WORLD NEWS NOW

'World News Now' (often abbreviated as 'WNN') is ABC's overnight news program. Its presentation is typically lighthearted, irreverent and comical. Several well-known news personalities, including Thalia Assuras (CBS News), Aaron Brown (CNN), Alison Stewart (MSNBC and NPR), Liz Cho, and Anderson Cooper (CNN) have anchored ''WNN'' early in their careers.
The show is produced and airs live in three half-hour segments from 2:00AM ET through 3:30AM ET, Monday Morning-Friday Morning. At 3:30ET, many local affiliates rebroadcast the show (in some cases multiple times) until 4:30AM local time at which time ''America This Morning'' is aired. A ''WNN'' anchor usually also anchors ''America This Morning'', back-to-back.
Due to its informative and yet irreverent treatment of the news, ''WNN'' has numerous fans. Many of its fans record the show and use it as a substitute to early morning news broadcasts. There are also several fan sites.
''WNN'' is currently anchored by Taina Hernandez and Ryan Owens in New York City.

Contents

History

1991-1993

1994-1998

1999-2007

Regular segments

Special segments

Other segments

Previous segments

Desk assistants

WNN anchor timeline

Other anchors

See also

External links

History

1991-1993

In late 1991 and early 1992, ''WNN'' and rival newscasts like CBS' ''Up to the Minute'' and NBC's ''Nightside'' were created to compete for viewer demand driven originally by CNN's 24-hour coverage of the Gulf War, and to supply local affiliates with overnight programming. The original working title was "World News Overnight" but was changed to "World News Now" prior to its first broadcast.
The program is generally watched by insomniacs (in the late 1990s, its slogan was "More insomniacs get their news from World News Now than from any other source."), college students, news addicts, and parents of infants. In the tradition of ''NBC News Overnight'', it has featured serious as well as offbeat news interspersed with odd features such as the "World News Polka" played by Barry Mitchell on the accordion, video footage of dancing camels, and laughter coming from off camera. Weather predictions are made for obscure and exotic places around the world, some of which have ties to the show for various reasons.
It also often replays clips from ''Nightline'', ''World News with Charles Gibson'', and other ABC News programming. It has been a training ground for several young up and coming news anchors (see list below) which eventually go on to higher profile network or local affiliate positions. The show is also unique for its interactive segments, some of which pioneered the email communication that is commonly used on newscasts today. The ABC News ''WNN'' Message board has been known to offer viewers questions and comments from the anchors themselves, during the course of the show.

1994-1998

In 1994, ''World News Now'' was the first television program to be broadcast on the Internet, using the CU-SeeMe interface. The program was interactive with the few viewers with Internet access at the time (mainly college students). Victor Dorff, a producer of ''WNN'' at the time, arranged for viewers to send web cam images of themselves, which were broadcast in several interactive segments. [1]
Of note is that ''World News Now'' was used as the prototype for ''Fred'', ABC's plan to run a cable news channel. The plan was floated in 1995 and was later dropped due to issues with cable carriage, including competition with the recently started MSNBC and Fox News Channel. ''World News Now'' also competes for overnight viewers with CBS' ''Up to the Minute''.
In the fall of 1998, ABC News experienced a labor dispute, seeing support employees locked out for several months. While ''World News This Morning'' continued to be produced in New York City with substitute production staff, ''World News Now'' moved to the London news bureau. Mark Mullen returned to ''WNN'' during the last month of the strike.

1999-2007

''World News Now'' was also one of the first shows to webcast; between 1999 and 2001, free live streaming was on the ABC News web site. In 2005, the free behind-the-scenes webcast returned.
On June 8 2006, ABC White House Correspondent Martha Raddatz learned of the death of terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi near Baqubah, Iraq. Upon confirmation of the tip, ABC launched a special report at 2:38 AM EDT, anchored by WNN team Ron Corning and Taina Hernandez. The show, normally repeated on tape after the initial broadcast, instead went live for all time zones and into follow-up program World News This Morning. The WNN on-air and behind-the-scenes staff stayed on until Good Morning America began and took over coverage at 7:00 AM ET. [http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/abc/alzarqawi_killed_worldwide_exclusive_for_abc_way_ahead_of_everyone_else_38163.asp [2]]
In January, 2007, WNN celebrated its fifteenth anniversary with the brief resurrection of the National Temperature Index (see below) and a new version of the "World News Polka."
On Thursday, August 2 2007, WNN abandoned its normal format and went with nearly-continuous coverage of the Minneapolis Bridge Collapse. ''WNN'' coverage was anchored by Hernández and Stephanie Sy (subbing for Ryan Owens) and continued into
''America This Morning''.

Regular segments

★ Top Story

★ Weather

★ Sports

★ The Skinny-- An entertainment news segment (usually announced with the anchors shouting "It's time for the Skinny!") WNN "Chief Chuckler" and Camera Operator Willis Chambers also joins in the yelling many nights. Recently, WNN has asked viewers to send webcam videos of themselves performing the "Skinny Shout", and they have been featured as the introductions to The Skinny.

★ News Notes

★ BBC News - Declan Curry and other BBC anchors filling in, present lighter, (but sometimes more serious stories) from "across the pond."

★ Financial News from the BBC - again with Declan Curry or other BBC anchors, presenting an update on the European financial markets from the London Stock Exchange. The BBC presenters typically stood in front of a video wall looking out on a London intersection, and sometimes a small counter at the bottom of the screen would note the number of double-decker buses that passed by in the background.

★ Morning Papers (which is announced with the cumbersome voice-over "World News Now delivers: your morning papers!")

Special segments

In as rotating fashion, at the halfway point in each half hour, a special segment is presented. Some examples include:

★ ''Nightline'' - The first minutes of the primary topic of each evening's nightline

★ ''This Week'' (Monday mornings only) - The "Roundtable" segment, a debate of pundits from both sides of politics, is featured.

★ ABC News Video Vault (sometimes presented as "World News Then") - Somewhat of a "This Day in History" segment, a story from a given date in the past, having some relevance to the present is shown.

★ ''American Landscape'' - A major national or international story, seen from the perspective of a local station that covers it.

★ Interviews - One of the anchors interviews a newsmaker or celebrity.

★ ''Gadget Guy'' - Dick DeBartolo talks about and demonstrates the newest gadgets and technology

Other segments

★ Randomly, throughout the broadcast, a "new e-mail" sound effect will be heard. This is then followed by the ABC News announcer Bill Rice reading aloud an e-mail from a viewer. The anchors then respond (sometimes humorously) to the message.

★ The final segment usually consists of the anchors discussing the news, their lives, or the day in general. Some half hours feature a discussion of headlines and smaller stories appearing in the new day's papers from around the country (Similar to the segment on CNN's defunct ''Newsnight'' as Aaron Brown and producer David Bohrman brought said segment from his ''WNN'' tenure) or of course, Friday morning's Polka, sung by Barry Mitchell.

★ When an anchor of numerous broadcasts finally leaves, a ceremony of sorts is held on their last broadcast. As the first few anchors moved on, cardboard cutouts were placed in the rafters of the studio for the "Anchor Hall of Fame". Today, this is done with a graphics sequence of a head-shot of the anchor moved into a graphic of the original set's rafters and monitors.

Previous segments

★ Leah At The Movies - People Magazine's Leah Rozen would give her top picks for new releases of the week.

★ Donna speaks - A crawl that runs along the bottom of the screen with a "stream of consciousness" from Donna, usually talking about her sons' Connor and Kyle. This crawl ran during the MLB All-Star Break when there were no other scores to report.

★ Their News Now - ''World News Now'' would check in with a different news producer at a local ABC affiliate around the country each night to see what stories they were working on in their local market. This was usually rotated between four or five local markets, which included Seattle and Denver, and was discontinued sometime in 2005 when "American Landscape" was expanded to a nightly segment.

★ World News Now "InsomniACTS" - Local jazz bands typically from around the New York City area would be invited into the studio to play a number on-the-air.

★ World News Knows - A quick useless knowledge fact flashed on the screen some nights after a return from a commercial.

★ ''WNN'' also featured a full sportscast, which became a scene of comedic fodder for many anchors on the show since many of them did not have a great deal of experience calling sports highlights. This was later replaced by a scoreboard graphic displaying sports scores coming out of a commercial break, leaving time for more general segments.

★ The National Temperature Index (NTI) - ''WNN'' featured the National Temperature Index (NTI), which is the sum of the day's forecasted high temperatures for Boston, MA; Casper, WY; Dallas, TX; Denver, CO; Fargo, ND; Las Vegas, NV; Miami, FL; New Orleans, LA; Raleigh, NC; and Seattle, WA. The NTI appeared during nightly weather segments until January 6, 2003. It was reintroduced on January 5, 2007, but was again dropped in mid-February, 2007. The NTI was originally discontinued when staff meterorologist Gerard McNiff [2] revealed the method used for its calculation to San Francisco Bay Area meteorologist Jan Null [3], who published the formula in the ''San Jose Mercury News'' [4]. Why the revelation of the "secret formula" necessitated terminating the NTI was not explained, but several of the broadcast's producers had expressed a desire to discontinue the segment for some time. The NTI was briefly replaced with a "National Darkness Quotient," which was quietly dropped without comment shortly after its introduction. Fans of the show- dubbed "The Elite Guard" - were upset with the NTI's demise and created http://www.nationaltemperatureindex.com. The site contains the daily National Temperature Index derived using McNiff's published formula, as well as links to various NTI resources, including the source of temperature data: The National Weather Service's Hydrometeorological Prediction Center of the National Centers for Environmental Prediction in Camp Springs, Maryland[5]. The site was chosen for its reliability and consistent data formatting, characteristics crucial to nationaltemperatureindex.com's automated NTI calculation software. Forecast high temperatures for the following morning's NTI are obtained from the Center's evening forecast, issued at 7:35 pm EST (8:35 pm DST). When it was included, the NTI was the third major graphic in the weather segment, following the Satellite/Radar Map and the Today's Forecast Map. "NTI" appeared in huge block letters, along with the Fahrenheit and Celsius NTI values and an animated thermometer graphic. The segment was followed by a video clip and music, with the next day's forecasted high temperatures for various cities appearing on the bottom of the screen. On some broadcasts, the maps and NTI were omitted and only the temperatures appeared. The anchors did not read the NTI aloud and rarely referenced it. The "old" and "new" NTIs appeared to use the same formula, but the broadcast NTI and the NTI calculated by the fan website matched, on average, only half of the time. Typically, the variation was less than ten degrees, but some ''WNN'' NTIs differed by as much as 100 °F. Causes for the variation could probably be attributed to different temperature data sources and math errors on the part of the ''WNN'' staff. Since the National Temperature Index broadcast during ''World News Now'' was the "official" value, it was posted on the fan website even if it did not correspond with the accurately calculated and verified fan website reading. The fan website still maintains a daily National Temperature Index.

Desk assistants

★ Several "Desk Assistants" have appeared on the show in the past. Lara Wong appeared on her birthday with a Birthday cake for her and then anchor Ron Corning. Other notable Desk Assistants to appear on the show include Jamie McCarty, Pearl Daacon, Astrid Rodriguez, Karla Morey, Rachel Humphries, Joseph Diaz, Naseem Ferdowsi, and Jennifer Shearer.

★ Desk Assistants are often heard to yell “Skinny in the house” from behind the set for the “Skinny” segment on WNN. They often greet each other with a friendly “bonjour!” Jamie McCarty started this greeting with former DA and now Associate Producer at ABC News Now, Mi seon Lee.

★ Desk Assistants are also often heard speaking in "Computer Talk" when mocking someone or being sarcastic. This "Computer Talk" originated with DA Karla Morey.

★ The Desk Assistants have perfected their English accents by watching the Overnight Commercials and listening to Declan's segments. "I call my sister in London, She’s my best Friend."

★ On the October 31 2006 episode of ''World News Now'', three desk assistants appeared in a "Office Supply Costume Contest". Karla Morey dressed as “breaking news”, Pearl Daacon appeared as a cereal killer, and Jamie McCarty appeared as the “parent company” which refers to the Walt Disney Company which owns ABC News. McCarty had Mickey mouse ears made of paper as well as a Mickey Mouse retro T-shirt on. No winner was selected.

★ On the January 1 2007 episode McCarty appeared again drinking from an empty champagne bottle along with National Assignment Desk Assistant Joanna Jennings and Assignment Editor Marisa Bramwell joining the “New Years Parade.”

★ On June 5 2007, Desk Assistant Jamie McCarty and Chris Knacke competed in a ''Price is Right'' game after an interview with Bob Barker aired. McCarty came out on top after guessing the price of a 1972 Ford Pinto. McCarty guessed $1500 US, while Knacke guessed $1000 US. The actual retail price of the 1972 Ford Pinto is $2095.
Knacke has challenged the outcome and a rematch is planned for a future episode.

WNN anchor timeline

From	To	Anchors
01/1992	01/1993	Aaron Brown and Lisa McRee
01/1993	05/1993	Aaron Brown and guest anchors
05/1993	07/1993	Aaron Brown and Thalia Assuras
07/1993	09/1993	Thalia Assuras and guest anchors
08/1993	08/1994	Thalia Assuras and Boyd Matson
08/1994	11/1994	Thalia Assuras and guest anchors
11/1994	03/1995	Thalia Assuras and Kevin Newman
03/1995	12/1995	Kevin Newman and guest anchors
12/1995	01/1996	Kevin Newman and Thalia Assuras
01/1996	04/1996	Thalia Assuras and guest anchors
04/1996	01/1997	Thalia Assuras and Mark Mullen
01/1997	05/1998	Mark Mullen and Asha Blake
03/1998	07/1998	Asha Blake and guest anchors
02/1999	09/1999	JuJu Chang and guest anchors
09/1999	02/2000	JuJu Chang and Anderson Cooper
02/2000	08/2000	Anderson Cooper and Alison Stewart
08/2000	02/2002	Alison Stewart and Derek McGinty
02/2002	06/2003	Derek McGinty and Liz Cho
07/2003	12/2003	Andrea Stassou and David Muir
12/2003	08/2004	David Muir and Tamala Edwards
08/2004	01/2005	Tamala Edwards and Ron Corning
01/2005	12/2005	Ron Corning and Heather Cabot
12/2005	08/2006	Ron Corning and Taina Hernandez
08/2006	02/2007	Taina Hernandez and Hari Sreenivasan
02/2007	present	Taina Hernandez and Ryan Owens

Other anchors

Other anchors, generally regular guests/substitutes, have been:

★ Dick Schaap

★ Alina Cho

★ Sheilah Kast

★ David Kerley

★ Jim Sciutto

★ Gigi Stone

★ Andrea Canning

★ Nathan Thomas

★ Belinda Woodstock

★ Mercedes Woods

★ Farai Chideya

★ Beth Nissan

★ Bertha Coombs

★ Christianne Klein

See also

List of late night network TV programs

External links

★ World News Now Message Boards

★ After midnight: The wee small hours of the morning are the latest battleground for television news, American Journalism Review, Dec. 1993

★ Tuned In: 'World News Now' has a wink or two for night owls, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, September 2, 1999

★ 1992-2001 ''WNN'' theme music, by Yanni

★ 2001-2003 ''WNN'' theme, by JOED Tracks (based on their track "Blueness")

★ ''World News Polka'' 2002 version music in RealAudio

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