Natalie Jacobson on WGBH's "Greater Boston" Part 1

[dft432]

Natalie Jacobson had been anchoring WCVB's 6 PM newscast solo since 2000, and once they added Ed Harding to the show in March '07, that signaled that Nat was going to hit the road (it was rumored that Nat didn't like having to share the desk with Ed)

There was absoultely no chemistry between Ed & Nat and Nat looked pissed at times.

[hkfreak]

Bob Barker, Natalie Jacobson...who's next?

[gymnastix]

I watched Natalie Jacobson when she co-anchored her very first news broadcast on the then-new Channel 5, WCVB-TV, with ex-husband Chet Curtis on the midday news in 1972. I wasn't accustomed to seeing a two-person team read the news, and Shelby Scott at Channel 4 had been the only women anchor/reporter in Boston up to that point, that I recall.

[gymnastix]

Moreover, the young Jacobson didn't smile much in those days, was very stern & serious in her delivery, and there was so much change going on, what with the loss of the old Channel 5 license (WHDH, then owned by the old Boston Herald Traveler newspaper) to this new consortium.

[gymnastix]

Young Chet Curtis had already been the sole anchor on the old Channel 5 midday mews, and I had watched & liked him out of habit because my late mother & I used to watch his midday newscast just before her favorite "story" ("Search For Tomorrow") came on, as Channel 5 had been the CBS affiliate in those days.

[gymnastix]

So when the new Channel 5 switched affiliations to the ABC network, it meant if I wanted to continue watching Curtis' newscast & then the soap, I had to switch to the then-new CBS affiliate, which was WNAC-TV, Channel 7.

[gymnastix]

It may seem ridiculous, but in those days before many had remote controls & cable, that was a more complicated move, meant adjusting the old rabbit ears antennae too. But out of loyalty I continued watching Curtis & his new partner Jacobson, and the team on-screen became one off-screen, Natalie softened up and became a warm figure who we all began to rely upon for her non-nonsesnse-but-friendly delivery of the daily news.

[gymnastix]

Then the team joined with long-time anchor Jack Hynes to anchor the local evening news, and the rest, as they say, is history!

Natalie Jacobson was a dedicated professional, who didn't use a Boston news anchor job as a stepping stone to the big network career she could easily have had, but stayed here in Boston, raised a family & became a friendly & reliable presence on Boston television & in the community. That means something, especially in today's broadcasting environment!

[gymnastix]

"Search For Tomorrow" is gone now, the first successful TV soap opera cancelled over two decades ago, switiching networks before it ended & its star moving to another daytime drama before her death in 2002.

[gymnastix]

Just as I had to adjust 35 years ago, to alter my viewing routine to watch Chet & Natalie on that first midday newscast and still watch a favorite daytime drama, it's time again to make another adjustment in viewing habits. But this one will not be as easy as switching channels, because Natalie Jacobson's presence on the Boston TV scene will definitely be missed!

[BadGurl404]

There's still Jack Williams ovah on 'BZ.

[savion94]

I hate BZ