Samantha 2830 Posted March 13, 2014 Share Posted March 13, 2014 Some others I forgot: WBBM, graphics AND music, got ripped off in a couple different parts of the country. Their 1989/90 graphics were used on WHTM (which picked up an Enforcer-type theme from Sheldon Elias, who also seems to have composed WBBM 1988), while both those and their 1991 graphics showed up on KFDA (which paired them with a local theme, composed by Eric Enfalt). Definitely the latter qualify for the thread. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T.L. Hughes 545 Posted March 13, 2014 Share Posted March 13, 2014 One obvious knockoff was done to the Hearst "camera" package (used from 1995/96-2003/04). I'm not sure if any other stations have used a standardized graphics originally used by another station group other than those run by the Big Four networks. KEZI used this copy during the late 1990s-early 2000s. The lower thirds are styled the same as how the Hearst stations used them, down to the use of BankGothic; however, the intros use a combination or Copperplate and what appears to be either Helvetica Extended or Univers. Also, Score's "ABC Affiliate News Package" was used instead of "The B Package" or "Image News". 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChesapeakeTV 310 Posted March 13, 2014 Share Posted March 13, 2014 I don't know if that's a knockoff. It's a little too spot-on - I've always thought of it as a KEZI-commissioned custom variant of the real deal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sanewsguy 503 Posted March 13, 2014 Share Posted March 13, 2014 Want to see an even closer knockoff of the 1995 Hearst look? http://hub.tv-ark.org.uk/dsplus/m.php?p=granada_tonight_1999.mp4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tyrannical bastard 2925 Posted March 15, 2014 Share Posted March 15, 2014 WOWK's 1997-2003 image is a pretty close Hearst knockoff as well....the biggest difference is using the 1990's ESPN-style font in place of Bank Gothic. But the oversized bug, font kerning, overall style, and use of Gari's "Image News" give it away..... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ntropolis 589 Posted March 15, 2014 Share Posted March 15, 2014 WOWK's 1997-2003 image is a pretty close Hearst knockoff as well....the biggest difference is using the 1990's ESPN-style font in place of Bank Gothic. But the oversized bug, font kerning, overall style, and use of Gari's "Image News" give it away..... I already said it in the comments on that video, but I'll discuss it again, haha... the now-defunct Gecko Productions from Virginia Beach did those. They also did work for KRGV, WVEC, and . https://web.archive.org/web/20010803155318/http://geckoproductions.com/NewFiles/stations.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HulkieD 1106 Posted March 16, 2014 Share Posted March 16, 2014 Some others I forgot: WBBM, graphics AND music, got ripped off in a couple different parts of the country. Their 1989/90 graphics were used on WHTM (which picked up an Enforcer-type theme from Sheldon Elias, who also seems to have composed WBBM 1988), while both those and their 1991 graphics showed up on KFDA (which paired them with a local theme, composed by Eric Enfalt). Definitely the latter qualify for the thread. was used as the basis for I've actually seen explicit evidence that WCAU intentionally chose to go with the design. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kcnewsjunky 14 Posted March 16, 2014 Share Posted March 16, 2014 Speaking of graphics FOX 4 in KC is looking like they are in the process of switching to Tribune gfx. Their Coming up tonight graphic resembels that of Tribune but no sign on their website. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myron Falwell 3887 Posted March 25, 2014 Share Posted March 25, 2014 @tyrannicalbastard (seems I can't quote posts on the mobile version on the site): KREX and KAUZ used the syndicated versions of the WEWS package. So did KFBB-Great Falls (my old station), right down to the logo as well. KREX lost everything in a fire at the station a few years ago. I'm curious if they redid that graphics pack in-house because they had no choice. But prior to the fire, KREX's logo was a verbatim copy of WEWS's 2004 logo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ABC 7 Denver 1462 Posted March 27, 2014 Author Share Posted March 27, 2014 KREX lost everything in a fire at the station a few years ago. I'm curious if they redid that graphics pack in-house because they had no choice. But prior to the fire, KREX's logo was a verbatim copy of WEWS's 2004 logo. KREX is using the VDO package that both WPSU and KOMU are using. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChesapeakeTV 310 Posted March 29, 2014 Share Posted March 29, 2014 I'm surprised nobody has mentioned , clearly inspired by Media General's graphics at the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ABC 7 Denver 1462 Posted March 30, 2014 Author Share Posted March 30, 2014 Have we forgotten that WNEP has a knock-off of the KTLA graphics before the buyout? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LTSC1980 71 Posted March 30, 2014 Share Posted March 30, 2014 Don't forget that WV Media Holdings' stations also copy KTLA..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MidwestTV 1064 Posted April 6, 2014 Share Posted April 6, 2014 Have we forgotten that WNEP has a knock-off of the KTLA graphics before the buyout? But weren't both of those packages done by Hothaus? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
24994J 4760 Posted April 6, 2014 Share Posted April 6, 2014 But weren't both of those packages done by Hothaus? Yes, I 'm pretty sure. Keep in mind, too, that the KTLA image is from the refreshed version of that package. WNEP's look was based on the original. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDay 1 Posted April 16, 2014 Share Posted April 16, 2014 Stumbled onto this thread......very interesting observations. I cannot comment on a lot of the pre-2000's knockoff's.......but I can comment that a lot of the similarity in looks post 2000's mandate joint blame between the stations and design firms. As the budgets for packages started to steadily decline from 2000 on recycling design 'elements' and 'concepts' started occuring more and more within firms. Stations at the same time began pointing to other looks and 'wanting that' (and hoping to pay less since there was no real design time). This of course compromised the concept of a custom design all around. This mindset evolved into the now standard 'syndication' model that everyone is into. Custom work is rarer....and even when it's custom, less face it: US Affiliate News is still married to 'big giant 3D' with glows and flares...all combined into some variance of gold/blue.....blue/white....red/white. (general opinion, of course there are exceptions). Just some thoughts on 'knockoffs'. So many reasons as to ;'why'; this situation exists. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Viper550 246 Posted May 14, 2014 Share Posted May 14, 2014 Speaking of KYTX; they seem to have used the old CBS News graphics (Katie Couric-generation) at some point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leavellebrett 85 Posted May 15, 2014 Share Posted May 15, 2014 Speaking of KYTX; they seem to have used the old CBS News graphics (Katie Couric-generation) at some point. They were just a pretty good in-house knockoff, but they wanted to really boast that they were a CBS affiliate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BricklayCBS 1 Posted May 19, 2014 Share Posted May 19, 2014 LOL I laughed at these stupid knockoffs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Samantha 2830 Posted May 20, 2014 Share Posted May 20, 2014 KSEE in the mid-90s ripped off WBBM's 1994 series of opens: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T.L. Hughes 545 Posted May 20, 2014 Share Posted May 20, 2014 KSEE in the mid-90s ripped off WBBM's 1994 series of opens: It's a fairly good ripoff, though. The only thing missing is the moving text behind the logo and names, as well as the absence of the fast-moving (what I think is?) traffic lights that is featured at the start of the WBBM intro. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Samantha 2830 Posted May 21, 2014 Share Posted May 21, 2014 It's a fairly good ripoff, though. The only thing missing is the moving text behind the logo and names, as well as the absence of the fast-moving (what I think is?) traffic lights that is featured at the start of the WBBM intro. The traffic lights portion when the toned-down version was introduced by WBBM. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ctmajka 101 Posted June 5, 2014 Share Posted June 5, 2014 WOI-TV re-vamped their image in 2006, taking away the Eyewitness News moniker, and replacing it with ABC 5 news. I suppose to make themselves feel more like an O&O, they also went with graphics that were VERY heavily inspired by graphics that Hothaus did for an ABC O&O station in the next state over... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChesapeakeTV 310 Posted June 5, 2014 Share Posted June 5, 2014 WOI-TV re-vamped their image in 2006, taking away the Eyewitness News moniker, and replacing it with ABC 5 news. I suppose to make themselves feel more like an O&O, they also went with graphics that were VERY heavily inspired by graphics that Hothaus did for an ABC O&O station in the next state over... KCAU also used those graphics, though I can't find the open at the moment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
24994J 4760 Posted June 5, 2014 Share Posted June 5, 2014 WOI-TV re-vamped their image in 2006, taking away the Eyewitness News moniker, and replacing it with ABC 5 news. I suppose to make themselves feel more like an O&O, they also went with graphics that were VERY heavily inspired by graphics that Hothaus did for an ABC O&O station in the next state over... EWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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