WPIX Editorial

[juvserr]

Richard Hughes was truly one in a million, and had the guts to take on subjects the news wouldn't touch - the problem today is network news depends on the big corporations that now own them, so editorializing on air is mostly disdained - one can only hope one day network news will regain the guts TV men like Hughes once had - 'what's your opinion? we'd like to know." boy do we need more TV producers like him today, RIP.

[jlovebirch]

Many thanks for this posting. I remember the earliest ones back in 1969. He did this till 1995. The only person I know of who put a human face on a TV network. And it made people feel WPIX was part of the community and listened to its viewers. That is rare and doesn't happen anymore. For more info, he has a bio page on Wikipedia.

[illphilwolny]

There is definitely something classic, old-school, nostalgia-inducing about these old WPIX editorials. RIP Richard N. Hughes.

Next time some dweeb claims they're "from Brooklyn," I'm gonna quiz/grill them with that classic question, see if they're bona-fide

[tommyrock69]

Whatever happened to TV editorials? I grew up in the NY Metro area and have lived for some time in NC, Atlanta, and now Louisville. I haven't seen one since NY.

I guess EVERY minute has to sell something these days.

I'm going to go off to a corner and be grumpy.

[Tenor5274]

do you have the Christmas editorial about keeping Christ in Christmas???? That Christmas editorial really tugged at my heart! Thanks :)

[moonbatty]

Sorry no.

[RolloSmokes]

I have the original source of this clip, from the end of an "USA Tonight" newscast from January 1989.

I really wish Retrojunk would stop ripping clips for their site without giving credit to the source. Those who post these second- or third-hand clips aren't helping matters either.

[tapthatt2012]

@RolloSmokes I AGREE!

[EarlSnohomish]

I remember Hughes from 1969 as a little kid all the way to 1992 when I left NY. He had one of the most soothing deliveries as a speaker and I can remember watching his editorials with rapt attention as a child (not that I had any idea what he was talking about :-).

[EarlSnohomish]

One other thing that I remember: the early editorials by Mr. Hughes were never on location, but always in a studio. Don't know when that changed.

[wmbrown6]

I think it was around 1983-84 when he began doing his editorials (and feedbacks) on location.

[EarlSnohomish]

That sounds about right, wmbrown6. Thanks!

[trainluvr]

This was shot in the Board of Estimate Chamber of City Hall. Hughes was a frikkin anus.

[pigman821]

He passed away.

[wmbrown6]

I can vouch for that; I saw something that indicated that Mr. Hughes passed away in 2004 at age 77. He had retired from station management around 1982 and settled in North Carolina, but traveled to New York every so often to do editorials for Ch. 11 through 1995.

[thedavisgroup]

He is most likely retired.

[witchman67]

Whatever happened to this guy?

I remember seeing his editorials as far back as 1972.

He always struck me as being someone important, especially since he came on before "Spiderman."

[tarmale]

Ha, ha! I'm crying at your comment. Yes, I thought the same thing. For some reason nowadays noone would think that but I thought he, Roger Grimsby and Bill Beutel were like the president. And although I had no clue what they were talking about I always watched and listened.

[wmbrown6]

Mr. Hughes first began his WPIX editorials in 1969, and continued through 1995.

[roanoketv]

Actually, the quote originated with another royal in the French court, another Marie from Spain. However, Marie Antoinette was commonly portrayed as childlike and naive, so the quote stuck.

[adelgado75]

I remember these so well.  Thanks for posting. I would love to see older ones too.

[euphonial]

HA! In the wake of the Miami U. football-fighting scandal, this is a beautiful piece of footage!