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Hearst Newsreel Series History

Compiled: January 2026 | Sources: UCLA Film & TV Archive, Wikipedia, newsreels.net research

This document describes the various newsreel series produced by the Hearst Corporation and their relationships. Understanding these series is essential for correctly interpreting the index card catalog, which contains cross-references to multiple series using similar volume/issue numbering.

Timeline of Hearst Newsreel Series

1914
Hearst-Selig News Pictorial launches (with Selig Polyscope Company)
January 1919
Hearst International Newsreel (HIN) launches, distributed by Universal Pictures. Twice-weekly release. This silent series is documented in our synopsis sheets. HIN
August 1927
MGM News launches as a separate Hearst newsreel distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Also twice-weekly. Hearst now produces two parallel newsreel series. HMGM
July 1929
HIN ceases production after ~10 years. MGM News continues.
July 1929
MGM International Newsreel created by merging the HIN and MGM News titles. Continues MGM News volume numbering. HMGM
September 1929
Hearst begins sound newsreel production using Fox Movietone system. Hearst Metrotone News launches as the main theatrical series. HNR
1930
MGM International Newsreel ends; all theatrical newsreel production unified under Hearst Metrotone News.
1936
Hearst Metrotone News renamed to News of the Day. Continues twice-weekly theatrical release. HNR
1940s
Adventures in Sports theatrical shorts series produced. AIS
1954
Television era begins. Telenews Daily (HTD) launches as syndicated TV newsfilm service. This Week in Sports (TWS) begins weekly TV sports compilations. HTD TWS
1956
Telenews Weekly (HTW) begins as weekly news compilation for television. HTW
1958
Screen News Digest (SND) launches as educational classroom newsreel series for schools. Telenews Weekly ends. SND
1950s–60s
Various compilation series produced for TV and education: Farm Newsreel, Almanac Newsreel, School Reel, Perspective on Greatness, The History Makers. Most not included in UCLA donation. ALM
1962
Telenews Daily and This Week in Sports cease production as television networks develop in-house news operations.
December 1967
Hearst ceases all newsreel production. Final News of the Day issue released. End of 53 years of Hearst newsreels.
Early 1980s
Screen News Digest production ends.
1981
Hearst Corporation donates newsreel collection to UCLA Film & Television Archive. Collection includes ~100,000 cans of film.

Collection Spans

This chart shows the active date ranges of each series in the UCLA collection:

CodeSeriesStartEndElements
HINHearst International Newsreel19191929399
HMGMMGM News / MGM International1927193070
HNRNews of the Day (Metrotone)1929196730,017
HVMVault Materials (outtakes)1920196746,031
HCOCuts and Outtakes1930196714,295
HTDTelenews Daily195419625,433
TWSThis Week in Sports19541962522
HTWTelenews Weekly1956195812
HCCColor Collection1950s19671,171
AISAdventures in Sports1940s1950s80
SNDScreen News Digest19581980s57
ALMAlmanac Newsreel1950s1960s6
HIVMInternational Vault Material1919192945

Series Details

Hearst International Newsreel (HIN)

DatesJanuary 1919 – July 1929
DistributorUniversal Pictures
Release ScheduleTwice weekly
Volume RangeVol. 1–11 (based on synopsis sheets)
Estimated Production~1 million feet
Known Survival<100,000 feet (~10%)
Collection CodeHIN

Sources: Wikipedia, newsreels.net

MGM News

DatesAugust 1927 – July 1929
DistributorMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release ScheduleTwice weekly
Volume RangeVol. 1–2+ (ran concurrently with HIN)
Known Survival<20,000 feet
Collection CodeHMGM
NotableFeatured in Buster Keaton's The Cameraman (1928)
Critical Note: MGM News used a separate Vol. 1 starting in August 1927. Index cards referencing "Vol. 1-1" dated 1927 are MGM News, NOT HIN Vol. 1-1 (which would be January 1919).

News of the Day (HNR)

DatesSeptember 1929 – December 1967
DistributorMGM (theatrical distribution)
Release ScheduleTwice weekly
Previous NamesHearst Metrotone News (1929–1936)
FormatSound (Fox Movietone system)
Collection CodeHNR
UCLA Holdings30,017 elements (largest collection)

News of the Day was Hearst's flagship newsreel series for 38 years, the longest-running of all Hearst theatrical newsreels.

Television Series (1954–1962)

As theatrical newsreel attendance declined in the 1950s, Hearst expanded into television with several syndicated series:

SeriesCodeDatesFormatElements
Telenews DailyHTD1954–1962Daily newsfilm service for TV stations5,433
This Week in SportsTWS1954–1962Weekly sports compilation522
Telenews WeeklyHTW1956–1958Weekly news magazine12
End of an Era: Television networks developed their own news operations in the late 1950s, reducing demand for syndicated newsfilm. By 1962, all Hearst television news series had ceased production, though News of the Day continued theatrical release until 1967.

Vault Materials (HVM, HCO, HCC)

In addition to released newsreels, the UCLA collection includes substantial raw and unreleased footage:

CollectionCodeContentElements
Vault MaterialsHVMUnedited camera original footage; raw material never edited into released newsreels46,031
Cuts and OuttakesHCOTrims and unused footage from newsreel production14,295
Color CollectionHCCColor film stock materials (often more fragile)1,171
International VaultHIVMOuttakes from the silent HIN era (1919–1929)45
Research Value: The vault materials (HVM) represent the largest single collection at UCLA—over 46,000 elements of raw footage that was never seen publicly. This material often contains extended coverage of events that were heavily edited for theatrical release.

Later Compilation Series (1950s–1960s)

Hearst produced several compilation series repackaging archival footage for television and educational markets:

SeriesPurposeRegistry CodeIn UCLA Donation?
Adventures in SportsTheatrical sports shorts with themed episodesAISYes (80 elements)
Farm NewsreelAgricultural content for rural markets—No
Almanac Newsreel"This day in history" compilationsALMPartial (6 elements)
School ReelEducational compilations—No
Screen News DigestEducational classroom newsreels (1958–1980s)SNDYes (57 elements)
Perspective on GreatnessBiographical compilations—No
The History MakersHistorical documentaries—No

Source: UCLA Hearst Metrotone News Collection research guide

Index Card Catalog Implications

The Hearst index card catalog (c0a00000–c0a49998, ~19,000 cards) was a working library index that tracked footage across all Hearst series. The "USED IN" field on cards references whichever series the footage appeared in.

Key Discovery (January 2026): Analysis of OCR'd index cards revealed that vol/issue references on c0a cards point to multiple different series:

Matching Cards to HIN

Of ~3,600 cards with parseable vol/issue references:

The valid HIN cards have been linked to registry elements via the hearst_registry.card_elements junction table (3,477 links to 187 elements).

Volume/Issue Numbering

Important: Multiple Hearst series used similar vol/issue numbering schemes independently. A reference to "Vol. 2-60" could mean: Context (date, content, cameraman) is required to determine which series is referenced.

HIN Volume/Issue Ranges (from Synopsis Sheets)

VolumeIssuesApprox. Dates
17–1041919
21–1031919–1920
32–1041920
42–1021920–1921
51–1041921
61–1041921–1922
71–1061922–1923
81–1011923–1924
91–1061924–1925
101–1041925–1926
111–601926–1929

Note: Vol. 1 starts at Issue 7 in our records. Issues 1–6 may be lost or never documented.

Database Tables

Card-to-registry linkages are stored in:

TablePurposeRecords
hearst_registry.card_hin_mappingCards with vol/issue references, is_valid_hin flag3,597
hearst_registry.card_elementsDirect card-to-element links via HIN issues3,477
hearst_registry.card_ocr_newRaw OCR extraction from card images~19,000
hearst_webapp.CG_REGISTRY_LINKCard groups linked to story filemaker_ids47,621

Document compiled January 2026
Based on analysis of OCR'd index cards and online sources