Eyewitness News

Eyewitness News, Action News and NewsCentre are the most popular television news formats in the United States and the world, doubling as newscast titles.

The Eyewitness News concept has visual elements and action video, with reporters in the field being known as "eyewitnesses" to an event to the anchor in the studio and the viewer at home.

In addition, Eyewitness News uses banter or happy talk, in which news anchors and others give their personal comments, with simple jokes or a simply modified wording in asking questions.

Conversely, Action News uses a tight format with strict time limits on set packages, a focus on young people and a focus on surrounding outskirts.

Having been a competitor to both Eyewitness News and Action News, NewsCentre doubles as NBC's response to two aforementioned television news formats.

NewsWatch and NewsChannel, besides Eyewitness News, Action News and NewsCentre, are the other television newscast titles.

Pulse is one of the interesting newscast titles.

From 1948 to 1973, John Facenda was WCAU-TV's main news anchor, and for over two decades, his newscasts were the highest-rated in Philadelphia and the Delaware Valley.

Having begun at KYW-TV in Cleveland, the Eyewitness News name was also used by Westinghouse's other television stations for their local newscasts during the 1960's.

After the KYW-TV calls, management and some staffers moved to Philadelphia from Cleveland in the mid-1960's or before 1966, its then-news director Al Primo created the Eyewitness News format.

Even though he had already been around for seven years, Vince Leonard was still KYW-TV's primary news anchor when the Eyewitness News format being created by Al Primo was introduced.

Tom Snyder is a hard-hitting newsman.

With Al Primo's Eyewitness News format, KYW-TV became the ratings leader at the time, displacing longtime leader WCAU-TV.

The huge success of the Eyewitness News format, made by Al Primo for KYW-TV, also spurred rival news executive Mel Kampmann to create Action News for WFIL-TV (now WPVI-TV).

In 1977, with the Action News format, WPVI-TV won the ratings battle over KYW-TV, and has been number one ever since.

Al Primo then took the Eyewitness News concept with him to WABC-TV in New York City, where he perfected/refined the one that he had created while at KYW-TV in Philadelphia.

By perfecting/refining the Eyewitness News format that Al Primo had created, WABC-TV became the ratings leader for the first time in its history, displacing longtime leader WCBS-TV.

McHugh & Hoffman has spread the Eyewitness News concept to many national and local television stations in the United States and the world.

Frank N. Magid Associates has likewise spread the Action News concept to many national and local television stations in the United States and the world.

Lee Hanna, who also worked at WCBS-TV since 1966, created NewsCentre for WNBC.

NewsCentre, created by Lee Hanna for WNBC, featured a futuristic studio set, made in the form of a space-age control room, which Fred Harpman designed.

Fred Harpman's futuristic NewsCentre studio set was a breakthrough look for television news.

Together, Eyewitness News, Action News and Newscentre sound the death knell with the notion that a news anchor simply reads the headlines.

During its last years as an ABC station, WTHR utilized its unconventional local television news format called Eyewitness Newscentre.

For the Eyewitness Newscentre format, WTHR combined the elements made by Al Primo's Eyewitness News format with overtones of the NewsCentre look that NBC stations used.

WTHR's Eyewitness Newscentre concept served as the template for CityPulse.

News music utilizes the rhythm of a teletype machine, Morse code or ticker tape, along with two of the loudest instrumental groups in the Western orchestra: brass and percussion.

In short, news music uses the teletype rhythm, plus the clarion call of lively, piercing tones.

Just before both the Eyewitness News and Action News formats, jaunty marches are the most misused music compositions used in both newsreels and the early stage of television news.

With both the Eyewitness News and Action News formats, news music has a more modern sound.

The practice of using music sourced from films as news themes was introduced by Eyewitness News creator Al Primo.

In addition, jaunty marches are the most misused music compositions ever utilized in both the sports segment of the newsreel industry and sports television's early stage.

Likewise, with Roone Arledge's sports television projects, sports music has a more modern sound.

Some influences for modern news music since the advent of the Eyewitness News, Action News and NewsCentre formats include John Barry, Lalo Schifrin and John Williams.

An action-adventure cue from the James Bond series by John Barry is used for Al Primo's Eyewitness News format by Group W/non-Group W stations, fittingly using the teletype rhythm.

The Tar Sequence, a music cue coming from Cool Hand Luke by Lalo Schifrin, is used for Al Primo's Eyewitness News format for ABC/non-ABC stations, fittingly using the teletype rhythm as well.

Dawn Raid on Fort Knox, a music cue from the James Bond film Goldfinger by John Barry, is being utilized as a news theme, fittingly using the teletype rhythm.

The Mission is an orchestral suite composed by world-famous Hollywood film music composer John Williams as a television news music package for NBC News.

Having consisted of four movements, John Williams' work in The Mission, an orchestral news music package commissioned for NBC News, changed the news music sound.