Intro History of Spectrum Bay News 9 (1997-present)
For those of you who may not know, FlamingoPulse uploads TV & radio clips to YouTube as well as news open compilations. For this compilation, we will be showing a montage of intros of newscasts and other programs from Spectrum Bay News 9, the local 24/7 cable news channel in my home market of Tampa Bay, Florida.
Since their inception in 1997, Bay News 9 has been exclusive to one cable provider in Tampa Bay, but they were intertwined with three providers over the years. They first signed-on under Time Warner Cable in 1997, then TWC spun off their operations in Tampa Bay & Orlando as Bright House Networks in 2003, and both of them were later acquired by Charter (aka Spectrum) in 2016. Until last year, Bay News 9 used the same logo since day one, as well as the same news theme, Primetime News from Non-Stop Music, a trait they shared with a TV station in West Michigan until 2022. As of last year (2023), they completely changed their look, gaining a new logo after & replacing their iconic theme for Spectrum News' standardized theme after 25 years. They also got a new set a few months later.
Bay News 9 has also been praised for their severe weather coverage among locals & for their sophisticated technology. They were the first TV station in Tampa Bay to use a VIPIR doppler radar in 2002, then a dual-pole doppler radar in 2007, and later upgraded it to a klystron radar which they've used since 2009 and has called "Klystron 9". The jingle that comes after their meteorologists say "now here's Klystron 9" has become one of the most recognizable sound bites among Tampa Bay residents. It was changed last year as well, but if you listen carefully, you can tell they tried to make the new jingle sound as close to old theme as best as they could.
At one point, Bay News 9 was the most-watched TV station in Tampa Bay, surpassing longtime leader WTVT. Although if you ask me, I'd say their high performance is likely from them being on the TV screens of many local businesses as background noise.
As many people cut the cord across the country, Florida is one of the few states where cable seems to be holding steady, mainly due to our state having an older demographic who have yet to catch on to streaming. It'll be interesting to see what the future holds for Bay News 9, as well as their sister channel Spectrum News 13, amidst these changes.
Our next news open compilation will be an update to a 2-in-1 compilation, WWJ-TV & WKBD-TV in Detroit, Michigan, who recently relaunched their newscast last year. Make sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel & ring the bell to be notified when that compilation video drops. 🦩