Irv Weinstein

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Irv Weinstein is a retired local television news anchor. He hosted WKBW-TV's Eyewitness News in Buffalo, New York for 34 years from 1964 to 1998 and became an iconic broadcaster, well known in both the Buffalo area and in Toronto, Ontario which was within WKBW's broadcast area. Weinstein was known for his bombastic delivery and sense of humour. Weinstein, weatherman Tom Jolls and sports anchor Rick Azar have the record for being the longest running anchor team in television history fronting the broadcast from 1965 until Azar's retirement in 1988.

Weinstein's career began in radio in 1947 with Rochester, New York's WHAM. In 1958, he became news director of WKBW Radio’s "Pulse Beat News" developing the concept of fast-paced "rock ‘n’ roll radio news" with an emphasis on crime, fire and tragedy and a tabloid, over-the-top, rapid-fire delivery. In 1964 Weinstein adapted this format for television when he became news director and news anchor at WKBW-TV.

In 1968, Weinstein participated in WKBW-AM's Halloween adaptation of Orson Welles' War of the Worlds broadcast. The 1968 version had Weinstein being killed atop Buffalo's city hall by a death ray emanating from a Martian war machine.[1] Weinstein contributed to a reprise broadcast in 1998. The day of his retirement, December 31, 1998, was proclaimed Irv Weinstein Day in Buffalo, NY to celebrate his legacy in the community.

Weinstein is also remembered for a 1970s campaign promoting his newscast that used a jingle with the lyric:

"Irv Weinstein, you're really a pro!

Ya got all the news that we wanna know.

You tell it like it is and never throw us a curve,

Nobody says it like Ir-r-r-r-v !

Eye-wit-ness News (Yes-sah!)"

Weinstein, along with Canadian broadcaster Earl Cameron was an inspiration for Eugene Levy's sensationalist anchorman Earl Camembert on SCTV.

[edit] Irv Weinstein catchphrases

"Topping tonight's Eyewitness News"
"Pistol Packing Punks"
"Blaze busters"

Irv Weinstein's most notable catch phrase, "It's 11 o'clock, do you know where your children are?", has found its way into popular culture being spoofed in many movies and television shows. One notable instance occurred in The Simpsons during the episode Bart After Dark.

More recently, CNBC's On The Money begins each episode with the phrase saying "It's 7 o'clock on Wall Street, Do you know where your money is?".