Opening clip from Aug 17, 1972 newscast

This clip (and its all I have) was at the end of the Aug 17th, 1972 airing of The Bobby Darin Amusement Hour ... the subject is Nixon Peace Plan

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• Nixon
• Kissinger
• Vietnam
• 1972

[Ebo9508]

Beam me up, Scotty, it's News Trek!!

[markofly76]

@rayjr62 No kidding! That's why we watched KPIX! We started watching KRON weeknights when Paymar took over! What a big sigh of Relief! Udell Sucks!

[wmbrown6]

The funny thing - while Stokes, prior to joining WNBC, had no journalism or anchoring experience to speak of, it was Udell who didn't last the full 12 months.

[rayjr62]

@MelanieLouM Paul Udell. . . one of the most (if not THE most) arrogant prick to ever sit in an anchor chair. He worked at the NBC affiliate in S.F. back in the early 1980s. . he alienated himself from just about everyone at the station, including his own co-anchors. No one could stand him. He lasted there only 1 year.

[wmbrown6]

Again, NBC News directly controlled WNBC's news department in those days, and the way it was operated pretty much screamed "control freak." But again, WNBC's 11 P.M. news was the only place where they actually won the ratings race vs. WABC and WCBS. (The latter of which newscasts, then anchored by Jim Jensen and Ralph Penza, were the ones in the ratings basement.)

[amnewsboy]

The set and very VERY dry opening certainly don't help. There's a big difference between somber/demure and flat-out boring.

[DuckRadioLccc]

And of course, Carl Stokes was previously the mayor of Cleveland, Ohio prior to joining WNBC-TV.

[MelanieLouM]

The reporter looks like Ted Danson from Cheers!! ^_^

[vintagehawaiitv]

I own the original 3/4 inch tape from which this clip came from, it is indeed summer 1972.

[wmbrown6]

Oddly enough, however, WNBC's 11 P.M. ratings in 1972 were halfway decent, on par with WABC; it was WCBS that was struggling at 11 P.M. (with the anchor duo of Jim Jensen and Ralph Penza), and this was what led to them, in 1973, switching the origin of those late newscasts to their newsroom and having Rolland Smith and Dave Marash (the latter with his shirtsleeves) anchor them.