Action News is a local television newscast format in the United States. It was conceived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at WPVI-TV in 1970 as a response to the "Eyewitness News" format used on rival station KYW-TV.
The main difference between Action News and Eyewitness News was that the former was far more tightly formatted. Time limits were set on packages - for instance, a reporter package could be no longer than 1:30. This difference enabled the station to cover more stories than what their competitors were using. Another key difference was the focus on the surrounding Philadelphia suburban areas - a response to the movement of residents from the city to the suburbs. Finally, WPVI placed more emphasis on young talent - while WCAU-TV and KYW-TV used older, respected news anchors such as Tom Snyder and John Facenda, WPVI used a young Larry Kane as their top anchor. Later the station would add the very popular Jim O'Brien as their main weathercaster.
The format quickly took off and within a few years, beat KYW to become the top-rated newscast in Philadelphia. The station has been dominant ever since, and the format spread to other stations.
Interestingly, WKBW-TV in Buffalo called itself "Eyewitness News" and used the Move Closer to Your World theme, but used the basic "Action News" format. WKBW was the sister station to WPVI, which shared the same owner--CapCities.
In New York City WPIX-TV, an independent station at the time (now affiliated with The WB and owned by Tribune Broadcasting) picked up the Action News concept (and music) successfully for their 10 PM newscast. The newscast won numerous awards, but they had nothing approaching WPVI's ratings.
Action News Now
Like Eyewitness News, Action News is usually nothing more than a name since its innovations have been incorporated into newscasts across the country. The name is found on less stations than Eyewitness News is. The format has also developed somewhat of a reputation as a tabloid format, although this was not the intention of its creators (the "Action" refers to the pacing of the newscast and not the actual news content). Perhaps no station exemplifies this more than WOIO in Cleveland, which adopted the name for a tabloid-style newscast. While the station has begun to challenge for second place, it has done so using a variety of questionable tactics; famously, the station aired a sexed-up report centering on anchor Sharon Reed posing for a nude charity photo shoot.
Theme
While the format started in 1970, 1972 marked the start of the infamous "Move Closer to Your World" theme by Al Ham on WPVI, which traveled with the name throughout the country. Unlike most stations, WPVI still uses this theme after three decades, and the theme has arguably become as much a part of the Philadelphia consciousness as the Rocky theme. This was proven in 1996 when the station replaced it with a fuller, orchestral rendition of the same theme performed by the London Philharmonic. Viewer outcry was so great that the station reinstated the theme within five days. WPVI has made numerous remasters of the theme to keep the sound fresh and to make it sound less dated - in the current mix, the bongos are downplayed and the theme has a bit more bass. The theme has the unique distinction of being probably the only news theme to be offered as a ringtone.
Although "Move Closer to Your World" is strongly associated with the Action News format by Philadelphians and many others, many stations that have used the "Action News" name actually chose to use other pieces of music for their newscasts. Conversely, stations that use "Move Closer to Your World" do not necessarily use the "Action News" name or format either.
Stations That Use or have used the Action News Format or Name
| DMA# | DMA Name | Station | Affiliation | Currently Uses | Other Notes |
| 1. | New York City | WPIX-TV | WB | No | Currently identifies as "WB11 News" |
| 2. | Los Angeles | KCBS-TV | CBS | No | Currently identifies as "CBS2 News" |
| 4. | Philadelphia | WPVI-TV | ABC | Yes | |
| 7. | Dallas/Fort Worth | KXAS-TV | NBC | No | Currently identifies as "NBC 5 News" |
| 9. | Atlanta | WSB-TV | ABC | Yes | |
| 10. | Detroit | WXYZ-TV | ABC | Yes | |
| 13. | Tampa/St. Petersburg, Florida | WFTS-TV | ABC | Yes | Currently identifies as "ABC Action News" |
| WTSP-TV | CBS, formerly ABC | No | Used in the 1980s; unrelated to WFTS | ||
| 15. | Phoenix, Arizona | KPNX-TV | NBC | No | Currently identifies as "12 News" |
| 16. | Cleveland, Ohio | WOIO-TV | CBS | Yes | Produces "Action News at 10" for WUAB-TV |
| 17. | Miami/Ft. Lauderdale, Florida | WFOR-TV (formerly WCIX-TV) | CBS | No | Currently identifies as "CBS 4 News" |
| 19. | Sacramento/Stockton/Modesto, California | KOVR-TV | CBS, formerly ABC | No | Currently identifies as "CBS 13 News" |
| KMAX-TV | UPN, formerly WB; independent | No | Used in the 1990s; formerly unrelated to KOVR | ||
| 20. | Orlando | WRDQ-TV | Independent | Yes | Produced by WFTV |
| 21. | St. Louis | KTVI-TV | FOX, formerly ABC | No | Currently identifies as "Fox 2 News" |
| 22. | Pittsburgh | WTAE-TV | ABC | Yes | |
| 23. | Baltimore | WBAL-TV | NBC, formerly CBS | No | Currently identifies as "11 News" |
| 27. | Hartford/New Haven, Connecticut | WTNH-TV | ABC | No | Currently identifies as "NewsChannel 8"; former sister station of WPVI |
| 28. | Charlotte | WAXN-TV | Independent | Yes | Produced by WSOC-TV |
| WCNC-TV (formerly WPCQ-TV) | NBC | No | Currently identifies as "WCNC 6 News"; unrelated to WAXN/WSOC | ||
| 29. | Raleigh/Durham, North Carolina | WRAL-TV | CBS, formerly ABC | No | |
| 31. | Kansas City | KSHB-TV | NBC | Yes | |
| WDAF-TV | FOX, formerly NBC | No | Used from 1974-1978; currently identifies as "Fox 4 News"; unrelated to KSHB | ||
| 32. | Milwaukee | WISN-TV | ABC | No | Currently identifies as "12 News" |
| 33. | Cincinnati | WLWT-TV | NBC | No | Currently identifies as "News 5" |
| 40. | Birmingham, Alabama | WVTM-TV | NBC | No | Used in the 1970s; currently identifies as "NBC 13 News" |
| WIAT-TV | CBS | No | Used in the 1980s and 1990s; currently identifies as "News 42"; unrelated to WVTM | ||
| 42. | Harrisburg/York/Lancaster, Pennsylvania | WLYH-TV | UPN, formerly CBS | No | No longer carries a newscast |
| 44. | Memphis, Tennessee | WMC-TV | NBC | Yes | |
| 47. | Albuquerque/Santa Fe, New Mexico | KOAT-TV | ABC | Yes | |
| 49. | Providence, Rhode Island/New Bedford, Massachusetts | WLNE-TV | ABC | No | Currently identifies as "ABC 6 News" |
| 51. | Las Vegas | KTNV-TV | ABC | Yes | |
| 52. | Jacksonville, Florida | WTLV-TV | NBC | No | Currently identifies as "First Coast News" |
| 54. | Austin, Texas | KVUE-TV | ABC | No | Currently identifies as "KVUE News" |
| 55. | Albany, New York | WTEN-TV | ABC | No | Currently identifies as "News 10" |
| 57. | Little Rock, Arkansas | KTHV-TV | CBS | No | Currently identifies as "Today's THV 11" |
| 58. | Fresno/Visalia/Merced, California | KFSN-TV | ABC | Yes | |
| 59. | Knoxville, Tennessee | WBIR-TV | NBC | No | Currently identifies as "10 News" |
| 63. | Mobile, Alabama/Pensacola, Florida | WALA-TV | FOX, formerly NBC | No | Currently identifies as "FOX 10 News" |
| 64. | Lexington, Kentucky | WLEX-TV | NBC | No | Used in the 1970s and 1980s; currently identifies as "LEX 18 News" |
| WTVQ-TV | ABC | Yes | Unrelated to WLEX | ||
| 69. | Green Bay, Wisconsin | WBAY-TV | ABC | Yes | |
| 70. | Toledo, Ohio | WTVG-TV | ABC | Yes | |
| 124. | Salinas/Monterey, California | KSBW-TV | NBC | Yes | |
| 142. | Erie, Pennsylvania | WJET-TV | ABC | Yes | |
| 149. | Terre Haute, Indiana | WTHI-TV | CBS | Yes |