Great News Teams Intros of the 1980s

When you watch the news today, they try and get you excited about their helicopters and Doppler radar, but usually just try and tease you with the news before cutting to the actions. But back in the “good old days” the news people were superstars and each team would often get a lengthy introduction at the start of each news program.

This would of course turn the news team into a pretty big deal in their home market. I do not watch the news all that often anymore on the TV, but I watched it last night, and they just played a stinger and went straight to the headlines. That’s no way to live!

So I got on the internet immediately and found some great news program intros from the 1980s, which was the last great decade for the glorification of the “news team”.

WNBC – New York

I am starting off with this promo from the mid-late 1980s from my home news station, WNBC. This is not the best promo, but when I was younger, I just loved the shot of the lightning and the Statue of Liberty, which made zero sense. Can Lady Liberty shoot lightning, or is she under assault from a super villain? Please enlighten us, Chuck Scarborough and Sue Simmons!

KFMB – San Diego

News 8 don’t need any gimmicks, accept an overused cube wipe. I can only imagine the handle you see at then end, is the cube wiper. They end on it because it obviously the most important and therefore most well paid member of the News 8 team.

WWBS – Boston

Now we are talking! Obviously, with that background beat we can rest assured that they have their finger on the pulse of Boston news.

WIVB – Buffalo

You need to sit through some promos and commercials on this video to get to the news team, but they are fun to watch, and the intro is really worth it. If you are impatient and need to skip them though, you can just jump to the 2:12 mark, but WATCH OUT…here comes a guy on skis jumping over you! I find this intro very confusing. Are they advertising a news team or a romantic mountain resort filled with fun activities? All that’s missing is footage of people taking a bath in a giant champagne glass bathtub.

WITI – Milwaukee

Jazzy is what it was all about in 1983 Milwaukee. I especially love the weatherman and his light pen and the very brief shot of the reporter headed to the field in what looks like a long leather jacket.

The web is filled with great intros, this is just a sampler. If you are interested in finding your local news just point your browser to YouTube. You will be surprised by how many you will find.