A Sad Day In Raleigh TV News
Well Friday was...
As with other NewsCentral stations (a hybrid local/national newscast run by Sinclair Broadcasting), Friday was the last night for WLFL's (WB22) 10pm newscast, which I believe had been around since 1992 (Raleigh's first 10pm newscast). The last three minutes of the newscast were dedicated to a tribute. Bob Vernon explained the situation and said his farewell. He will continue producing his "Stories of Faith" (which may have been shown on other Sinclair stations) through a national Methodist organization. It was hinted that some employees will show up at other Raleigh stations. A video montage followed, showing all the employees at the station, even those that were "behind the scenes." It was capped off with footage from the last Pre-NewsCentral broadcast, a night which also featured a tribute and heart-felt goodbyes. Finally, a black screen came up with the words "Night Y'all" (how Bob ended every newscast).
This was a CLASSY news operation, and was very successful on its own before Sinclair stuck its corporate hand in. In the late 90's, I remember hearing meteorologist Steve Swienckowski doing forecasts on G105 and I thought, let me check this Channel 22 out. I was hooked. Steve, Bob, Tracy West, and sports director Rick "Sully" Sullivan presented the newscast professionally yet seemed to have fun doing it. Then people started leaving, formats changed, and things slowly started going down hill around 2000 or 2001. Then the death knell was the change to the "NewsCentral" format in 2003.
For me, it was a shame to watch what, at one time, had been Raleigh's #3 rated news station ruined and driven into the ground. Maybe WRAL's increasing presence on Fox 50, along with popular Fox hits like American Idol, would have done them in eventually anyway (with the affiliation swap from Fox to WB in 1998 being the culprit there). But I believe the ultimate cause was Sinclair. The same thing happened to WPGH in Pittsburgh (whose newscast is now produced by NBC affiliate WPXI).
Well, it's done now, and anything additional would just be speculation or lamentation. I, for one, will have fond memories of WLFL's newscasts, am sad to see them go, and wish everyone there the best.
As with other NewsCentral stations (a hybrid local/national newscast run by Sinclair Broadcasting), Friday was the last night for WLFL's (WB22) 10pm newscast, which I believe had been around since 1992 (Raleigh's first 10pm newscast). The last three minutes of the newscast were dedicated to a tribute. Bob Vernon explained the situation and said his farewell. He will continue producing his "Stories of Faith" (which may have been shown on other Sinclair stations) through a national Methodist organization. It was hinted that some employees will show up at other Raleigh stations. A video montage followed, showing all the employees at the station, even those that were "behind the scenes." It was capped off with footage from the last Pre-NewsCentral broadcast, a night which also featured a tribute and heart-felt goodbyes. Finally, a black screen came up with the words "Night Y'all" (how Bob ended every newscast).
This was a CLASSY news operation, and was very successful on its own before Sinclair stuck its corporate hand in. In the late 90's, I remember hearing meteorologist Steve Swienckowski doing forecasts on G105 and I thought, let me check this Channel 22 out. I was hooked. Steve, Bob, Tracy West, and sports director Rick "Sully" Sullivan presented the newscast professionally yet seemed to have fun doing it. Then people started leaving, formats changed, and things slowly started going down hill around 2000 or 2001. Then the death knell was the change to the "NewsCentral" format in 2003.
For me, it was a shame to watch what, at one time, had been Raleigh's #3 rated news station ruined and driven into the ground. Maybe WRAL's increasing presence on Fox 50, along with popular Fox hits like American Idol, would have done them in eventually anyway (with the affiliation swap from Fox to WB in 1998 being the culprit there). But I believe the ultimate cause was Sinclair. The same thing happened to WPGH in Pittsburgh (whose newscast is now produced by NBC affiliate WPXI).
Well, it's done now, and anything additional would just be speculation or lamentation. I, for one, will have fond memories of WLFL's newscasts, am sad to see them go, and wish everyone there the best.
posted by Andrew at 4:02 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home