Eyewitness News

Eyewitness News is a local television newscast format, widely used in different markets across the United States.

Eyewitness News: The News Music Package

Eyewitness News is also the name of a syndicated news music package, composed by Frank Gari of Gari Communications.

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Since 1968, WABC and ABC's other large market owned-and-operated stations, eg. WLS-TV in Chicago, KABC-TV in Los Angeles and KGO-TV in San Francisco, had used the "Cool Hand Luke" theme on their newscasts. In mid-1980s, they started using News Series 2000, an updated version of the original Schifrin theme, composed by Frank Gari, that had been originally commissioned by WLS-TV in Chicago.

Related Topics:
WLS-TV - Chicago - KABC-TV - Los Angeles - KGO-TV - San Francisco - News Series 2000 - Frank Gari

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However, in 1993, Schifrin raised his royalties for using "Cool Hand Luke" and its variations to a level that effectively priced the theme out of the local news market. As a result, Gari was commissioned by WABC to compose a new music package called "Eyewitness News". This new package, based slightly on Cool Hand Luke, has been updated several times. WABC currently uses the "Series 4" version, which was specifically updated for the station in 1999.

Related Topics:
1993 - 1999

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Besides being used in America, the Eyewitness News music package has also been picked up for use overseas. Hong Kong Cable News has been using it for its morning newscast, and POP-TV in Slovenia has been using it for its main newscasts.

Related Topics:
Hong Kong - Slovenia

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A station using the Eyewitness News music package might not necessarily use the Eyewitness News title for its newscasts, and vice versa. For example, WXYZ in Detroit uses the music package, but calls its newscasts "Channel 7 Action News".

Related Topics:
WXYZ - Detroit

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