Television news in the United States has evolved over many years. It has gone from a simple 10 to 15-minute format in the evenings, to a variety of programs and channels. Today, viewers can enjoy local, regional and national news programming, in many different ways, any time of the day.

Origin of television news

Television newscasts began entering American homes in the late 1940s with NBC's Camel Newsreel Theatre. However, Edward R. Murrow was widely regarded as the pioneer of U.S. television news. On his weekly news show See It Now on CBS, Murrow presented live reports from journalists on both the east and west coasts of the United States—the first program with live simultaneous transmission from coast to coast. See It Now focused on a number of controversial issues, but its most memorable moment was a 30-minute special on March 9, 1954, entitled "A Report on Senator Joseph McCarthy," which contributed to the eventual political downfall of the senator. // Events and trends World War II was a truly global conflict with many facets: immense human suffering, fierce indoctrination, and the use of new, extremely devastating weapons such as the atomic bomb. ... The National Broadcasting Company or NBC is an American television broadcasting company based in New York Citys Rockefeller Center. ... The Camel News Caravan was an American television news program aired by NBC from 1949 to 1956. ... Edward R. Murrow, U.S. newscaster, pioneer in Broadcast journalism Edward R. Ed Murrow, (born Egbert Roscoe Murrow), (April 25, 1908 – April 27, 1965) was an American journalist, whose radio news broadcasts during World War II were followed by millions of listeners in the United States and Canada. ... See It Now was a television newsmagazine and documentary broadcast by CBS in the 1950s. ... CBS (formerly an acronym for Columbia Broadcasting System) is a major television network and radio broadcaster in the United States. ... March 9 is the 68th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (69th in Leap years). ... 1954 (MCMLIV) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Joseph Raymond McCarthy Joseph Raymond McCarthy (November 14, 1908 – May 2, 1957) was a Republican Senator from the state of Wisconsin from 1947 to 1957. ...

History of network news

Network news had a humble beginning. Launched in February 1948 by NBC, Camel Newsreel Theatre was a 10-minute program anchored by John Cameron Swayze, and featured Movietone News. CBS soon followed suit in May 1948 with a 15-minute CBS Evening News, anchored by Douglas Edwards. 1948 (MCMXLVIII) is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ... The Camel News Caravan was an American television news program aired by NBC from 1949 to 1956. ... John Cameron Swayze (April 4, 1906 – August 15, 1995) was a popular news commentator and game show panelist in the United States, during the 1950s. ... Movietone News produced cinema newsreels from 1929-1979. ... 1948 (MCMXLVIII) is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ... The CBS Evening News is the flagship nightly television news program of the American television network CBS. // Early history It originally competed against the Camel News Caravan on NBC, and was anchored by Douglas Edwards. ... Douglas Edwards (1917-1990) Douglas Edawrds was born July 14, 1917 in Ada, Oklahoma. ...

Camel Newsreel Theatre was later expanded to 15 minutes and renamed Camel News Caravan. The show was succeeded by the Huntley-Brinkley Report in 1956, featuring a duo-anchor format with Chet Huntley and David Brinkley. On September 9, 1963, the Huntley-Brinkley Report expanded to 30 minutes, following a similar move by CBS. It was renamed NBC Nightly News in 1970, after Huntley's retirement. Since then, Brinkley, John Chancellor, Frank McGee, Roger Mudd had been named anchor for the show. In 1982, Tom Brokaw was named the anchor of the network's flagship newscast. The Camel News Caravan was an American television news program aired by NBC from 1949 to 1956. ... The Huntley-Brinkley Report was NBCs flagship television news program from late 1956 until 1970. ... 1956 (MCMLVI) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Chet Huntley (December 10, 1911 - March 20, 1974) was an American television newscaster. ... David Brinkley David McClure Brinkley (July 10, 1920 – June 11, 2003) was an American television newscaster for NBC and, later, ABC. From 1956 through 1970 he co-anchored NBCs nightly news program The Huntley–Brinkley Report with Chet Huntley. ... September 9 is the 252nd day of the year (253rd in leap years). ... 1963 (MCMLXIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... NBC Nightly News logo, with Tom Brokaw at the news desk NBC Nightly News is the flagship evening news program for NBC News and broadcasts from Studio 3B in New York City. ... Image:Chancellor. ... Frank McGee (September 12, 1915-April 17, 1974) was a television journalist. ... Roger Mudd, born February 9, 1928 in Washington, is a U.S. television journalist. ... 1982 (MCMLXXXII) is a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Tom Brokaw Thomas John Brokaw (born February 6, 1940) is a television journalist and the former NBC News anchorman and managing editor of the program NBC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw. ...

CBS Evening News was launched in May 1948 to compete against Camel News Caravan. In 1962, Walter Cronkite landed the anchor seat, which he would eventually hold until 1981. During that period, CBS Evening News became the dominating newscast on American television, and Cronkite was often cited as the "most trusted man in America." On September 2, 1963, the show expanded to 30 minutes. After Cronkite's retirement in 1981, Dan Rather became the anchor of CBS Evening News. He was joined by co-anchor Connie Chung from 1993 to 1995. 1948 (MCMXLVIII) is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1962 (MCMLXII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... Walter Cronkite Walter Leland Cronkite, Jr. ... 1981 (MCMLXXXI) is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... September 2 is the 245th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (246th in leap years). ... 1963 (MCMLXIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1981 (MCMLXXXI) is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Dan Rather, from a telecast in October 2004. ... Constance Yu-Hwa Chung (Chinese: 宗毓華; pinyin: Zōng Yùhuá; born on August 20, 1946) is a television newswoman. ... 1993 (MCMXCIII) is a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar and marked the Beginning of the International Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination (1993-2003). ... 1995 (MCMXCV) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

ABC Evening News began airing in 1965 with Peter Jennings as the anchor until 1968. The anchor seat was then taken by Harry Reasoner, Howard K. Smith, and Barbara Walters, the first female network news anchor. In 1978, the show was succeeded by ABC World News Tonight with a trio of anchors: Frank Reynolds, Peter Jennings and Max Robinson. Jennings assumed solo anchor responsibility in 1983. 1965 (MCMLXV) was a common year starting on Friday (link goes to calendar). ... Peter Charles Archibald Ewart Jennings, CM (July 29, 1938 – August 7, 2005) was a Canadian-American lead news anchor for the ABC network from the 1980s to the 2000s. ... 1968 (MCMLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1968 calendar). ... Harry Reasoner (April 17, 1923 - August 6, 1991) was an American journalist known for his use of language as a television commentator. ... Howard Kingsbury Smith (May 12, 1914 - February 15, 2002) was an American journalist and radio reporter. ... Barbara Walters was host of 20/20 and The View. Recently, Walters stepped down to focus on her Barbara Walters Specials Barbara Walters (born September 25, 19291) is an American media personality known for her many years as the first woman network news anchor, on ABC News starting in 1976. ... 1978 (MCMLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (the link is to a full 1978 calendar). ... World News Tonight Logo in 2005 ABC World News Tonight (often abbreviated as WNT) is the ABC television networks flagship evening news program. ... Frank Reynolds (November 29, 1923 – July 20, 1983), was a TV journalist for ABC. He served in the United States army but is best remembered as anchor of the ABC Evening News (now World News Tonight) from 1968 to 1970. ... Max Robinson Max Robinson (May 1, 1939 - December 20, 1988) was a television journalist in the United States, and is best known for being the only African American network news anchor in the country. ... 1983 (MCMLXXXIII) is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Brokaw, Rather, and Jennings became the familiar faces of network news for more than two decades. But changes began in December 2004, when Brian Williams took over Brokaw as anchor of NBC Nightly News, after Brokaw's well-anticipated retirement, announced in 2002. Rather also retired from the anchor seat of CBS Evening News in March 2005, albeit quite abruptly, after it was discovered that CBS used fake documents in a report on George W. Bush's Air National Guard record. Jennings stepped away from the network anchor seat as well in April 2005, after he announced that he had lung cancer and would undergo chemotherapy. Since the announcement, ABC World News Tonight has been hosted by Bob Woodruff and Elizabeth Vargas. Jennings had not returned to the anchor chair before his death in August 2005. 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Brian Williams is the name of several noteworthy people: Brian Williams is a journalist and news anchor for the United States. ... 2002 (MMII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is the 43rd and current President of the United States. ... Shield of the United States Air National Guard In the U.S. military, the Air National Guard (ANG), as part of the National Guard, is the organized militia of a particular U.S. state and is a reserve component of the U.S. Air Force (USAF), too. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The incidence of lung cancer is highly correlated with smoking. ... Chemotherapy is the use of chemical substances to treat disease. ... Bob Woodruff is an ABC news anchor and correspondent. ... Elizabeth Vargas (born September 6, 1962 in Paterson, New Jersey) - TV journalist, is the first woman of Puerto Rican heritage to be named co-anchor of ABCs nightly newscast World News Tonight and anchor of television newsmagazine 20/20. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Today's television news

Television news has come a long way since its beginning. Today, electronic news gathering has enabled reporters to capture video and audio at greater ease and edit the footage faster than when film was used. Journalists have also employed microwave and satellite feeds, and even videophone, to transmit live video and audio signals from remote locations. Background information ENG is a broadcasting (usually television) industry acronym which stands for electronic news gathering. ... This page is about the radiation; for the appliance, see microwave oven. ... U.S. military MILSTAR communications satellite A communications satellite (sometimes abbreviated to comsat) is an artificial satellite stationed in space for the purposes of telecommunications. ... A videophone is a telephone which is capable of both audio and video duplex transmission. ...

Television news programming in the U.S. can be separated into three different categories: local news, network news, and cable news.

Local news

Many local broadcast television stations have in-house news departments that produce their own newscasts. The content of the newscasts are geared towards viewers in specific Designated Market Areas in which the stations operate. In other words, the stories have a strong local focus, and are relevant to local lives. A media market, broadcast market, or simply market is a region where the population can receive the same (or similar) television and radio station offerings, and may also include other types of media including newspapers or Internet content. ...

Network news

Three major national television networks produce regular morning shows and evening newscasts for national audiences, which are sent to local affiliate stations via special feeds. ABC affiliates air Good Morning America in the morning, and ABC World News Tonight in the evening. CBS affiliates can pick up The Early Show and CBS Evening News. Viewers on NBC affiliates can watch The Today Show as well as NBC Nightly News. The American Broadcasting Company (ABC) is a television and radio network in the United States. ... Veteran journalists Charles Gibson and Diane Sawyer, who have hosted the show since the late 1990s. ... World News Tonight Logo in 2005 ABC World News Tonight (often abbreviated as WNT) is the ABC television networks flagship evening news program. ... CBS (formerly an acronym for Columbia Broadcasting System) is a major television network and radio broadcaster in the United States. ... The Early Show title card The Early Show is a American television morning news talk show broadcast by CBS from New York City, 7 to 9 a. ... The CBS Evening News is the flagship nightly television news program of the American television network CBS. // Early history It originally competed against the Camel News Caravan on NBC, and was anchored by Douglas Edwards. ... The National Broadcasting Company or NBC is an American television broadcasting company based in New York Citys Rockefeller Center. ... Today (commonly referred to as The Today Show) is a morning news and talk show airing on the NBC television network in the United States. ... NBC Nightly News logo, with Tom Brokaw at the news desk NBC Nightly News is the flagship evening news program for NBC News and broadcasts from Studio 3B in New York City. ...

The network evening newscasts are flagships for the networks, although viewership has been slowly dwindling in recent years, because of easy access to news, thanks to 24-hour cable newschannels and the World Wide Web. Graphic representation of the World Wide Web around Wikipedia The World Wide Web (WWW or simply the Web) is an information space in which the items of interest, referred to as resources, are identified by global identifiers called Uniform Resource Identifiers (URIs). ...

The networks' morning shows are a blend of news and entertainment. They have frequent "cut-in's" with stories and weather updates from local affiliates. The last minutes of Breakfast Television (Toronto) on November 16, 2004 Liza and Kevin in the lobby Liza playing ping-pong with the previous guest (now off screen), while the camera begins to cut to Kevin for a news update Breakfast Television, also known as BT, is a Canadian morning...

In addition, the three networks produce various daily and weekly newsmagazine shows and news talk shows. Most of them are broadcast during prime time, but some air at various timeslots. These shows include 20/20, Primetime Live, Nightline, This Week, Dateline NBC, Meet the Press, 48 Hours, 60 Minutes, and Face the Nation. A newsmagazine, sometimes called news magazine, is a usually weekly magazine featuring articles on current events. ... Prime time is the block of programming on television during the middle of the evening. ... 20/20 is an American television newsmagazine broadcast on ABC since June 6, 1978. ... Primetimes logo Primetime is a general-interest American news magazine show which debuted on ABC in 1989 with co-hosts Sam Donaldson and Diane Sawyer and originally had the title Primetime Live. ... Ted Koppel on Nightline in 1995. ... This Week is one of the American Sunday-morning interview shows. ... Dateline NBC (sometimes called just Dateline) is a US weekly television newsmagazine broadcast by NBC similar to ABCs 20/20 or CBSs 60 Minutes. ... Meet the Press (MTP) is a weekly television news show produced by NBC. It started as a radio show in 1945, as American Mercury Presents: Meet the Press, and was later adapted for television. ... 48 Hours Logo 48 Hours is a documentary and news program broadcast on the CBS television network since 1988. ... The ticking TAG Heuer stopwatch from 60 Minutes. ... Face The Nation logo Face the Nation is an American Sunday-morning interview show which premiered on CBS on November 7, 1954. ...

Cable news

The advent of cable television in the United States led to the eventual birth of cable news. On June 1, 1980, Ted Turner launched CNN, the first 24-hour cable news operation. The station gained reputation significantly with its 1991 coverage of the Gulf War. Coaxial cable is often used to transmit cable television into the house Cable television or Community Antenna Television (CATV) (often shortened to cable) is a system of providing television, FM radio programming and other services to consumers via radio frequency signals transmitted directly to people’s televisions through fixed optical... June 1 is the 152nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (153rd in leap years), with 213 days remaining. ... 1980 (MCMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Tuesday. ... Ted Turner Robert Edward Ted Turner III (born November 19, 1938) is an American media mogul and philanthropist. ... The Cable News Network, usually referred to as CNN, is a cable television network founded in 1980 by Ted Turner & Reese Schonfeld [1] [2] (although the latter is not currently recognized in CNNs official history). ... 1991 (MCMXCI) is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... C Company, 1st Battalion, The Staffordshire Regiment, 1st UK Armoured Division The 1991 Gulf War also known as Persian Gulf War was a conflict between Iraq and a coalition force of approximately 30 nations mandated by the United Nations and led by the United States. ...

The success of CNN inspired many other 24-hour cable news stations. Today, CNN, CNN Headline News, Fox News Channel, MSNBC, and CNBC compete for viewers in the national cable news arena. Regional cable news operations, such as New England Cable News, Northwest Cable News, and Texas Cable News, have also gained prominence among regional viewers. CNN Headline News is a spin-off network from the original Cable News Network (CNN) television news network in the United States. ... Fox News Channels slogans are Fair and Balanced and We Report, You Decide The neutrality of this article is disputed. ... MSNBC logo MSNBC (a grammatical blend of MSN and NBC) is a 24-hour cable news channel in the United States. ... CNBC (until 1991 the Consumer News and Business Channel) is a group of cable and satellite television news channels from the U.S., owned and operated by NBC Universal, a joint venture of General Electric and Vivendi Universal. ...

The programming styles vary among these cable news channels. But during prime time, these cable news networks air programming strongly driven by their key personalities.

Current development

As the Internet become more prevalent in American lives, television news operations learn to adapt and embrace new technologies. Today, most television news operations would publish the text of the stories aired during their newscasts on their websites. Some of them, including all the network and national cable news operations, post videos of the stories for visitors to their websites. Television journalists are acquiring skills for the convergence between television and the Internet. A website, Web site or WWW site (often shortened to just site) is a collection of webpages, that is, HTML/XHTML documents accessible via HTTP on the Internet; all publicly accessible websites in existence comprise the World Wide Web. ...

Technological advancement is also changing the ways news is gathered and edited. The newsreel days are long gone. Reporters do not use film anymore. Television journalists are capturing images and sound on video and DV. Some stations even begin gathering and reporting news in high-definition television. Even editing and archiving systems are evolving, as more and more stations convert to non-linear editing systems, and storing file footage on computer servers rather than tapes. A Newsreel is a documentary film that is regularly released in a public presentation place containing filmed news stories. ... Look up Video in Wiktionary, the free dictionary Video is the technology of capturing, recording, processing, transmitting, and reconstructing moving pictures, typically using celluloid film, electronic signals, or digital media. ... A MiniDV tape Digital Video (DV) is a video format launched in 1996, and, in its smaller tape form factor MiniDV, has since become one of the standards for consumer and semiprofessional video production. ... It has been suggested that High Definition Video be merged into this article or section. ... Note: Please see National Latin Examination for the standardized test that is also abbreviated NLE. A non-linear editing system is a video editing or audio editing system that can perform random access on the source material. ... This article is about computer servers. ...

With digital cable comes on-demand news programming. News operations slowly begin to feel the burden to generate news content on a 24-hour news cycle, while keeping material fresh on their regularly scheduled newscasts. This means around-the-clock coverage. Rather than having a certain deadline for scheduled newscasts to meet, reporters have to file stories as fast as they can. Producers, on the other hand, have to find more ways to keep news stories "fresh" to the viewers. Digital cable is a term for a type of cable digital television that delivers more channels than possible with analog cable by using digital video compression. ... VOD systems are systems which allow users to select and watch video content over a network as part of an interactive television system. ...

Formats

Over the years, television news in the U.S. has evolved into a variety of formats. Local news and network news, once similar in having slow paces and low story counts, are now quite different in styles and tunes.

Traditional

In the early days, local newscasts were seen more as a public service. The style was straightforward. A newscast was divided into three blocks: news, sports, and weather. The news block was divided into national, international, and local stories. These newscasts usually had a solo white male anchor, with white males announcing sports and weather as well.

This format is no longer prevalent.

Eyewitness News

In the late 1960s, Group W, a division of Westinghouse Electric Corporation, devised a new format of local news called Eyewitness News. Reporters were hired to go out of the newsroom, become "eyewitnesses" of news stories, and record them on film. Later, these reporters were also asked to join the anchors in the studio to talk about the stories. The 1960s in its most obvious sense refers to the decade between 1960 and 1969, but the expression has taken on a wider meaning over the past twenty years. ... Group W was a subdivision of Westinghouse Electric Corporation. ... Westinghouse logo (designed by Paul Rand) The Westinghouse Electric Company, headquartered in Monroeville, Pennsylvania, is an organization founded by George Westinghouse in 1886. ... Eyewitness News is a local television newscast format, widely used in different markets across the United States. ...

The Eyewitness format also helped introduce different anchor combinations to local newscasts. The format continued to flourish, and imitated by stations across the country.

Today, most television news operations are working under some variation of the Eyewitness format.

Action News

Action News was devised by WPVI-TV in Philadelphia to compete against the Eyewitness News format. The Action News format features short stories, high story counts in newscasts, and a strong focus on spot news. The "Action" refers to the fast pacing of the newscast. WPVI-TV Action News open, 2005. ... WPVI-TV, 6ABC is the owned-and-operated ABC television stationin Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, owned by ABCs parent The Walt Disney Company, with its transmitter in the Roxborough neighborhood (shared with KYW-TV. Its signal covers the Delaware Valley area including large portions of Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware. ... Independence Hall, as it appears today. ...

Franchise News

Franchise News is a variation of Eyewitness News. Some stations decide to brand their news with slogans such as "news you can use" or "8 on your side." The newscasts at these stations tend to focus more on franchises—stories that cover a topic important to local viewers. The most successful franchises are health and consumer news. Other franchises include parenting, pets, environment, and crime fighting.

Almost every news operation uses some franchises. But a few stations build their news identities around these topical stories.

Other formats

Other newscast formats have been proven successful. The newscasts at WSVN in Miami are often regarded as tabloid news, with sensational writing and energetic reporters. Another example of this is WOIO in Cleveland, where anchor Sharon Reed infamously appeared nude on-air during a sweeps period. Many shows on cable news channels incorporate lots of talk and heated debates between anchors and guests. This format has become quite popular as well. WSVN is the FOX affiliate in Miami, Florida that broadcasts on VHF Channel 7. ... This article is about the city in Florida. ... WOIO, Clevelands CBS19 is a television station in Cleveland, Ohio. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ...

News during Sweeps

During Sweeps, newscasts often feature stories that are more sensationalized, in order to attract more viewers. Some stations save highly controversial investigative stories covered earlier for airing during Sweeps. Other times, the "investigation" even turn into something completely bizarre or out of the ordinary. In the United States the sweeps period determines local advertising rates. ...

News department at television stations work closely with promotions department during Sweeps, to create promotional spots throughout the day that will entice viewers to tune in to the newscasts.

References

• Smith, Dow (2002). Power Producer: A Practical Guide to TV News Producing, Washington: Radio-Television News Director Association. ISBN 0-9678432-0-0.
• TV News in the Fifties. URL accessed on August 4, 2005.

August 4 is the 216th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (217th in leap years), with 149 days remaining. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

External links

• Radio-Television News Directors Association — the association of electronic journalists
• mediabistro: TVNewser — "the news about the news"
• TVSpy — TV industry news, jobs and contacts
• Lost Remote TV Blog — "where TV finds the future"
• Inside Cable News — "unvarnished news & opinion on cable news"