ATLANTA NEWS OPENS 1976-77

[radiodj1520]

In This Clip, From 0:00 To 0:17, It Was WSB-TV's Channel 2 Action News At 11 Video Open From Monday Night, April 14, 1975.

[CoastersNSich]

The music at 0:40 is "Timesteps" from the "A Clockwork Orange" soundtrack by Wendy Carlos. I listened to it on Pandora just the other day.

[miamivicepastels83]

omg john pruitt and monica kaufman been on there forever....talk about job security

[ChristianTVArchive]

Noticed Jim Biondi interviewing Pete Rose at 1:00

Does it look like he might slip and ask Pete what the over/under is on the Reds' winning?

[HeyMrKong33]

Oh man. Chuck Moore, Jim Axel, and Guy Sharpe. I guess this was right before Harmon Wages came on board to do the sports. If I remember correctly, Pam Martin took over from Jim Axel. Pam Martin was seriously hot.

[blauaugen63]

Guy Sharpe! Bless his heart.

[wdmj4]

1 1 A l i v e N e w s r o o m!!! The open from Peters Productions. I had an original, audio, recording of this made in Atlanta during summer vacation one year. Instead of city scenes, the open showed 11 Alive's newly won emmy awards from different angles. It took almost 10 years to track down the production company who did the music which was used on all stations owned at the time by Combined Communications Corporation. COOL!!!!!

[RichieEastside]

Wow look at Monica with hair! And it's actually a normal color, who'd have thunk it...

[Market42Fan]

The Pro News intro at 0:49 shows what was Virgil Dominic's last on-air job. As someone mentioned earlier, then-Cleveland CBS affiliate WJKW lured him over as the news director, and he would fill that role until 1983, when he was promoted to GM. Dominic would retire in 1995, by which time the station had reverted to the original WJW calls and was newly affiliated with FOX.

[dinfg6]

Didn't Dave Michaels do WPVI and KABC in the last open around this decade.

[ttugarygregory]

The first two themes were also used by WBAP (now KXAS) Channel 5 in Fort Worth and WFAA Channel 8 in Dallas during the same time period.

FWIW the second open was close to WFAA's "the sights and sounds of today ,,,"

[assaultislove]

Great video and a great time capsule of "old" Atlanta. I see traffic was crappy back then too, LOL. Wasn't the Atlanta area back then about the size of what Charlotte is now?

[johlt]

There's that sharp guy, Guy Sharpe!

[RadioRick1460]

It was great to see those opens. You wouldn't know who might have videos for sale of Channel 2 Action News between

1972 and 1977 (John Pruitt, maybe a Jocelyn Dorsey weekender, from the Move Closer To Your World theme era)? Do you know of anyone who has the 11 Alive Newsroom, or 11 Alive News, whichever era it was, closing with the "la-la-laa-laa..." vocal ? If you do, I would appreciate your letting me know. My Youtube user name is RadioRick 1460.Thank you very much for your time.

[dmainfla]

There is a station in Philly that still uses that intro music! I go up there to see my wife's family, and every time they have that station on, I flash back to this one! Funny!

[Dook6]

WAGA was the olny station to use News Scene and EWN as its Newscast Titles . Im surprised to see WAGA using the KGO Format for News.

[LeinaStol]

That WSB theme is better than the one they use now, which they have been using for what, a decade? It's very grating and tired. This old one is not.

[rwarner1956]

Pro News was the first time channel 11 became competitive in local news — so competitive, in fact, ch. 5's sister station in Cleveland hired Virgil Dominic to get him out of Atlanta! The Pro News theme music is from "Clockwork Orange."

[newscaster13]

Which part of the Clockwork Orange soundtrack is WXIA using for the theme to ProNews11?

[ASKconard]

Dave Michaels has said his time at WXIA was a mistake, but he was an excellent anchor who was at CNN for many years.

[saturnday]

At 1:10 in the WXIA opening theme you'll see the original Hartsfield Airport main terminal building. It was opened around 1961-1962 and replaced by 1980 with the current terminal that was built south of the original.

[98148AH]

@saturnday That terminal looked rather dated even in 1977! 

[brotherbrown1984]

@saturnday about time to replace the terminal again eh?

[applesauce2100]

Can somebody explained how and why John Pruitt left WSB to head over to WXIA in 1978? Did 11 phony up alot of money for John, and in 1980 Chuck Moore left 5 for 11Alive? Did Cox fight with John when he left and did they have six month non compelete clause back in those days?

[MartinVillafuerte85]

The Action News opener is actually from Monday April 14 1975. April 14 in 1976 was actually a Wednesday.

[brotherbrown1984]

@MartinVillafuerte85 1976 was a leap year

[excuseyou77]

Wow, I never knew WAGA used the Cool Hand Luke theme.

[jcb1972]

Lazy bastard weathermen today with their fancy green screens! Check out Guy Sharpe @ 0:33. He is working that weatherboard putting the clouds and sunshine dealies where they need to be.

[jcburns]

Just wonderful. The city too busy to...well, something. Great to see Ron Becker (who was WXIA's news director at one point) on camera. I still really love the 11 Alive Newsroom theme that came right after this one...the 'in tune with Atlanta' one.

[vinnytheblade]

Okay, also got to love PRE-comb-over John Pruitt, Chuck Moore looks like he's eleven years old, and the turnover rate at WXIA was so bad before about 1978 that anyone in another market without them on the resume may be lying, and be justified in doing so.

[vinnytheblade]

Holy smoke, the old Action News theme they use on WPVI, on WSB! They had stopped using it when I moved to Atlanta two years later.

[JKing3340]

Do you have anything from when WXIA was still using the WQXI calls?

A WQXI weekend anchor from the early 70s, Don Hartley (though he may have gone by "Don Hart" at the time) was my first news director.

[tkia1979]

It is actually that of the late Art Bradley, who was one of the station's staff announcers, and midday weatherman.

[StukInBuf]

The "NewsScene 5" intro at the 0:18 mark... the V/O sounds like Don Pardo of "Saturday Night Live."

[sapphire76]

The "Pro News" theme is scary!

[StukInBuf]

Dear tkia: If you could have a set of clips devoted exclusively to those newscasts that use the CHL-Tar Sequence theme(1970-95), both opens and closes of said newscasts, that would be most excellent! Thanks a million.

[mbhfromla]

WAGA uses the same name and style as KGO's NewsScene.

[kresblain]

Not only that, the speil is virtually identical to that of KYW Philadelphia from around that same time.

[JeffATL]

OMG!!!! Where did you FIND this stuff?!?! :O I've been DYIN' for somebody to upload some vintage local Atlanta TV new promos as far back as the mid 1970s on here! God BLESS you!!! Do you have any Ch. 2 "Proud As A Peacock" promos from 1979-1981? If so, can ya PLEEEEEEEEEASE post 'em? Pretty PLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEASE??? :(

[newscaster13]

1979 was the last year for WSB being an NBC affiliate.

1980 was the first year of WSB being ABC - the alphabet network.

Didn't WSB have the local version of "You and Me and ABC," to commemorate the switch from NBC to ABC in 1980?

[pjr3200]

WAGA using Cool Hand Luke's Tar Sequence? I want to see videos of WSB, WAGA, and WXIA from 1980 to 85.

[rustyshackleford01]

Monica Kaufman (Pearson) has been at channel 2 for what, 400 years? Just kidding, I like Monica, shes been a happy face to see on my tv my whole life

[blazerbobcat]

And to think, back in the mid-1970s, WSB was the NBC (now ABC) affiliate, WAGA was CBS (now Fox), and WXIA was ABC (now NBC)! Yes, Atlanta television has changed a lot over the past 30-plus years! And Monica Kaufman now goes by Monica Pearson. How times have changed, indeed.

[applesauce2100]

WOW! This is cool and Monica and John the only ones still doing the news! They're the best!

[RGSJenkins]

At the same station! John left WSB for WXIA then went back to WSB!

[ASKconard]

Holy cow! Sweet 70's opens. They don't make them like that anymore!

[DerrickLee2006]

Thanks for posting. That WXIA open at the end was great.

Do you have anymore news opens like these from the 1980s?