FREE READ: WPVI Shares Promos Over 40 Years That Helped It be Philly’s Ratings Leader

By Paul Greeley

NOTE: This story was first published on News Blues on June 24th. 

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At a luncheon hosted by The Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia, Mike Monsell, VP of Marketing at WPVI, the ABC-owned station in Philadelphia, branded as 6abc, presented Anatomy of a TV Promo, a historical review of some of the most memorable Action News commercials from the past four decades and offered insider context to each ad.

For nearly a half-century, 6abc/WPVI has been the ratings leader in the Philadelphia market.

The Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia is a non-profit membership-based organization, founded in January of 1962, dedicated to honoring the pioneers of Philadelphia’s radio and television, and preserving their contributions through archival projects and educational initiatives.

Monsell showed attendees almost 20 commercials going back almost 40 years the station created that I consider are the most unique, creative and effective local TV news ads in the history of any TV station in the country.

Monsell began by making a critical distinction between promotion and advertising.

“Promotion is more tactical,” Monsell said. “It’s looking to the next thing. It is, watch this, listen to this. Advertising is more long-tail. It’s branding.”

Monsell said WPVI does the tactical promotion to get you to watch the show tonight or the news tomorrow, “but our image spots have always been more focused on how we can get folks to watch tomorrow and the next day and the next month as opposed to just watch now.”

Monsell then got to the oldest promo he was going to show, from the 1980s.

“I would argue that this ad, which turned into a campaign, is the most successful local television branding campaign in the history of American television.”

Monsell said the station did its best to keep that campaign alive, making the Action News van an icon of the station and branding the station as the one that covers the news everywhere, even Mars.

Monsell said a movie he watched about how stressful it is being an air traffic controller inspired this next commercial.

“It’s probably pretty stressful to be a news van traffic controller, too.

Monsell said this next commercial “was the most ambitious commercial we’ve ever done. It was the most fun I ever had doing a commercial and it was also the most stressful.”

Monsell says this new spot was the answer to when news vans aren’t really vans anymore.

“We leaned into it.”

“One of the great stories here is this next spot was actually written about 20 years ago by a guy named Paul Greeley,” Monsell said. “It’s actually really good,” Monsell said.

Monsell said this next ad, from about 15 years ago, has a beautiful backstory.

His GM at the time, Rebecca Campbell, had just left her son’s third grade chorus and told Monsell about a song the students has sung.

“You’ve got to find it,” she told Monsell.

“And then this was born,” Monsell said.

WPVI did a reboot of that commercial when those kids were seniors during the pandemic.

For this commercial, Monsell said he needed Jim Gardner and Gary Poppa at a party talking.

(Jim Gardner concluded a 45-year run at the anchor desk at WPVI and retired January 2022. Gary Papa, WPVI’s longtime sportscaster, died in June 2009 at the age of 54.)

Monsell said it was Gardner who suggested they be playing video games.

Brian Taff anchors the 6 p.m. newscast on WPVI.  And he’s known to have a deep voice.

“We leaned into it with this commercial,” Monsell said.

This next ad was created to quell rumors that two of the station’s meteorologists didn’t get along.

“Nothing could be further from the truth,” Monsell said.

When Jim Gardner retired after decades on the anchor desk, the station named Rick Williams the anchor for the 11 p.m. newscast.

“We just wanted to make sure everyone knew who Rick Williams was,” Monsell said.

So with Gardner retired, and Rick Williams doing the 11 p.m., Brian Taff became the 6 p.m. anchor, the first time ever the station had two different people doing their signature newscasts.

So the station came up with the idea of what happens when you split one person in half and make two people.

Monsell says this next commercial is “one of the most impactful spots we’ve ever done.”

“Once this spot hit the air, it was life-changing for the person involved,” he said.

Finally, WPVI’s latest ad “is a classic 6abc commercial,” Moinsell said.

Paul Greeley is the manager and a writer for News Blues.

He can be reached at Paul@NewsBlues.com or 817-578-6324.