WXXA 10pm Newscast (November 17, 2004; Partial)

Part of the 10:00 news on Fox affiliate WXXA-TV (channel 23) in Albany, NY, featuring the A block and beginning of the B. The A block is touted as "10 Minutes of Non-Stop News," which would run down the top news stories all in one block and then go to commercials afterward.

John Gray and Ann Hughes are the anchors, with news reports from Marci Natale, Nathan O'Leary, Regina Waldroup and Greg Floyd, plus one from Fox News. Noah Francis checks in on the weather just before the commercials. The people recording this flipped through channels; the tape began with an airing of The Sopranos (RIP Tony Sirico), and once 10:00 rolled around they switched it to WXXA (on cable channel 8). During the end of the recording you can see them skim through guide to find something else to watch.

The top story is on a murder that became highly reported on and infamous in the Albany area. Peter Porco was murdered that day by his son Christopher (who was mentioned here but since this story was still unfolding that wasn't known yet), and so far interviews with the family attorney were conducted to solve the crime. Another crime story involved a group of teenagers vandalizing streets in Lake George on Halloween night, and them eventually getting arrested; one of them was a football player for Warrensburg who would miss the Class semifinals that Friday.

On a much lighter note political news includes Sheldon Silver being re-elected as State Assembly Speaker, and Hillary Clinton dodging questions on a possible candidacy in the 2008 election. Silver, like Christopher Porco, also ended up in prison (but for corruption charges), and eventually passed away back in January. The other story is on Kmart and Sears merging, which 18 years later turned into a slow demise for both retailers. To end off the video Greg Floyd does a report at the end; after John Gray replaced him Floyd was demoted to weekends and reporting until WRGB hired him.

This was also WXXA's first on-air look with the "Fox 23" logo they used until 2019. Most of the graphics were based on Fox's flagship station WNYW, which makes sense because both stations are in New York. The on-air look gave WXXA a face-lift that meant they were getting serious about their news operation, and hiring John Gray was the icing on the cake. WXXA would go on to win the highest-rated newscast in the DMA in 2007, but only for its 10pm news. But still that's a huge deal given the news operation's history and unfortunately with Clear Channel getting out of the TV business, that was the end for WXXA's news department.

The news theme is News Matrix by Stephen Arnold, which WXXA used very well. The graphics here are synced up well to the news theme; however I do prefer the graphics they used later (which were done by Giant Octopus). They looked more creative than this look, which I like but it is a bit too simple and looks like a WNYW copycat. The talent shots aren't that good either. The other positive I have about the news opens is Tom Buck, who is an underrated VO guy.

(C) 2004 Clear Channel Communications, now iHeartMedia; WXXA is now owned by Mission Broadcasting. No copyright infringement intended. For educational and historical purposes only. We don't profit off this video.

[ntropolis]

WXXA had a solid product for a market the size of Albany. Great find!

[yeeNW]

Here from That Chapter

IMAGINE the level of shock needed to go throughout your day - even partly - before it all just becomes too much... Damn.