Hello News
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Hello News is a popular television news music package and image campaign. Written and composed by Frank Gari initially for WISN-TV in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the Hello News theme package first became available in the fall of 1977, and by the 1980s it had become one of the most widely used and recognized news music packages in the United States, with numerous local television stations using it.
Some stations continue to use the package, and Gari Communications' composer Chris Gari completed an 18-cut update to the package in 2004. Half of the cuts make use of a heavily disco-themed melody which harkens back to the original Hello News series, and the second half are more of a hard-hitting nature.
The accompanying image campaign was also very popular, and was even used by television stations in Canada, Australia, some Latin American countries and even Japan.
[edit] Image campaign
The station promotional jingle that accompanied the news theme was one of the most notable parts of the music package. The earliest version was sung by Gari himself; he then modified it into a ballad version sung by Florence Warner. The two versions had similar lyric structures, but the first version had a repeated chorus to account for its faster pace.
Numerous variations of the lyrics had also been written, often to include references to locations and sceneries specific to a particular market (eg. HSV-7's "Hello Melbourne" includes references to the Yarra River and the Dandenong Ranges). In the 80's, WXIA, Atlanta adapted the campaign to include their popular identity, "11 Alive," as well as the popular NBC slogan, "Let's All Be There!"
Several years later, Gari introduced a new variant, mostly consisting of the line "Say Hello". A few other stations aired their own customized versions that deviated from the regular versions even more (eg. WBAL-TV in Baltimore introduced a version which tied in with "Reach for the Stars", the tagline for its then-parent network CBS). All variants, however, retained the familiar "Makes no difference where I go" chorus. Promos utilizing this jingle often included a montage of local people waving at the camera. KFVS-TV in Cape Girardeau, Missouri made more than a dozen separate versions highlighting a specific county in their viewing area.
The treatments of the vocals were also varied. While most stations either used Gari's or Warner's vocals, some decided to go for a local twist (in music, and for non-English areas, for language), and have residents in their viewing areas sing the ballad version instead. Country music group Atlanta sang one version of WXIA-TV's "Hello Georgia", while the Osmonds were featured on KUTV's "Hello Utah". The Milwaukee Jazz Orchestra also did a local version for WISN-TV as well and in 2004, the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and Chorus also performed "Hello Milwaukee" for WISN's "12's Season to Celebrate" holiday special, conducted by Doc Severinsen.
Capital Cities Communications, founders of the Action News format, used the "Hello" image campaign on its stations, but not the news music package, instead opting to stick with Al Ham's classic Move Closer to Your World.
Many stations had dropped the "Hello" campaign by the 1990s; however, a few brought it back in the 2000s as they approached their 50th anniversary celebrations (eg. Portland, Maine's WGME and Calgary, Alberta's CICT). Some of the revived "Hello" campaigns feature updated instrumentals and vocals, but the structure to the song itself remained essentially the same.
[edit] Stations that used or have used Hello News
| DMA# | DMA Name | Station | Affiliation | Year Used | Notes |
| 5. | Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas | KDFW-TV, formerly KRLD | Fox, formerly CBS | 1984-1987 | |
| 8. | Atlanta, Georgia | WXIA-TV, formerly WLTV, WLWA, WAII, & WQXI | NBC, formerly ABC | 1980-1990 | |
| 12. | Phoenix, Arizona | KPNX, formerly KTYL, KVAR, and KTAR | NBC | Date unknown | |
| 13. | Tampa/St. Petersburg, Florida | WFLA-TV, formerly WFXL | NBC | 1981-1983 | |
| 15. | Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota | KARE, formerly WTCN & WUSA | NBC, formerly ABC, Independent | Date unknown-1983 | |
| 17. | Cleveland, Ohio | WEWS-TV | ABC | 1981-1987 | Also commissioned Hello News with Catch 5 Signature for Live on 5 and Eyewitness News from 1981-1986 |
| 21. | St. Louis, Missouri | KTVI, formerly WTVI | Fox, formerly ABC | 1984-1986 | |
| 23. | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania | WTAE-TV | ABC | Date unknown-1986 | |
| 25. | Indianapolis, Indiana | WTHR, formerly WLWI | NBC, formerly ABC | 1980-1987 & 1992-1994 | |
| WALV | SkyTrak Weather Network | 1992-1995 | Used to air a 10pm newscast produced by WTHR | ||
| 29. | Nashville, Tennessee | WSMV-TV, formerly WSM-TV | NBC | 1983-1993 | |
| 31. | Kansas City, Missouri | KCTV, formerly KCMO | CBS, formerly ABC | 1983-date unknown | |
| KSMO-TV, formerly KEKR & KZKC | MyNetworkTV, formerly Independent, UPN, The WB | Date unknown-1983 | |||
| 35. | Milwaukee, Wisconsin | WISN-TV, formerly WTVW | ABC, formerly CBS | 1978-1985 | First station to commission package |
| 38. | West Palm Beach, Florida | WPEC, formerly WEAT | CBS, formerly ABC | 1982-1988 | |
| 39. | Grand Rapids, Michigan | WWMT, formerly WKZO | CBS | 1985-unknown | |
| 40. | Birmingham, Alabama | WVTM-TV, formerly WAFM, WABT, & WAPI | NBC, formerly ABC & CBS | 1985-1987 | |
| 48. | Memphis, Tennessee | WREG-TV, formerly WREC | CBS | 1982-1985 | |
| 50. | Louisville, Kentucky | WHAS-TV | ABC, formerly CBS | 1983-1985 | |
| 52. | Providence, Rhode Island | WPRI-TV, formerly WPRO | CBS, formerly ABC | 1980-1986 | |
| 59. | Knoxville, Tennessee | WVLT-TV, formerly WSKT, WTVK, & WKXT | CBS, formerly ABC, NBC | 1981-1985 | |
| 61. | Tulsa, Oklahoma | KJRH, formerly KVOO & KTEW | NBC | 1982-1990 | |
| 67. | Roanoke, Virginia | WSLS-TV | NBC | 1982-1988 | |
| 69. | Wichita, Kansas | KNSW, formerly KARD | NBC | 1980-1982 | |
| 70. | Green Bay, Wisconsin | WLUK-TV, formerly WMBV | Fox, formerly NBC & ABC | 1983-1985 | |
| 74. | Springfield, Missouri | KOLR, formerly KTTS | CBS | 1988-1995 | |
| 80. | Rochester, New York | WHAM-TV, formerly WOKR | ABC | 1982-1988 | |
| 83. | Springfield/Decatur, Illinois | WCIA | CBS | 1982-1989 & 1994-1998 | |
| 88. | Cedar Rapids, Iowa | KGAN, formerly WMT | CBS, formerly DuMont | 1983-1987, 1993-1996, & 2007-present | |
| 91. | Colorado Springs, Colorado | KKTV | CBS | 1981-1983 & 1985-1988 | |
| 94. | Waco, Texas | KBTX-TV | CBS | 1991-1993 | |
| 97. | Davenport, Iowa | KWQC-TV, formerly WOC | NBC | 1990-2007 & 2007-present | |
| 104. | Florence/Myrtle Beach, Florida | WPDE-TV | ABC | 1986-1989 | |
| 116. | Peoria/Bloomington, Illinois | WEEK-TV | NBC | 1983-1990 | |
| 127. | Eau Claire, Wisconsin | WEAU-TV | NBC | 1984-1990 | |
| 129. | Corpus Christi, Texas | KIII | ABC | 1984-1991 | |
| 131. | Amarillo, Texas | KVII-TV | ABC | 2007-present | |
| 148. | Joplin, Missouri | KSNF, formerly KUHI & KTVJ | NBC, formerly CBS | 1983-1990 |
