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It may get a little boring with so many quick opens so you may want to advance the playhead a little,
but here is the evolution of WRAL, today arguably too liberal and pushing diversity a little too much, as shown through their news opens dating back to the the early 80's.
Those beginning opens may seem cheesy, but they were ahead of the local news productions at the time. just search for the news opens of the local tv stations in the early '80s in other cities e(ven in NY and LA)if you don't believe me.
WRAL has always been on the cutting edge, it was the CBS affiliate for satellite TV back when local news stations weren't offered with satellite tv systems. So everyone in the Eastern time zone in the entire Western Hemisphere was watching severe thunderstorm alerts in Harnett County for many years, lol, from the Bahamas to Nova Scotia.
The current 5 logo debuted around 1992, so that will delineate the clips in this montage.
They implemented computer graphics very early on and were one of the first to show an open newsroom as the backdrop, probably because the downtown skyline was so lame.
One of those early intro with the camera doing a semicircle around the anchor desk still looks good today in my opinion.
My favorites are the dramatic music and first appearance of the new 5 logo. This by the way was right as the area started to prolifically grow as it was named the best place in in America to live around 1993 or 1994.
Also the intros showing the helicopter along with "North Carolina's news leader" when it was the first in the world to broadcast in HD and later the first to switch all digital in its newsroom. The producers of American Idol showed the entire news open when Clay Aiken was a contestant and visited the station. So even in Hollywood they thought it was worth showing on American Idol.
It remains a top tier station and has first crack at interviews of actors from the network shows.
Still though, they have responded to every comment I've sent to them, even when I said they're getting too liberal in their editorials, lol.
I love their backdrops today, and trust me, they offer more in depth reporting about other things than in most cities.
Here in Atlanta all of the stations merely read down the long list of crimes that day, and then repeat. We never get meaningful reports about the highways or other projects or social programs like you get there.
You are lucky to live in an area that prioritizes quality over quantity.
It may get a little boring with so many quick opens so you may want to advance the playhead a little,
but here is the evolution of WRAL, today arguably too liberal and pushing diversity a little too much, as shown through their news opens dating back to the the early 80's.
Those beginning opens may seem cheesy, but they were ahead of the local news productions at the time. just search for the news opens of the local tv stations in the early '80s in other cities e(ven in NY and LA)if you don't believe me.
WRAL has always been on the cutting edge, it was the CBS affiliate for satellite TV back when local news stations weren't offered with satellite tv systems. So everyone in the Eastern time zone in the entire Western Hemisphere was watching severe thunderstorm alerts in Harnett County for many years, lol, from the Bahamas to Nova Scotia.
The current 5 logo debuted around 1992, so that will delineate the clips in this montage.
They implemented computer graphics very early on and were one of the first to show an open newsroom as the backdrop, probably because the downtown skyline was so lame.
One of those early intro with the camera doing a semicircle around the anchor desk still looks good today in my opinion.
My favorites are the dramatic music and first appearance of the new 5 logo. This by the way was right as the area started to prolifically grow as it was named the best place in in America to live around 1993 or 1994.
Also the intros showing the helicopter along with "North Carolina's news leader" when it was the first in the world to broadcast in HD and later the first to switch all digital in its newsroom. The producers of American Idol showed the entire news open when Clay Aiken was a contestant and visited the station. So even in Hollywood they thought it was worth showing on American Idol.
I love their backdrops today, and trust me, they offer more in depth reporting about other things than in most cities.
I can't understand why anyone would be even remotely interested in watching old intros from a local newscast.
Quote:
Originally Posted by architect77
Jim Payne, who's been at Orlando's WESH ever since, is the best-looking male anchor WRAL has ever had in my opinion.
Well, there is that, if you're into that sort thing. Not that there's anything wrong with that of course.
Last edited by Edward Teach; 02-19-2020 at 03:39 PM..
When Ted Turner was creating the new network called CNN, Charlie Gaddy was one of the first anchors that he tried to hire. Mr. Gaddy had just signed a contract with WRAL (his first one despite having worked there for a number of years), and was unable to join CNN because of that.
The Goodmon family (owners of WRAL) have done more to reinvigorate downtown Durham than anyone else.
Last edited by Mr. Raleigh; 02-19-2020 at 04:16 PM..
Bobbie Battista went on to CNN then Georgia Public Broadcasting.
Adele Arakawa retired after a long run in Denver.
Donna Gregory went on to MSNBC; she's been on air recently in Wilmington.
Tina Seldin has done NC Lottery announcements; she is active in local singing and theater.
Pam Saulsby went on to WNCN, then became a substitute teacher in WCPSS.
Renee McCoy switched to PR as a career and is in Charlotte.
Lynda Loveland did radio for a while and then switched to PR.
Valonda Calloway went on to WNCN and now does commercials, MC gigs, etc.
Kelcey Carlson is on air in Minneapolis.
"but here is the evolution of WRAL, today arguably too liberal and pushing diversity a little too much, as shown through their news opens dating back to the the early 80's."
You should have watched WRAL's evening news in the early 70's when Jesse Helms was a VP at the station. His nightly editorials made Jerry Falwell look like a pinko commie. And his cohort Chub Seawell, who appeared occasionally as a guest editorialist, was even more conservative.
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