WNBC – We’re 4 New York!

Aside from the 1987 update, the basic look of News 4 New York had remained unchanged for ten years, from 1980 to 1990. That year brought a much more dramatic revision of the station’s overall imaging. The familiar theme was now entirely dropped for a new composition by John Hegner, a new version of the cut 4 was introduced, and the set was completely repainted to a blue-and-white scheme. The results were mixed – the set still looks good, but the brighter colors diminish the classic feeling of depth and style. Responding to diminished ratings, News 4 New York took on a more subdued, serious news feel. Pat Harper left the station, to be replaced with the much younger Dawn Fratangelo, while a returning Tony Guida replaced Jack Cafferty on a retooled, more serious “Live at Five”. The retooled Live at Five did not last long – the format was retired in September 1991 and Chuck Scarborough teamed with Sue for “News 4 New York At 5”.

WNBC, like the NBC television network, was in a general slump during the 1970s. It was usually running third in news ratings behind WCBS and WABC, which usually battled for control of first place. At the beginning of the decade, WNBC originated the “NewsCenter 4” concept, which introduced a space-age control room like set and a futuristic ticker; the “NewsCenter” name spread across the country, with the ticker theme and set design copied by a number of NBC affiliates and O&Os. This page covers WNBC from the 1970s until the first part of 1980. News 4 New York coverage follows on the next page…

News 4 New York was introduced in October 1980 and was the culmination of a major restructure of WNBC’s last-place news operation. Many of the changes were already in place when the rebrand occurred: most prominently, the new “Live at Five” news-and-entertainment format, largely a cost-cutting measure that moved most of the major newsgathering resources to the 6pm and 11pm newscasts. (Indeed, through much of the 1980s, Live at Five was positioned as a separate brand – it was “Live at Five” then “News 4 New York”, never “News 4 New York Live at Five”.) The revamp introduced a dramatic, landmark new look. Jim McAllister composed an entirely synthesized new theme with an identifiable ticker, a new dual-cut “4” design was introduced, and graphics were more polished than ever before. However, the most dramatic part of the new look was the set. An update of the “control room” theme WNBC had used for years, the design took advantage of negative space and selective lighting. The result was a distinctive, “in-depth” look that remains unique.

1970s

1980s

1990s

In 1992, WNBC was looking to update its image, as News 4 New York had fallen behind in the ratings. Under station manager Bill Bolster, a new logo and identity – “4 New York” – was commissioned, along with a fantastic new theme package composed by Edd Kalehoff. The centerpiece? An elaborate, amazing 3 minute and 30 second promo shot all over the city. While there was some criticism of the campaign as too “small market”, elements of this look stayed with WNBC for years. The logo, the general graphics style, and even the theme (reworked in 1995 to include the NBC musical logo) lasted in some form or another until 2003. The campaign has proved popular enough for two revivals. For the Winter Olympics in 2002, the jingle was resurrected as a morale-booster in the wake of the September 11th attacks. A more comprehensive revival – rivaling and perhaps surpassing the original in scope – was launched in 2007.

NBC 4 / News Channel 4

The station rebranded itself again in 1995, to reflect a newsier appearance. “NBC 4” was adopted for general station branding, while “NewsChannel 4” replaced the long-running “News 4 New York”. “We’re 4 New York” was also gone, replaced by the more serious “The Tri-State NewsChannel”. However, aside from that the rebranding amounted to little more than a name change. The music was, essentially, a revision of “We’re 4 New York” with the NBC chimes added to the melody. No significant graphics or set changes were made from 1995 to 2003, as WNBC abided by the “if it’s not broke, don’t fix it” philosophy. And WNBC was certainly not broken – this look defined a period when the station and network were dominating the ratings.

2003 Upgrade

In 2003, WNBC’s set in Studio 6B was found to have bad electrical wiring, and the station was forced to reconstruct its set in order to bring it up to code. During that time, the station decided to finally upgrade its on-air look to a much more contemporary standard. As NBC was standardizing its stations around a graphical look designed for KNBC in Los Angeles, it was widely believed the new look would echo this new house style. Surprisingly, it didn’t. A very nice custom appearance was designed, centered around beams of light and a shimmering blue peacock. This look was designed by Randy Pyburn of Pyburn Films; similar graphic designs were used previously at CNBC and later at KYW in Philadelphia. The music was composed by Rampage Music New York, headed by Pyburn’s associate James Ryan. Again, two sets were erected, one for Today In New York and Live at Five, and one for the 6pm and 11pm newscasts. The morning and 5pm set used a unique backdrop that seemed to put the studio right in the heart of Midtown. The 6pm and 11pm set was much simpler yet technically impressive: it centered around a huge backdrop of New York. However, the image was in fact a seamless video backdrop, achieved using four rear projectors and footage mounted from a hard drive. While the station looked great (and looked even better with a 2006 transition to HD newscasts), ratings began to drop due to lacklustre performance at NBC as well as cost-cutting measures that saw the departure of many of the station’s top talent.

Iconic as it was, the News 4 New York presentation package needed a refresh by 1987. The look was much more of an evolution, as the elements remain similar to the 1980 originals. The biggest change was reserved for the newscast opens, which had moved from film animation to cutting edge CGI. A new, dancier version of the McAllister theme – possibly by Edd Kalehoff – was adopted.

2008

With the successful reintroduction of “We’re 4 New York”, the revived branding suddenly began to filter through all aspects of the station’s operation. By 2008, it seemed like 1993 all over again: “News 4 New York” was reinstated as the title of the newscasts, and “4 New York” returned as the general station branding, displacing “NBC 4”. Unfortunately, it was 1993 all over again in another area: the ratings. NBC had sunk into dead last in prime time, and WNBC’s ratings sharply declined as well. The station was being hobbled by rampant NBC cost cutting – if a corner could be cut, it was. Saying that, many of the station’s wounds were self-inflicted. A decision to start a 7pm newscast resulted in a “News at When” scenario for the evening newscasts. Live at Five was cancelled, in favor of a half-hour of consumer news at 5:30. Then the half-hour of consumer news was uncancelled and a 5pm half-hour returned. The 7pm was cancelled, and the 5pm hour was back… then it wasn’t, as WNBC had decided to do a non-news local program in that timeslot. In November 2008, WNBC launched one more controversial experiment: the “content center”. Instead of writers, producers, and editors, WNBC’s staff became “content producers” for the main newscasts, a digital news/lifestyle channel, and a revamped non-news local website. The new setup was implemented in the new Studio 7E at 30 Rock, leaving the cavernous Studio 6B that had been the station’s home for decades. Is it an improvement? That’s up to you to decide…