Eyewitness News

Staying with the subject of NBC, another innovative television station was KYW-TV.

Al Primo, a noted innovator in television news born in the Appalachian region, created the innovative Eyewitness News concept at KYW-TV in Philadelphia in the mid-1960's.

Just prior to Al Primo's Eyewitness News, news reporters were being used behind the cameras to avoid paying extra fees; this was the format of a radio-style newscast.

Due to Al Primo's Eyewitness News, news reporters made their appearances with their own story.

By relocating from Philadelphia to New York City, Al Primo's Eyewitness News concept innovated the happy talk trait, in which anchors and reporters have a light-hearted conversation.

In addition, the New York version of the Eyewitness News concept via Al Primo opened new doors for female and minority journalists in major markets.

Happy talk is a trait being used in television news, in which, instead of a simple handoff to some news personnel, anchors can use informal ad-libbed humour.

Even so, the Eyewitness News title originated in Cleveland, which is another place using the KYW-TV letters, but also a place near the Appalachian region.

Back to Philadelphia, WFIL-TV developed Action News, which has stories in 30 or 45 seconds.

British Columbia Television (BCTV)

British Columbia Television (BCTV) is the former on-air name for CHAN-TV, which is a local station covering British Columbia.

Despite its CTV affiliation from 1961 to 2001, BCTV (CHAN-TV) used its distinctive presentation.

Some of the key drivers that pushed BCTV towards its unique presentation, in spite of its CTV network affiliation, included home-grown ownership and its conflict with CFTO-TV in Toronto.

Western International Communications (WIC) was a media company based in Vancouver, under which BCTV defended Western Canadian interests over national Eastern-based media mandates.

For BCTV, it uniquely operated in the form of an independent station, despite its CTV affiliation.

The Pacific Dogwood flower, which serves as British Columbia's provincial flower, also serves as an iconic and famous symbol for BCTV from 1973 to 2001, refined in the mid-1990's.