Noticentro 4
|
|
Noticentro 4 is a television news show in Puerto Rico. Produced by WAPA-TV (channel 4 in Puerto Rico's television dial), it has always competed with rival Telenoticias en Acción of Telemundo Puerto Rico (channel 2) for the Puerto Rican viewer's preference.
The show began in 1967, with Evelio Ortiz and Rubén Darío Sánchez as anchor men. Soon after, Guillermo José Torres joined as an on the street reporter.
The show at first lasted only fifteen minutes in the after noon, with a 30 minute edition at 10 in the evening. There was also a weekend edition. Gradually, the show's on-the-air time was raised, until it was stretched to one hour for each daily segment.
Soon after, Ortiz and Sánchez retired, making Torres the director of the news department at WAPA-TV, and also the show's main anchor and director. In the late 1970s, Enrique Cruz, Luz Nereida Velez, Sylvia Gómez, Luis Rigual, Cyd Marie Fleming, José Esteves, Luis Vigoreaux and others joined.
In 1980, Noticentro 4 inaugurated a new studio. In 1981, Pedro Rosa Nales joined the team. In 1982, Enrique Cruz, also known as Kike Cruz, substituted Torres as show director. In 1983, Rigual tragically passed away, being substituted as main sports anchor man by Rafael Bracero. Bobby Anglero joined the team of reporters as Bracero's main helper in 1984, year in which the Coqui Satellite was inaugurated by the station. Coqui Satellite helped the network deliver breaking news quicker, and it helped deliver the news on occasions such as the Challenger explosion, when Torres interrupted Angela Meyer on her Chanita Gobernadora comedy section to break the news to the public only minutes after it had happened.
In the late 1980s, Esteves married Jennifer Wolff who became a reporter for Las Noticias Tele Once's news show . Cyd Marie Fleming married Atilano Cordero Badillo entrepreneur and owner of a super market chain
Noticentro 4 continues to be one of the most popular programs of its genre in Puerto Rico.