How Network TV Covered the Events of 11/22/63: Next on TVC

We’ll look back at how television news covered the events of Nov. 22, 1963, the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, on the next edition of TV CONFIDENTIAL, airing Nov. 13-19 at the following times and venues:

WROM Radio
Detroit, MI
Wednesday 11/13
8pm ET, 5pm PT
2am ET, 11pm PT
Sunday 11/17
8pm ET, 5pm PT
2am ET, 11pm PT
Click on the Listen Live button at WROMRadio.net

WYYR: Yesteryear Radio
Vero Beach, FL
Wednesday 11/13
9pm ET, 6pm PT
Click the On Air button at WYYR.com

Indiana Talks
Marion, IN
Wednesday 11/13
11pm ET, 8pm PT
with replays at various times throughout the week
Click on the player at IndianaTalks.com
or use the TuneIn app on your smartphone and type in Indiana Talks

Talktainment Radio
Columbus, OH
Thursday 11/14
2am ET, 11pm PT
Friday 11/15
3am ET, Midnight PT
Noon ET, 9am PT
Click on the Listen Live button at TalktainmentRadio.com

Share-a-Vision Radio
San Francisco Bay Area
Friday 11/15
7pm ET, 4pm PT
10pm ET, 7pm PT
Click on the Listen Live button at KSAV.org
or use the TuneIn app on your smartphone and type in KSAV

KHMB Radio 1710 AM
Half Moon Bay, CA
Sunday 11/17
9pm PT
Monday 11/18
Midnight ET
Click on the Listen Live button at KHMBRadio.com
or use the Live365 app on your smartphone and type in KHMB

The Radio Slot Network
San Francisco, CA
Monday 11/18
10pm ET, 7pm PT
with replays Tuesday thru Friday at 10pm ET, 7pm PT
Click on the Talk Slot button at RadioSlot.com

Passionate World Radio
Ann Arbor, MI
Tuesday 11/19
8:30pm ET, 5:30pm PT
with replays at various times throughout the week at PWRTalk.com
Click on the Listen Now button at PWRTalk.com

The assassination of President John F. Kennedy on Nov. 22, 1963 was a seminal moment in the history of not only the United States in general, but network television news in particular. Prior to Nov. 22, 1963, the concept of “breaking news” did not exist on television (certainly not as we know it today), and while there was some form of expanded live network news coverage, it was usually limited to planned events such as political conventions, election nights, Inauguration ceremonies, or the March on Washington. That all changed at approximately 1:45pm ET on Nov. 22, 1963, as all three networks — ABC, NBC and CBS — were caught off guard, along with the rest of the country, as they scrambled to cover the news of JFK’s murder as the events unfolded.

While many of us think of the iconic moment when CBS news anchor Walter Cronkite briefly lost his composure when he announced the death of JFK, several moments on NBC television were also significant, including the first NBC national news bulletin reporting the assassination, which was read on the air by NBC announcer Don Pardo. But because of the shocking and unexpected nature of the story — not to mention the technological limitations of television broadcasting at the time — NBC did not have any recording of the Pardo bulletin, nor did it have any recording of the first four minutes of its network news coverage that day. In fact, for more than 25 years, NBC assumed that moment in history was simply lost… until it was discovered that one man in Brooklyn, NY happened to have the presence of mind to tape the audio from that moment on his own. That man, as you may have gathered, is our friend Phil Gries.

We’ll not only share that lost audio footage with you this week as part of the Sounds of Lost Television, but learn how, in many respects, that footage came to symbolize Phil’s passion forcapturing audio from other moments of early television, at a time when few, if any, TV broadcasts were saved at all — even on the network level. We’ll also play highlights of Phil’s interview with Don Pardo from May 1998, in which the iconic announcer recalls the chaos that permeated the NBC newsroom on 11/22/63, as well as other moments from television coverage that day.

Tony Figueroa and Donna Allen will also join us for this week’s discussion, as we merge The Sounds of Lost Television with This Week in TV History.

TV CONFIDENTIAL: A radio talk show about television
Wed and Sun 8pm ET, 5pm PT on WROM Radio
Wed 9pm ET, 6pm PT on WYYR: Yesteryear Radio
Wed 11pm ET, 8pm PT on IndianaTalks.com
Fri 7pm ET and PT on Share-a-Vision Radio, KSAV.org
Fri Noon ET, 9am PT on Talktainment Radio
Sun 9pm PT, Mon Midnight ET on KHMB Radio 1710 AM (Half Moon Bay, Calif.)
Mon 10pm ET, 7pm PT on The Radio Slot Network
Tue 8:30pm ET, 5:30pm PT on Passionate World Radio
Tape us now, listen to us later, using DAR.fm/tvconfidential
Also available as a podcast via iTunes, FeedBurner
and now on your mobile phone via www.stitcher.com/TVConfidential
Follow us online at www.tvconfidential.net
Follow us now on Twitter: Twitter.com/tvconfidential
Like our Fan Page at www.facebook.com/tvconfidential