MURRAY Finlay, television newsreader and a household name across the Hunter since the early 1960s, died at Coffs Harbour on Tuesday, aged 84.
Finlay, who famously read the Hunter's first locally produced nightly news when NBN3 launched in 1962, was the face of Newcastle's first commercial TV station for more than 20 years.
Described as the Walter Kronkite of Newcastle, after the US newsreader, Finlay's early NBN duties also included a children's program, The Three Cheers Show, playing straight man to comedian Norman Brown.
He moved to New Guinea at the end of 1984 when NBN's owner at the time, WA entrepreneur Kevin Parry, set up a station there.
He was general manager of Niugini Television Network until late 1987. He then ran Toowoomba's DDQ (Darling Downs Queensland) TV station, before returning to the Hunter in 1989 to manage the ABC's Newcastle 1233 AM radio station.
Finlay was lured back to the small screen in 1993, reading the news for new arrival Prime Television.
He was up against his old employer, and one of the many journalists he helped along the way, NBN identity Ray Dineen. Prime struggled to make headway against NBN, and Finlay retired in 1995, saying later that it had been a hard struggle to win over viewers.
"Ray (Dineen) has been there now for, what, 27 years and I think he's now been there longer than I was," Finlay said in 2001.
Dineen was one of many to pay tribute to Finlay. The two worked side-by-side for the final decade of Finlay's time at NBN in what was one of the first dual newsreader bulletins in the country.
"He was a great mentor to me, and at the same time he was friendly, and he was fun," Dineen said.
"We'd do the Telethons together and they'd get us to do something silly, to sing a duet or do push-ups, and he was always up for it."
Finlay's wife Dawn said on Tuesday that he had come to Australia from New Zealand aged 18, and had worked in radio before starting at NBN.
"It was that voice, it was glorious, and he charmed everyone when he sat down to speak."
She said they'd been living happily in retirement at Coffs Harbour for 12 years. She thanked staff at Coffs Harbour Base Hospital for their care of her husband in his final week. There would be no funeral service "at Murray's request".
