KIRO-TV (KIRO 7) News Opens

KIRO-TV first signed on in 1958 as the last VHF station in the market on channel 7. KIRO was originally owned by Queen City Broadcasting, who also owned KIRO-AM. The station immediately took the CBS affiliation from KTNT (now KSTW) upon sign-on, but was forced to share the affiliation with KTNT from 1960-1962 due a lawsuit filed by KTNT. The CBS affiliation would also be shared with KVOS in Northwest Washington until 1988.

In 1963, the Mormon Church through its broadcasting arm, Bonneville International, purchased a majority stake of the KIRO stations. Its newscast had a noticeable conservative tilt, due to the LDS Church's political views. It was also during this time that KIRO produced the long-running local children's show "The J. P. Patches Show". The show was immensely popular in Western Washington and Southwest BC.

In 1969, KIRO introduced the "Eyewitness News" format and focused on investigative stories and editorials. The station would become #1 in the late 70s, but would later be in a three way tie with KOMO and KING in the late 80s with KIRO eventually falling behind. KIRO was also one of the first stations in the US to introduce a 4;30 AM morning newscast, which became commonplace in the late aughts.

In response to declining ratings, KIRO introduced the "News Outside the Box" format in 1993, which was loosely based off the CityPulse format in Toronto, Canada. The radio and TV newsrooms were integrated and the station's newscast took place in an open newsroom with anchors walking around with no news desk and an emphasis on local news. Due to significant complaints from both viewers and staff, the news was put back in the box 6 months later and returned to a traditional format. The format was even mocked on KING's local sketch show, Almost Live, which can be seen in the cards above. However, the damage was already done and KIRO dropped down to a distant third place.

Bonneville sold the station to Belo in 1995, and the station also lost the CBS affiliation back to KSTW. The station joined UPN when it launched, however the affiliation swap would be brief and the station rejoined CBS in 1997. Belo acquired competitor KING in 1996, and KIRO was sold to Cox in 1997 and readopted the Eyewitness News format, but would be dropped in 2015. Under Cox ownership, KIRO has been more competitive, occasionally placing #1 during sweeps, but usually still ranks third behind KING and KOMO.

The clips are from 1958 and onward. Here's what you'll see in this compilation:
0:00 - KIRO 7 Ident (1989)
0:05 - KIRO News (1958) - News Alert and 6 PM Report
0:15 - Channel 7 Eyewitness News (early 70s) - generic intro
0:18 - Channel 7 Eyewitness News (mid-70s) - generic intro and news update
0:25 - Channel 7 Eyewitness News (late 70s) - news update
0:32 - Channel 7 Eyewitness News (early 80s-1983) - news update/11 PM and 11 PM intros
1:17 - Channel 7 Eyewitness News (1983-1984) - news update, news update/11 PM, weekend and Eyewitness News Afternoon intros
2:50 - KIRO Eyewitness news (1984-1985) - 4;30 PM, KIRO Evening News and news update/11 pm intros
3:39 - KIRO Eyewitness News (1985-1987) - news update, KIRO Evening News, 6;30 PM/weekend and 11 PM intros
4:38 - KIRO 7 Eyewitness News (1987-1988) - Morning News, news update/11 PM and 11 PM intros
5:56 - KIRO News (1988-1989) - The Justice/Brown News Report, 7 PM and 11 PM intros
7:08 - KIRO Eyewitness News (1989-1990) - 5 PM, 7 PM, and 11 PM intros
7:52 - KIRO News (1990-1991) - First in the Morning News, noon and weekend intros
9:20 - KIRO News (1991-1993) - First in the Morning News, noon, 11 PM, Prep Lockerroom, and Seven :30 intros
11:14 - KIRO News (1993) - news update, First in the Morning News, 10 PM (on KTZZ), 11 PM and KIRO Newsradio on KTZZ intros
13:19 - KIRO NewsChannel 7 (1993-1998) - 7 Live bumper, news update, 5 PM, 5 PM talent bumper, 6 PM, 10 PM and 11 PM intros
15:40 - KIRO 7 Eyewitness News (1998-2001) - 5 PM, 6;30 PM, 11 PM, generic intro and 1999 WTO protests special intros
18:47 - KIRO 7 Eyewitness News (2001-2008) - noon, 5 PM (v1/v2), 6 PM, 6;30 PM, 10 PM (on KSTW), 11 PM, generic intro, talent bumper, 2001 Nisqually earthquake and 9/11 special intros
22:57 - KIRO 7 Eyewitness News (2008-2013) - Morning News, noon, 5 PM (v1/v2), 6 PM and 11 PM (v1+ breaking news/v2) intros
26:50 - KIRO 7 Eyewitness News (2013-2015) - Morning News, 5 PM, 6 PM, 11 PM and breaking news intros
29:31 - KIRO 7 News (2015-2022) - Morning News (v1/v2 + breaking news), noon (v2), 5 PM (v1/v2), 6 PM (v1/v2), 6;30 PM, 11 PM (v1/v2), KIRO 7 Tonight and generic intros
36:50 - KIRO 7 News (2022-present) - Morning News, noon, 5 PM, 5;30 PM, 6 PM, 7 PM, 11 PM, KIRO 7 Tonight and breaking news intros

40:53 - KIRO Eyewitness News "Spirit of the Northwest" promo (1984) & credits
41:23 - Endcard

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