Скачать или смотреть WFSB 11pm Newscast (December 16, 1988; First 9 Minutes)

The A block (cutting off just before the commercials) of a newscast from WFSB (channel 3) in Hartford, CT, the state's CBS affiliate. WFSB's news at the time was titled "Nightbeat," and in general all newscasts have been "Eyewitness News" to this day.

Don Lark and the late Denise D'Ascenzo anchor the news, with reports from Duby McDowell and Glenn Pearson, plus Dave Nemeth with snowy weather. The top story is on an approaching snowstorm (Winter Storm Bing, proving they named storms even way back then), and people shopping in droves to get their gift buying done before the snow hits. Also the largest drug bust in New England history (at the time), the presidential transition to George H.W. Bush, and a group of carolers visiting a nursing home make the news. One man Duby interviews at the mall literally did nothing but wait on his wife to finish shopping, while he watched the traffic run in and out.

This has the hallmarks (mostly anyway) of a WFSB newscast during its heyday. WFSB is still the leader in the Hartford DMA but the race has gotten tighter, plus having lost Denise a few years ago and the Meredith-Gray acquisition have caused a downfall. Here everything is on point: Don and Denise anchor the news with no nonsense, and the stories are cracked down just before the first commercial. Plus you have the TVBD graphics, which are among the best on-air looks used in the 80s.

Dave Nemeth also fills in for Hilton Kaderli, who was longtime chief until 1998. Nemeth did the afternoon weather, and in a few months he would leave for KTVX in Salt Lake City to work as chief there. Duby McDowell also left WFSB last year after hosting Face the State, as the station retooled the program and re-hired Eric Parker (after budget cuts forced him out). Lest we not forget how shrewd Meredith was leading up to the sale of its TV holdings to Gray.

The VO on the news open is Thom Allen, a client of Post-Newsweek and also a familiar VO in Florida, working at many stations there. The news theme is also stock production music; WFSB's main news theme was Gari's The One For All which was used on the other newscasts. The stock TVBD graphics were also WFSB's last with them, and in 1983 were the company's first client.

(C) 1988 Post-Newsweek Stations, now Graham Media Group; WFSB is now owned by Gray Television. No copyright infringement intended. For educational and historical purposes only. We don't profit off this video.