Can Local TV Stations lend someone a copy of a newscast?

[nycnews4 12]

I e-mailed a local station near me asking them if they keep old broadcasts or if they have a file they could send me but I got no response and this was months ago. I wanted a copy of a newscast from the mid-90s but is this going way to far back or do stations even keep copies of newscasts in general?

[sanewsguy 509]

Depends on the station. Most don't, referring you to a local media monitor. Some do but charge. Wanting something from the mid 90s is too far back. The past month is usually as far back as they'll go. The stations keep copies but not for the general public. It's more or less for them to archive in case they wanted to use it in the future on a news story.

 

I know for a fact, here, KABB does not even have physical copies of the newscast. They record the control room feed (so no bugs) while the newscast is being broadcast and save it on a server as an mp4 file. They digitized their entire archive as well (but since their news operation only started in 1994, they didn't have as much to digitize as most other stations would).

[Weeters 1811]

No station that I know of archived daily tape logs of every newscast. Considering the largest Betacam SP tape holds 90 minutes, in the 90's stations would have filed away two, three, maybe four tapes a day, or a thousand or more a year, and that would have just been their shows, not the archived raw footage from the field (which is infinitely more useful than the show tape). An enormous amount of space would be required to house those tapes. Most of the time, they would have recorded the show, held it for a few weeks, maybe a month or two, then recycled the tape.

 

There may be a few exceptions for large breaking news stories, but that's about it.

[tyrannical bastard 3476]

In my past experience, it has varied from station to station. Stations are more likely to have their archives with finished on-air pieces whether it's VO, VO/SOTs, SOTs and packages. Raw footage from news is usually destroyed soon after its usage for legal reasons. This is because if a station is subpoenaed for a story that aired, the station isn't subjected to turning over material that never was intended to air.

 

In terms of other things like promos or commercials from creative services, they keep things as long as they can, especially commercial material, since it is often commissioned by a paying client who retains some rights to its use. This b-roll is usually kept in case it is needed for future work.

[Ntropolis 593]

I had the chance to see WAVY's archive room, and they have a VERY extensive archive. Not sure what it consists of, but they have stuff going back to the 80s. It's set up similar to a library card catalog.

[nycnews4 12]

If the local stations don't offer it, is there anywhere else where I could get a VHS or Clip sent to me even if it costs money?

[sanewsguy 509]

 

If the local stations don't offer it, is there anywhere else where I could get a VHS or Clip sent to me even if it costs money?

 

Call a media monitor (you can google one), be expected to pay hundreds of dollars (depending on the type and length of the clip). I thought about doing it until I saw the price.

[nycnews4 12]

 

Call a media monitor (you can google one), be expected to pay hundreds of dollars (depending on the type and length of the clip). I thought about doing it until I saw the price.

 

Wow if it's going to be hundreds of dollars than I will probably just skip this whole thing altogether. Thanks anyways.

[tyrannical bastard 3476]

Another option (depending on how old the footage) is to contact a local college or university. My last station actually donated their pre-1975 archives to the major university in town.