It’s 2:30am..do you know where to get the latest news? Another evening of Channel 4’s innovative 1981 graphics and music with a text news feed..all night long.
These news graphics played on WCCO from 2am to 5am when the evening news was repeated again the next morning. This was done in other markets across the country, as stations stopped signing off the air completely at night and tried to keep a few viewers tuned in.
Comments:
CT: These graphics are reminiscent of those of the cable public access channels in the 80s. They would show a program schedule or announcements in the same manner, with computer text and background music usually provided by a local radio station.
Shaun Fossett: Songs played:
1. Career Girl by Carrie Lucas
2. Boogie Body Land by The Bar-Kays
3. Dancin Dancin by The Blackbyrds]
4. Never Gonna Give You Up by Patrice Rushen
5. Freedom by Grandmaster Flash
W.B.: I’m curious as to whether any clips of WCCO’s unique test pattern (and, for that matter, TP’s of the other Mpls.-St. Paul stations) exist. As for the layout of their “All Night News,” I remember it vividly as used in New York City by Manhattan Cable TV in the mid-1970’s.
CT: For the music, I’m surprised they didn’t just simulcast WCCO-FM, which played music somewhat similar to that in this clip, if memory serves. Doubling up the music feed that way could have saved them money on royalties.