I grew up in NJ with no cable (the HORROR), but we could pick up both NYC and Philadelphia over-the-air TV stations. Over Thanksgiving I went home and watched a bit of this TV.
I couldn’t help but notice that the Philly newscasts are very unimpressive in terms of production values. The intro to Channel 6 Action News looks like it was produced in 1982 and they’re still using the same tape. I think they even have a shot of disco in there. My brother insists they still use a wooden map with grey clouds and little sunbursts stuck to it during the weather. Which I didn’t get to see, but that’s just sad. On the other hand, NYC newscasts pretty much look the same quality as network newscasts. Nothing unusual to them at all in my opinion. I’m in Connecticut now, and Hartford has much better production values as well.
What’s up with this? Isn’t Philadelphia a rather large city/market? If their news is this crappy looking, what does it look like in real sparsely-populated rural areas?
I used to think that the news out of Philly looked a on the poor-quality side, then I moved to Augusta Georgia’s broadcast area. Makes Philly look a lot better in comparison.
And I would imagine that WPVI Channel 6 Action News’s intro can’t go too far back. They would have had to at least re-shoot part of it when they lost their weatherman to that skydiving accident back in the 80s.
A. If you think Philly news isn’t so hot, try Syracuse, NY. One channel actually has undergrads in full producer positions.
B. squid, you can go take a long walk down a short pier.
Actually when I visited NYC I noticed and my friend even mentioned this to me that the NYC newscasts are no where near as good as Chicago. Certainly the anchors are no where near as personable as Chicago.
It is really what the Market bears. Why improve design if it will not increase rating to offset the cost?
Yeah, Channel 6 Wpvi still has the same Action News jingle since the 70s!
“Move closer to the world, my friend,
take a little bit of time,
move closer to the world my friend,
and you’ll see…”
BTW, the weatherman who died in the skydiving accident was Bill O’Brien. I went to a Phillies game later on in the week and they had a moment of silence for Bill…50,000+ going absolutely quiet, that was just awesome to behold
That’s Jim O’Brien. He was the father of Peri Gilpin, who’s on the show Frasier.
The reason WPVI’s news isn’t as flashy as most of the others is because it’s always been the highest rated and has a very loyal following. They’ve always been careful not to make too many changes and risk losing some of their fans. Several years ago they updated their theme (same song, just a new rendition), and there was an immediate uproar from enraged viewers. Within a couple days they went back to the old theme.
It wasn’t that long ago that they finally switched to computerized maps for the weather forcasts. Before that it was funny watching the fancy technology on the other channels, then turn to channel six and see the weatherman sticking the magnetic numbers and smiling clouds to the map. Even after they went high-tech, for a long time they designed the computer graphics to look exactly like their old magnetic boards…
I grew up watching Mr. O’Brien, and had no idea he’d died. How awful.
There’s that fine line between wanting to buy ever new widget and gee-gaw that you see at the annual N.A.B. show in Las Vegas, and the attention due to the viewer’s tastes and loyalties. For many years ( and possibly still today ), Channel 6 was RIGHT across the street from Channel 10. They were head to head competitors and would work hard to be different. As times moved on and Channel 6 really kept a tremendous viewer base, it’s reasonable to think they’d go with the old ways.
Funny about that theme song. I loved those guys. I loved KYW a bit more, and watched them with more regularity.
[hijack] speaking of keeping the old ways, I drove down into Philly on Thanksgiving morning last week and heard Pierre Robert on WMMR. I called in, got a quick phone interview in and he did a song for my 12 year old son who was in the car with me. BIG time score for Daddy Toons !!! Nice to hear Pierre after 21 years, still doing his thing. [/hijack]
Speaking of Philly news, have any of you guys seen Ch. 29 WFXT news reporter Jennaphyr Frederick? She resembles Melanie Hutsell from early 90s Saturday Night Live. Everytime I see her she appears to be on the verge of a complete breakdown.
WFXT? Is that a typo, or is something wierd going on here? I know WFXT is Fox in Boston, and I thought call letters were unique. I assume it’s just a typo, but I want to be sure.
Speaking of Philadelphia and local news, what is the deal with Glen “Hurricane” Schwartz? Why would a grown man continuously have to be referred to as “Hurricane”? Folks from Philly, how long has this guy been know as this? I was in town during this past week’s storm, and the news anchor (and everyone, for that matter) referred to him as Glen “Hurricane” Schwartz every time. Even when his name popped up on the screen, it read Glen “Hurricane” Schwartz. What is this guy, 12 years old? I’ve never seen such a conscious effort to create an identity for a newscaster. I’ve never seen Bob “Scoop” Johnson, or Bill “Sporty” Larue.
I had to turn the channel. Gah! It annoys me just thinking about it.
Nice to hear Pierre after 21 years, still doing his thing. [/hijack]