KOCO's then-recently-introduced John Christopher Burns package. The "4 Strong" branding is even reminiscent of KOCO's "5 Alive" moniker.

Yeah, that seems kinda piddly. Even when it was an independent station or a UPN affiliate, WJAX was more than likely worth more than that.

A mix of severe weather coverage from KFOR, KOCO and KWTV from July 20-21, 2000 (a line of severe thunderstorms packing straight-line winds moved through Oklahoma on that night):

Some KOKH material between 1997 and 2000, and more KWTV material from between 1988 and 1991 is also needed, too.

KSTP anchor Chris Egert is recovering from a partial amputation he had in December, and has already received his partial prosthetic leg. Egert's decision to undergo amputation pertains to years of ankle pain, what seems to be an atypical reason for one.

I could... if I had a video transfer card... and a laptop whose hard drive wasn't in the process of failing. At this point, I'm posting here from a library because of the latter.

About the KFOR open, I think it originally featured the custom 1990 theme when it was implemented. I have a tape that features a partial 24-hour news update from c. 1992/early '93 that included a slightly updated version of the original 1990 theme being used with that same graphics package; presumably, the Newsmusic Central theme didn't get introduced until sometime between May sweeps and September.

Which includes a borderline knockoff of WSVN's graphics package of the same time period. BTW, when did KTVI launch a 6:00 p.m. newscast? In the close of the first clip, Tom O'Neal noted that, in 1994, the station only ran its weekday evening newscasts at 5:00 and 10:00 p.m. (Ironically, the same timeslots that KDNL aired its evening newscasts from c. 1996? until its news department folded in 2001, as it did under the KSDK news share and now does for The Allman Report.)

And a few more... A KNXV 5:30 p.m. newscast from May 14, 1999: [MEDIA=vimeo]243397434[/MEDIA] A WISH-TV 6 p.m. newscast from October 19, 1999: [MEDIA=vimeo]243536472[/MEDIA] A 10 p.m. newscast from WJRD (now WVUA), again from August 29, 1998: [MEDIA=vimeo]243536746[/MEDIA] A WBZ 11 p.m. newscast August 16, 1998: [MEDIA=vimeo]243537918[/MEDIA] And finally, a WTHR 11 p.m. newscast from October 18, 1999: [MEDIA=vimeo]243537517[/MEDIA]

A few late '90s newscasts recently uploaded by Compubit (JRD) that were not mentioned here... WPGH's Ten O'Clock News (when the station still had a news department) from March 14, 1999: [MEDIA=vimeo]243537154[/MEDIA] A KPHO 6 p.m. newscast from February 3, 1999: [MEDIA=vimeo]243397722[/MEDIA] A WHEC 11 p.m. newscast from August 26, 1998 [MEDIA=vimeo]243535721[/MEDIA] A WUHF 10 p.m. newscast (during the days of its former in-house news department) from August 26, 1998 [MEDIA=vimeo]243536124[/MEDIA] A WHEC 11 p.m. newscast, also from the date above: [MEDIA=vimeo]243535721[/MEDIA]

Now, that theme is available on the NMSA, identified as the "KTAL 1997 News Theme". I still think, though, that the theme is actually production music. Hopefully, now that we have a sample of it, the composer can be identified.

The concept sounds a lot like the pre-2005 format of HLN or the now-defunct All News Channel, though the name contradicts the notion that it would be a national news channel. I wonder, though, if it does raise the funds to launch, if they'll lease time to potential broadcast affiliates to allow them to produce hourly news updates as a means to attract affiliate partners to the service.

A couple of things to unpack here. One, the 'stache that Kelly Ogle is sporting in the clip; and two, his obvious attempt not to speak in his Oklahoma drawl.

Actually, I submitted that sample a few weeks ago, but it was a lot longer when I emailed it to the NMSA's webmaster. The audio file included three cuts, two from the aforementioned sports and political promos that I culled from the respective YT clips (the only ones that were high quality) and excerpts from one of KFOR's "24 Hour News Source" updates and a 10:00 p.m. promo that were featured on a VHS that I found in my house a few years ago. The tape was recorded -- presumably by my mom -- in the summer of 1992, and included large portions of two "NBC Monday Night Movies" taped off of KFOR (the audio clips from that tape I had to record to WavePad using my earbuds, since I don't have a video capture card). The high quality cuts were meant to be included in the sampler, as was the news update intro that the NMSA opted to use as a sample open, since the tape didn't have an actual newscast from that period on it. The same tape also includes some footage from KOCB during that time period. I should note, though, that from what I saw on the tape, some elements of the "News Team 4" graphics package looked like a knockoff of KOCO's John Christopher Burns package of that same timeframe. BTW, Finally... someone has a full KDFW newscast from the early Fox era! I've also seen a couple of clips already available on YouTube (one of which was included in a compilation of the station's news opens I uploaded a couple years ago), and IMO, their 1995-97 graphics package was pretty slick and probably the best package that KDFW ever had.

KTEN-DT3 (the station's ABC-affiliated subchannel) uses a major ripoff of WGN's graphics package, with ABC Modern replacing Proxima Nova in the talent bumper. The confusing part is that KTEN now brands its ABC subchannel's newscasts as ABC 10 First News, but its website still refers to the subchannel as "ABC Texoma" (with two different logos for the main page and the subchannel's page, respectively). Anyone know if this is either just an oversight on KTEN's part or does KTEN-DT3 not use the "ABC 10" name universally?

After 37 years at WISH-TV, David Barras is retiring. He will step down as 5:00-7:00 a.m. and midday anchor on December 1, 2017, a date which he revealed in a Facebook post announcing his retirement to have once jokingly claimed was his projected date of retirement when he interviewed to become an assignment reporter at the station in 1980. http://wishtv.com/2017/08/09/david-barras-to-retire-after-37-years-at-wish-tv/ http://www.adweek.com/tvspy/indianapolis-news-legends-says-hell-retire-come-december/192932

I might not bet on Tegna acquiring WSKY. If David Smith and crew don't decide to shell it, Tegna may attempt to snag WTVZ from Sinclair to make that station the duopoly partner of WVEC. Either way, if Lockwood decides to drop out of the broadcasting biz, both stations are fair game. But I think that WSKY may either end up SSA bait for Nexstar or stay a standalone operation.

Here's the first nine minutes of KWKT's 9:00 p.m. newscast from July 10, just days into the station's in-house news operations. Their graphics package looks almost like an updated version of the graphics Tribune developed for its pre-Local TV-purchase Fox affiliates.

The closing theme at the beginning of the video sounds weirdly similar to the theme All My Children was using during that same timeframe.

FTR, there are a lot of white whales when it comes to news clips from Oklahoma television... not just Oklahoma City, but Tulsa, Ada and Lawton too. Sticking to OKC, besides the lack of news clips from KFOR during the early 1990s, other opens absent from YouTube from stations in the market include: * KFOR: 1994-96 (two clips from the second generation version of the graphics used during the run of the "KFOR Custom Package" is available on NewsActive3's channel, I don't remember on which compilation); * KOCO: Pre-1986 (there are some clips from that era on YouTube, but none from any actual newscasts), 1993-94, during the final year of the "5 Alive" era (when the station replaced the 1986 version of the logo with a block version, upon the adoption of a short-lived graphics package that preceded the first iteration of the "Circle 5"), 1994-96 (an updated version of the graphics package from the "Primetime News" era, after KOCO began branding as "Oklahoma's Channel 5/Oklahoma's 5 News", is available on one of NewsActive3's compilations) and 1997-98 (a short-lived package used during the transition from "Oklahoma's 5 News" to "Eyewitness News 5"); * KWTV: 1990-97, during the latter half of the "Newsline 9" era (a clip featuring what I assume is the 1986-89 graphics is on NewsActive3's channel) and 1997-2001, the first generation of the "News 9" branding era; * KOKH: 1997-1999, a relatively short-lived gold package used during the "Stravinsky" era; 1999-2000, the year prior to the renaming of the 9:00 p.m. newscast from "The Nine O'Clock News" to the "Primetime News at Nine" (there is a complete 1997 edition of the 9:00 p.m. show, using the initial 1996 package, available on KOKH's YouTube from the date of Murrah Building bomber Timothy McVeigh's sentencing), as well as anything from the "Newstouch 25" era pre-Fox-affiliation

Doubtful they'll do that. Even with the divestitures they chose to make, they would be just enough under the market cap where it would be able to keep WISH/WNDY. Not to mention that there is no ownership conflicts between MG and Nexstar in Indianapolis, so...