HearstArgyleFan90 38 Posted January 3, 2022 Share Posted January 3, 2022 Here is what leads me to asking this question: 1) WABC opens had Mike Lewis doing the voiceovers through the spring of 1999 when their newscasts were still branded as "Channel 7 Eyewitness News". Then sometime during the summer of the same year (the earliest known date could be August, but for those in New York City correct me if I am wrong), the newscasts were rebranded as "ABC 7 Eyewitness News". Along with the rebranding, the station switched to a different cut of the Eyewitness News music package, and the opening to the newscasts was "This is the news leader, ABC 7 Eyewitness News". But David Kaye provided the voiceover; and Mike Lewis didn't return to providing the voiceover until around early 2000. 2) Mike Lewis also provided the voiceover for KOAT during the late 1990s and early 2000s. But in 1999, Sean King did the voiceovers instead. Lewis was brought back to do voiceovers for KOAT when the station switched to Hearst-Argyle's then-current mandated graphics package (camera v2) and "Image News" theme music either towards the end of 1999 or the beginning of 2000. So is it true that Mike Lewis took much of 1999 off to do voiceovers for newscasts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qunewsguy 376 Posted January 3, 2022 Share Posted January 3, 2022 He was the voice of WVIT throughout that time. No change with them whatsoever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HearstArgyleFan90 38 Posted January 3, 2022 Author Share Posted January 3, 2022 On 1/3/2022 at 1:19 PM, qunewsguy said: He was the voice of WVIT throughout that time. No change with them whatsoever. I see. But I'm wondering why in late summer 1999, David Kaye did the voiceover for WABC when that station's newscast was rebranded, only for Lewis to return in early 2000. Regarding the case with KOAT, there seemed to be a lot of changes regarding the voiceover, especially in the final years as a Pulitzer station and the first few years under Hearst-Argyle ownership: Mike Lewis was the voice of KOAT from c. 1997 to 2001 but was briefly replaced by Sean King in 1999 until the station switched to Hearst-Argyle's mandated graphics From 2001 to 2002, Chris Corley did the voiceover for KOAT From 2002 to 2003, Paul Turner provided voiceovers for the station Chris Clausen was then the voice of KOAT from late 2003 until his death in 2008 (he also was the voice of WLKY and WGAL) Starting in 2008, Steve Stone has provided voiceovers for KOAT, and still does to this day (Stone is the voice of several Hearst stations as a matter of fact) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qunewsguy 376 Posted January 3, 2022 Share Posted January 3, 2022 Most likely explanation? It's just pure coincidence. CSD's wanting to try different voices. Lewis demanding too much money at renewal. Could be a million things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HearstArgyleFan90 38 Posted January 6, 2022 Author Share Posted January 6, 2022 WABC appeared to change voiceovers less frequently than KOAT I believe. Lewis did the voiceovers for promos and news opens until 2003. Then Charlie Van Dyke began doing voiceovers for Channel 7 Eyewitness News, and is still the current announcer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.