11 COMMENTS

  1. Wow! This is nostalgic. I used to enjoy Gerri Helfman at the WTVJ anchor desk and when she was with WPLG as Gerri Cohen. I always wondered what happened with her. Does anyone know where Gerri is today?

    Also, I would love to see some vintage segments from WPLG with Ann Bishop and Mike Schneider or Glenn Rinker. Having Molly Turner would also be a plus.

    I love nostalic Miami newscast! Keep them coming.

  2. There are a lot more of those on youtube… just type in wtvj into the search, there’s almost three pages worth of old footage, going back to the 50s and Ralph Renick.

  3. wow indeed. (check out the clips after the New Years Eve clip is done….lots of vintage WTVJ/WPLG stuff). Geri Helfman, Jose Diaz Balart, Bob Weaver and Ned Smith in formal attire..priceless.

    Check out the WPLG noon news clip with Dwight, Diane Magnum and Walt Cronise( a gully washer!) I guess I had forgotten that always had those annoying mannerisms (head bobbing and facial ticks)

  4. I’m sorry if this question sounds dumb… but why did channel 4 and 6 switch way back when?

    That’s a strange thing to do. hah.

    And while I’m asking dumb questions, what market # is Miami?

  5. They switched channel placements as part of a deal involving buying affiliates in Philadelphia. Once upon a time 7 was NBC and 4 was CBS/WTVJ, till January 1, 1988, I think-then 4 was WTVJ/NBC, 7 was Fox and 6 became CBS. A few years later and the current arrangement went into effect. This also had a lot to do with 7 holding news audience over the years…they were set from 1988 on, while everyone else was juggling. A little money nugget…NBC paid $270 million for WTVJ, a powerful signal and the first station in Florida’s history. CBS only paid $59 million for WCIX/6, which was an independent at the time. This is why half the time they have infomercials on–they’re still paying off the debt.

  6. I’d rather prefer to see TVJ as NBC4 nowadays raher than to see it as NBC6, so we could have nice gfx pakages like the one of WNBC but with the golden 4-bug.

  7. This is cool, but a bit off topic here, WSVN has a New Anchor Guy Reed Cowan, hes filling in for Charles Billi on the weekend Night Team

  8. CCC,

    The “Big Switch,” as it was called, happened January 1, 1989.

    The above newscast is from just one hour before the switch took place. That’s why they’re all in formalwear. It wasn’t just new year’s eve, but the eve of the big affiliation swap. They were all going to the party at the Biltmore after the show.

    I loved the art deco look and very unique show open TVJ used at the time. It was all very Miami. Those opens, however, were very shortlived, and the set was revised not long after its debut as well.

    These days all the stations across the country have generic interchangeable sets/gfx, which is a shame.

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