International News Presentation: Past and Present

Is it operated or affiliated by/to sky news? It is too similar to either be a Coincedence or for them to say that it was branding inspiration.

Does the guy have fangs in the last photo?

I haven't a clue sorry.

HSV 7 Melbourne 1987. How not to run a TV station.....

Not a bulletin, but a spoof from the Christmas tape featuring the newsreader at the time, Greg Pearce.

The station was taken over in early 87 by Fairfax, who as well as owning newspapers (The Age & The Sydney Morning Herald among others) also owned the 7 network stations in Sydney & Brisbane. Apparently the working relationship between the Melbourne & Sydney 7 stations was not the best, so when the takeover happened, the Sydney managers brought in by Fairfax started to turn the station into a relay of ATN 7 Sydney. The first thing they did was to cease Aussie Rules Football broadcasts - unthinkable today where networks fall over themselves to pay hundreds of millions for broadcast rights. Although the football season hadn't started, this happened in the middle of the pre-season comp, so the VFL (later AFL) had to quickly find a network willing to show games. The ABC ended up showing football for the year.

Then it was decided to cancel the hugely popular Sunday sports show, World of Sport, which had been running for 28 years & was almost required viewing in Melbourne. This was replaced by a sports show networked from Sydney, with a small component from Melbourne.

Lastly, it was then decided to sack the popular newsreader, Mal Walden, just minutes before what would be his last bulletin with 7, and replace him with Greg Pearce who was brought across from Perth. Pearce proably thought he was being offered the job of a lifetime. Viewers switched off in protest at popular presenters & programs being given the boot. At one stage the news was rating zero, and was consistently being thrashed in the ratings by Inspector Gadget on the ABC... By the end of the year, the network was under new ownership and a deal was done to get back the football. But it took years to repair the damage.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OI41fnQVaZM

Part of the final World of Sport. The final sign-offs from around 6:50 are interesting given the circumstances. Sandy Roberts & Bill Collins were almost talking through gritted teeth, poor Sandy (who would be the only presenter to stay on) was practically begging people to watch the new show, while Bill's comments - just about everyone who watched this live would have said the opposite!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2X-y4aghP28

France 2's 1 P.M. news in 2006...



...and 2013:

CMT, Castilla-La Mancha, Spain; 8 P.M. news, 2013:

Telemadrid, Madrid, Spain; late news, 2014:

Sports report from HSV 7 Melbourne, early 1988. Report on the 7 network regaining the rights to show Aussie Rules Football, with an introduction of the new commentary team. Appears to be more of a 7 network love-in from the looks of things. Classic 1980's corporate excess, all done on Other People's Money as it turned out. Also includes an interview with the network chairman at the time, the notorious Christopher Skase. It all started going wrong for Skasey in 1989 when he tried to take over MGM, by the end of the year he was on the run, having left Australia while on bail, resurfacing in Majorca a couple of years later. He would spend the rest of his days there in exile fending off attempts from Australian authorities to extradite him back home to face trial. The group of resorts that he also owned was ironically called 'Mirage'.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qpfe8iAtkPE

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Skase

Also a 60 Minutes (Nine Network) report from early 1988, with the owners of the 3 commercial networks at the time. As we know Skase would be a fugitive at the end of the following year, Alan Bond would go broke a couple of years later - Kerry Packer would repurchase the Nine Network for a fraction of what he sold it for. Bond would have a couple of stints eating porridge in the 90's. Frank Lowy sold the Ten Network the next year & decided to concentrate on what he knew best - Shopping Centres. Westfield now one of the biggest Shopping Centre operators in the world.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkRfuAz7HzE

The biggest Dutch (yeah, i know it is actually Luxembourgish) commercial broadcaster, RTL, will relaunch their title package and full on-screen news identity in the beginning of April.

This week a preview of the sound package was released:

Earlier this month, Spain's TVE refreshed the on-air look and sound, and launched a new set for their Telediario .

First, a time-lapse of the old set being dismantled and the new one being assembled:


And how it all looks like on air (3pm edition):


Also, how Telediario looked like over the years:


And an overview of the new set:


Still in Spain, laSexta Noticias also got a new look, but it was last December (it was their first relaunch since they were taken over by Atresmedia, the parent company of Antena 3, in 2012 - their previous graphics and music were launched in 2010, and their previous set dated from the network's launch, in 2006).

Re: TVE Telediaro refresh
I'll ignore the rather inconsistant captions - (will the graphics have a small red shape on the lower right hand side - or miss it off this one)? and comment on the timelapse. That is quite facinating.

Not a radical departure from previous, bit too much clinical white and blue for my liking, but I like the idea of a sliding LED screen across the face of the right wall - but, did someone forget the desk?
It disappears well over half way through the rebuild! I assume they kept it on the raised section to provide a reference point for the builders, but seems strange that it wasn't towed away during the first stages of the deconstruction of the old backdrop.

Here are two more clips of the evening news from France's ORTF era...

1965:



1969: