News 4 New York
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News 4 New York is the brand identifier that WNBC-TV in New York City. It began using for their news broadcasts in 1971 to 1972, again on October 13, 1980, and again in March 2008-. Prior to this, WNBC used the NewsCenter 4 brand for their newscasts. In September 1995, WNBC rebranded to NewsChannel 4 until March 2008 when News 4 New York branding returned.
News 4 New York also introduced Live at Five, a local lifestyle-oriented show that was followed by a 6 p.m. half-hour newscast. Live at Five was discontinued in 1991, being replaced by News 4 at 5. However, it returned in 1993.
[edit] News Music Packages
- 1971-1974: Teletype ticker/NBC Nightly News Ticker
- 1980-1990: The original News 4 New York composed by Jim McCallister. A remixed update of the theme was used from 1987-1990
- 1990-1992: WNBC News Music Package composed by John Hegner
- 1992-1995: We're 4 New York composed by Edd Kalehoff
[edit] The Set
WNBC-TV used two sets during this period.
In 1980 WNBC-TV introduced their famous control room set, an update of the motif the station used as NewsCenter 4. News 4 New York (concept, graphics, music and marketing) was created by Peter Sang, Director of Advertising and Promoton at WNBC. The editoral and supervision was successfully overseen and refinded by Ron Kershaw, News Director for WNBC. The set was very large even by today's standards, allowing for more creative shot composition. The set also made creative use of lighting, discarding the basic bright, flat light approach favored by newscast in favor of a more evocative look using key lighting. This, accentuated by the fact that the set made extensive use of black, gave the set a warm but unique look. Many consider this set to be one of the best sets used by not just WNBC, but any American newscast.
The set was used for all newscasts but with a unique feature - two desks instead of one. The upstage desk, closer to the backdrop, was used for Live at Five and eventually Today in New York; the downstage desk was used for the 6pm and 11pm newscasts although the anchors frequently used the desk to toss to reporters and the weather and sports anchors.
Interesting fact: The downstage desk was first used during election coverage back in 1979 when the NewsCenter 4 set was located in studio 3B at 30 Rock while WNBC's studio 6B underwent extensive renovations. The two desk format was so liked that it was kept and eventually integrated into the design of the News 4 New York set.
The set was used for a remarkable length of time, from 1980 to 1993. The set initially featured a skyline view of New York, but was quickly changed to the more familiar monitor banks. In 1990 an attempt was made to refresh the set for the 1990s. While the basic structure of the set remained, the monitor banks were redone to make them much brighter, the lighting cues were changed to be brighter, and the set was repainted gray and blue. The changes dramatically altered the atmosphere of the program.
In 1993, when the station revived Live at Five from the Today Show set, the station stopped using the control room set. Two sets were erected, one for Today in New York and eventually Live at Five, and a main set for the 6pm News 4 New York. These sets were retained for NewsChannel 4.
