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Top Ten of 2002 At WJZ 13 |
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year 2002 had a lot of ups and downs, WJZ was no exception, From
transition from Happy 13 to hard 13 to the celebration of Marty Bass's
25 years at WJZ, 2002 has been a monumental year for WJZ. So, for your
enjoyment, here at the WJZ fansite, we compiled a list of all the big
news at wjz, into a top ten list. 10. WJZ Morning Edition vs. KDKA's Hometown Advantage (January) Back In January when the Baltimore Ravens and the Pittsburgh Steelers had a playoff game, WJZ called up KDKA for a little game. If Baltimore won the game, KDKA's Morning Anchors would have to serve lunch to WJZ's Morning Anchors, and vice versa. When the two stations talked on air, a comment was made by KDKA, about WJZ's Morning Edition Being nothing but "a comedy show". Of course Don and Marty were not pleased. No word as of today if the morning crews made up. 9. WJZ Eyewitness News Election Edition and WJZ's SnowCast (January/November/December) WJZ has been known for good coverage, but this year, Baltimore's News station out did themselves. With Eyewitness News Election Edition, WJZ had reporters everywhere, with reports on the election frequently throughout the night. Eyewitness News at 11 was expanded to 1 and a half hours. WJZ even had a special open for this newscast. But, you just cant talk about great coverage without mentioning about WJZ's SnowCasts, which are the newscasts on snowdays. There were at least 3 snowcasts, in January, in fact, the day after the KDKA thing, WJZ had a Snowcast with Don and Marty, and this was a Saturday, talk about dedication. The most recent SnowCasts were December 5th and December 11th. WJZ, although they went to a hard news format by then, still had a happy snowcast. Talk about greatness! 8. John Buren gone (April) After 16 years at WJZ John Buren left WJZ. As WJZ's main sportscaster, John Buren did a great job at bringing the sports news to Baltimore, He was replaced with Mark Viviano, who, in my opinion, is just as good as John Buren, although he did work for "the other" station [wbal] 7. Marty Bass Celebrates 25 years (October) Their known as the unstoppable duo, thats right, the "hosts" of WJZ Eyewitness News Morning Edition, Don Scott, and Marty Bass. On October 17th, 1977, Baltimore Television Audiences met Mr. Bass, on Channel 13, while he was weather anchoring morning edition with the now famous Oprah Winfrey. Now after 25 years, Marty is still on Eyewitness News Morning Edition, and is still the morning weather guy/co-host at the Keen 13. And FYI, Next year, Marty celebrates 50 years of life! [In April] 6. CBS Early Show (October) CBS has had a lot of Morning Show anchors, but the best one yet came October 29th, when the unthinkable 4 person team of Julie Chen, Hannah Storm, Rene Syler, and Harry Smith premiered on the CBS Early Show, bringing change to the once frowned upon Morning Show. Now, The Network has better ratings than a year ago, and everything is going smoothly. 5. Kellye Lynn Pregnant (September) In September, Noon-time Anchor, Kellye Lynn announced she was pregnant. In December, she went on Maternity Leave. This is Kellye's first child and we wish her the best, and hopefully she will bring the baby on air :) 4. Sniper Coverage (October) As you may recall, in October, the Washington DC area was under lockdown due to a unknown [at the time] snipers, who killed many, and injured a few, including a 13 year old child, by a sniper type gun. WJZ kept full coverage of the story, including losing a lot of advertising dollars due to wall-to-wall coverage. WJZ did a great job, and was very brave, seeing as though, their reporters risked their lives just to bring Baltimore tv Viewers coverage. 3. Eyewitness News at Four (July/September) In July, the WJZ fansite got some great news! It was that WJZ was going to get a Four p.m. newscast, replacing the weakest link. WJZ actually did get their 4 p.m. newscast, and since its premier on Monday, September 23, 2002 [yes, we remember that date] it has been doing really well, including beating its closest competior, WBAL's Oprah. 2. Baltimore's Favorite News Team ---> Baltimore's News Station (April/June) Before the sweeps, WJZ decided it was time for change. That change was from the well known Eyewitness News with a happy attitude, to Eyewitness News with a hard news attitude, but still friendly people you trust. With the new slogan, WJZ also got new promos explaining that "Its not just the news, its Eyewitness News" and in June, Pat Garrett came and redid all of the WJZ voice overs. With their new attitude WJZ needed one more thing which, actually, is our top news item of 2002 which is.... 1. WJZ New Graphics and New Logo (November) On Monday, November 25th, WJZ premiered their new graphics and logo. Their new logo, unlike the first one incorporated the CBS logo in it, which has never been seen in the logo, ever. WJZ also changed their happy graphics to the smooth blue and yellow that they are now. In all, WJZ has grown up, so to speak, over the last year. Hopefully in the Next Year WJZ will do some more!. |
| Honorable
Mentions: - WJZ Ratings - Dr. Bob Retires - Brooks Thomlin - WJZ's new Website - Re-Witness News No More - Get Gelfman [note: we decided not to do this one, because its not so celebratory, except for the fact the Mr. Gelfman is alive and well.] |
