Late news on TV One
@OnAir @nztv @NuStraya Just found a newspaper article in regard to TV One’s (now TVNZ 1) late news bulletins in the mid-1970s.
On Monday 1 September 1975 TV One screened a brief (five minute), late night news bulletin at 11.10pm.
This unillustrated bulletin, presented without visuals, featured up to seven national and international headlines read by the on-duty continuity announcer at Wellington’s Avalon TV Studios, either Roger Gascoigne or John Hayden. This was followed by a short national weather forecast for the next day.
The news was supplied by the TV One newsroom and as there was no an autocue at the time, the announcer had to read the news and weather directly from paper scripts while maintaining eye contact with the camera.
Introduced by TV One in September 1975, this late news bulletins aimed to cater for viewers who missed the earlier evening news bulletins and offer them a condensed and updated summary of the day’s news. At that time TV One had two regular news slots: 6.30pm on a nightly basis, 9pm on weeknights (Tonight at Nine) and anywhere between 8.30-9pm on weekends (subject to scheduling).
The late news bulletins, however, had no fixed timeslot; they were transmitted last before TV One closed down for the night, typically around 11pm Sunday to Thursday and around midnight on Friday and Saturday.
With TV One and South Pacific Television (SPTV; now TVNZ 2) merged into TVNZ in 1980, the late news bulletins remained unchanged until about 1987. Other continuity announcers within the TVNZ era included Mike Bodnar, Geoff Bryan, Bob Parker and Peter Sledmere to name just a few.
1984: Peter Sledmere
1985: Geoff Bryan