WABC begins roll-out of new music

[nynewsguy]

This is the week that WABC will be rolling out the new music signature in the newscasts.
Look for changes to the openings... not graphics wise, but with the EWN NG5 signatures recently created by Gari.
It's possible that there will no longer be talent opens....

[WCAUTVNBC10]

Umm. I don't think a NG4 has even come out. So where are you getting your info from?

[NYNews]

Originally Posted by nynewsguy

It's possible that there will no longer be talent opens....

I don't know why they even have talent opens, since the anchors introduce themselves at the start of the program already. It's redundant.

[nynewsguy]

Originally Posted by WCAUTVNBC10

Umm. I don't think a NG4 has even come out. So where are you getting your info from?

Sorry, I meant EWN series 5, not NG. it's a package that was designed exclusively for WABC by Chris Gari.

[nynewslover]

they already started using the new music and open on the 6pm

[Vlad]

They are still using the current bumper from Eyewitness News Series 4. And regular opens as of the 5:30PM broadcast. They have started to use even more new Station ID cuts from that same package as of yesterday. Its not suprising for WABC to do this tactic, they usually unveil music well after a major graphic overhaul as they did back in 1999, when they had changed their graphics in 1998, but they actually continued using the Series 1 music (Without Talent Opens) untill November of that year to switch to Series 4, what they use right now, which is likely to change to Series or NG5? As we're told.. I hope its nice, the music they have now, although very redundant and played out at this point, as they've been using it for 10 years, is still really nice. There is actually a Series 5 of Eyewitness News available too as well, so my assumption is that it may actually be the New Generation 4. Chris Gari had composed most of the New Generation packages as well. As for the Talent Opens, I also agree that they are at this point no longer viable in newscasts as they have been abandoned by many stations for the most part. At one point, they've abandoned them, before and it looks like they may likely do so again, this time, permanently as talent opens are no longer the trend for newscasts anymore and are essentially "out of style" so to say, lol. Most modern broadcasts tend to have quick opens, to quickly deliver the news to viewers. WABC is actually the only Station this area that uses them as WCBS, WNBC, and WNYW and WPIX have all abandoned them..

[IceManNYR]

For the 6pm newscast Diana & Sade tossed directly to Bill and Liz at 5:58pm and they did the preview of the 6pm newscast with the new music under it.
There was no formal talent intro.

[Vlad]

Originally Posted by IceManNYR

For the 6pm newscast Diana & Sade tossed directly to Bill and Liz at 5:58pm and they did the preview of the 6pm newscast with the new music under it.
There was no formal talent intro.

Yep the new music has just taken effect for the 6PM broadcast. No more talent opens, and it was a quick toss from Sade and Diana to Bill and Liz. Whom were all seated at the same set. So they must be really cramped in that set, knowing how small WABC's set is, lol. There are also no voice overs from Charlie Van Dyke for the new music yet. So you can hear it clearly for now. I guess its just way too early, I'm sure that'll change soon though. Overall, the cut is definitely suitable for WABC and it is something that you'd hear in a New York area, very assertive much like the predecessor for an area like New York which is often harder and more serious, comparing to newscasts in the other DMAs such as Los Angeles and Miami and etc. Its definitely much better than what they used before, not significantly but it is current and modern. Hopefully they'll have different cuts for different hours, like WCBS. But so far so good. Since today is the first day, the change may more than likely be gradual and will occur overtime, rather than instantly since they have to reprogram all of their soundboards and equipment with the new music. The bumpers are still the same though so apparently for now all they've changed so far was just the Open. Close is still the same as well.

[IceManNYR]

On an un related note, one of the mics used by Bill or Liz had a real bad grounding hum the last half of the newscast.
I was surprised they did not swipe mic packs or have a backup pack for problems like that.

[nynewslover]

Originally Posted by Vlad

Yep the new music has just taken effect for the 6PM broadcast. No more talent opens, and it was a quick toss from Sade and Diana to Bill and Liz. Whom were all seated at the same set. So they must be really cramped in that set, knowing how small WABC's set is, lol. There are also no voice overs from Charlie Van Dyke for the new music yet. So you can hear it clearly for now. I guess its just way too early, I'm sure that'll change soon though. Overall, the cut is definitely suitable for WABC and it is something that you'd hear in a New York area, very assertive much like the predecessor for an area like New York which is often harder and more serious, comparing to newscasts in the other DMAs such as Los Angeles and Miami and etc. Its definitely much better than what they used before, not significantly but it is current and modern. Hopefully they'll have different cuts for different hours, like WCBS. But so far so good. Since today is the first day, the change may more than likely be gradual and will occur overtime, rather than instantly since they have to reprogram all of their soundboards and equipment with the new music. The bumpers are still the same though so apparently for now all they've changed so far was just the Open. Close is still the same as well.

This is NOT the first night they did this... they started doing it like last Thursady or Friday