KYW-3 - 1993 - The News Tonight

News Tonight deserves some analysis, so apologies if this turns out rather long.

In 1991, new management was installed at KYW-TV, and they decided - eventually - to remake the entire station. Newscasts were cut, high-ranking (and high-paid) talent left en masse, and the "Eyewitness News" name was phased out - first at 6am and 11pm in August of 1991, then at 6pm in January of 1992. By August of 1991 the station aired just three longform newscasts per day - at 6am, 6pm, and 11pm - alongside hourly cut-ins.

All newscasts got their own individual names and looks. The 6am became "News Day", the 6pm became "News Beat", and the 11pm became "The News Tonight". All three 11pm presenters were new, with just one of them (Ukee Washington) having been at the station. Jennifer Ward came from Canada; David Rogers had been hired just a few months before. By 1993 - which is when this example dates - Bruce Hamilton was part of the main news team. Bruce was hired initially to solo anchor the 6pm "News Beat", then paired up with Jen Ward at 6 and 11. "News Beat" was subsequently dropped for a 6pm "News Tonight". The most recognizable anchors on 3 were doing mornings and weekends.

The result was perhaps one of the most tightly formatted newscasts I've seen. Segment 1 consisted of rapid-fire headlines - first local, then national, then international - followed by quick weather and sports updates - one of the chief promotional hooks. Segment 2 was a lengthy long-form "Issue Tonight" report from either Walt Hunter, Marge Pala, or Paul Moriarty - although tonight the block was used for Cheers finale coverage. The rest of the newscast was more traditional in form, with full weather and sports updates and a "Last Word" kicker story. EVERYTHING was branded with a variant of the News Tonight logo.

The station had a new identity - "KYW-3" - that heavily utilized the famous calls used on both the TV station - and more importantly, KYW Newsradio 1060. The KYW Newsradio jingle was adapted into a news theme by Bruce Upchurch, and several reporters and customs from 1060 made their way onto TV - the "KYW News Time" check was used in mornings for example. It should come as no surprise that the news director came from 1060.

"News Tonight" was a considerable flop for KYW that by all accounts took years to recover from. Larry Kane was installed as 11pm solo anchor in 1994 to provide some stability - Bruce was relegated to 6pm, while Jen Ward was let go in favor of Stephanie Stahl. "KYW News 3" was adopted for all newscasts from 1994 to 1998, when "Eyewitness News" was restored.

Perhaps owing to this experience, all subsequent KYW revamps were executed much more carefully. No changes were made to KYW's identity in the affiliation switch of 1995. When the station became "CBS 3" in 2003, the new look was carefully phased in slowly - and most importantly, "Eyewitness News" was kept.

Category:

Film & Animation

Tags:

• KYW
• 1991
• The
• News
• Tonight
• Bruce
• Hamilton
• Jennifer
• Ward

[DegrassiLover79]

This clip is actually from 93 and i'm proud to be the 1st watcher. Interesting how they changed David's part just a bit.

I think it was a great era and sadily they dropped it and Jennifer less then a year later, along with Bruce & David. Ukee's still there wow...

[HulkieD]

You know, I should have caught that - I say "1993" in the writeup and it says it in the open...

"First Weather" was added to all newscast opens to plug the weather thing.

[tmisch64]

That Hard Copy promo, what was that chromed spiky ball thing at the beginning?

[nanlisa]

I was living in Center City then. In fact, on May 20, 1993, I came hom from work sick with a cold, and I was sick the entire weekend.

[newscaster13]

They took the KYW radio signature, and made it into a news theme for KYW-TV, which lasted even after Group W sold Channel 3 to CBS, and NBC moved to Channel 10 WCAU

[BruTube]

Love it, HulkieD, and thank you for the detailed information. Really appreciate that.

[DrSurprise]

great intro! the song sounds nice and relaxing and very news like! also, the graphics seem so modern for the early 90s. i'm guessing KYW is an NBC affiliate because ET is an NBC show. also, anyone know where i can find this opening tune without a voice over?

[Macduck92]

Jennifer Ward is now up in Canada, she does the News on Canada AM on CTV

[narutomustgonow]

Also was no big fan of the Mendte/Lane Era while comuting from the west Coast to Philly up intil recently I got to see that . I actually liked Mendte and Lane as individuals but thought CBS

was trying to shove Alycia Lane down the throats (attractive news anchor ) of philly News fans . and the scandal did not help

[narutomustgonow]

Don't agreee with you this was a rather Draconian Move albeit with snazzy production values .did not like this era at all! looking back Bruce and Jennifer looked too uncomfortable doing the news and it showed. Group W was smart to scrap this abomination it just did'nt fit!. this format was more suited to something like what MSNBC is now which then I would accept but Philly news NO! no wonder why people fleed to 6 and 10.

and it makes sense for CBS3 today to call its news EYEWitness news

[wtvg1]

I never knew Bruce was working @ KYW 3. He's now @ WJXT 4 in Jacksonville, FL (doing The Morning Show from 5-9 AM)