This RCA T-120 from the Sunbury Collection opens with Peter Jennings narrating The Century on WEWS Cleveland, then cuts to WEWS rebroadcasting WCPO Cincinnati’s coverage of the tornado. The tornado hit Blue Ash, Montgomery, Sycamore Township, Symmes Township, and Loveland across Hamilton and Warren Counties. Winds exceeded 200 mph. Four people died. Over 400 homes were damaged or destroyed. WCPO published retrospective articles for the 20th and 25th anniversaries of the storm but the original live broadcast footage has not surfaced online. The pager alert segment from that broadcast — where the anchor explains that viewers can receive storm alerts on their personal pager or by email — is a specific 1999 early-internet moment that no longer exists anywhere else.
The CinciNow.com commercial is separately lost. E.W. Scripps ran the Cincinnati internet portal from 1998 until 2007, when the trademark was cancelled. No video of any CinciNow.com advertisement has been found. The Maury sextuplets episode on FOX 8 Cleveland is almost certainly not preserved. The partial Oprah “Dad’s in jail” episode is in the same category as essentially every individual Oprah episode from this era. 20/20 with Barbara Walters covered Kosovo and Iraq. The Century covered Section 7A and the unions, Yo-Yo Ma, and the Ayatollah. The person who recorded this tape cut the commercials on The Century segment, which is documented under “tragedy” in the stream notes.
Commercial Inventory
- CinciNow.com – E.W. Scripps Cincinnati internet portal (1998-2007). Trademark cancelled December 2007. Zero video presence online.
- America Online 4.0 – During Maury segment. 1999 AOL ad at the peak of AOL.
- Dr. Frankenstein Eggo commercial – Halloween-adjacent Eggo waffle ad. During Maury broadcast.
- Mrs. T’s Pierogies – Classic Pittsburgh-area pierogies brand. During Maury segment.
- Basista Furniture (in-store warehouse sale) – Cincinnati/Ohio local furniture retailer ad. Partial.
- Seaman’s Furniture 24-hour sale – Midwest furniture chain, all locations closed. Vintage ads scarce online.
