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November 22, 1963…Television Coverage, Assassination Day

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Eyes Of A Generation.com

November 22, 1963…Television Coverage, Assassination Day

The only silver lining to one of our darkest days was the local media. The Dallas/Ft. Worth stations were well equipped and on the scene for a big day and were pooling coverage which would become invaluable over the next few days.

It started in Ft. Worth with a televised breakfast. Since WBAP (an NBC affiliate using RCA TK30s) was located there, they covered the event while WFAA (an ABC affiliate using Marconi Mark IVs) covered the arrival at Love Field. KRLD (the CBS affiliate with GE PE20s) was at the Dallas Trade Mart for the luncheon.

By 1:40 ET, the networks were involved. Walter Cronkite did a voice only bulletin over a slide at CBS. Less than an minute later, Don Pardo delivered a voice bulletin over a slide at NBC. Soon after, Cronkite was on the air live from the newsroom…the cameras had been taken out that morning for maintenance and were quickly rushed back into service, already warm, but not quite up to speed.

NBC went live from Studio 5HN, the headline news studio on the 5th floor with Frank McGee and Chet Huntley aided by Robert McNeil at Parkland hospital with live phone reports. McNeil had called on a line that was not a broadcast line and McGee had to relay his reports. NBC techs brought out a telephone mic, but there was too much feedback.

ABC was caught totally by surprise and news coverage there started with a radio newsman on camera with no set and a stage hand helping. After that first live phone report, Ron Cochran finally rushed in from lunch down the street and took over. All expect one of the these photos is from Friday, November 22. More on the photos. -Bobby Ellerbee










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16 responses to “November 22, 1963…Television Coverage, Assassination Day”

  1. Steve Phillips

    Don’t forget Bill Ryan, mostly a New York WNBC anchor, was a vital part of the network coverage along with Huntley and McGee!

  2. Beth Burton

    I remember this well. I was in the 2nd grade and school was dismissed early. Our President was dead and no one knew what to do. Our country cried for some time over this assignation.

  3. Steve Dichter

    Don’t forget NBC newsman Bill Ryan who co-anchored the breaking news coverage.

  4. Gil Ludwig

    Sorry the phone keeps inserting incorrectly. That was channel 8 WFAA at the time CBS.

  5. Gil Ludwig

    That was WFFA-TV Dallas not WHAS

  6. Gil Ludwig

    Several retired engineers from WHAS – TV are still around and have hours of interesting stories.

  7. Mike Malone

    When NBC did a retrospective of its coverage a few years ago, I distinctly remember that a cutaway to Dallas live was in color, but when they went back to Dallas a few minutes later it was in B&W. I always wondered what was up with that?

  8. Michelle Hancock

    I remember – and I will never forget.

  9. Don Hougland

    I recall, one of the network stations in the pool coverage, had color camera coverage. ( probably WBAP) The next time the pool network went back to that location, the color burst was gone, and the picture was B&W like the rest. I have much of the three day NBC coverage on 2 inch tape, recorded at 7-1/2 IPS recorded on an RCA TR-1. Plan to donate it to the Newseum in DC…they probably already most of the coverage. Still our history.

  10. David Crosthwait

    Some correction needed. On 11/22/63, it was KTVT that did the remote at the Texas Hotel in downtown Ft. Worth. WBAP-TV ran the feed live from KTVT’s air. WBAP’s mobile unit was down with engine failure. The next 48 plus hours is very interesting as told by Bud Turner (below): http://www.nwahomepage.com/story/bella-vista-man-remembers-working-in-a-tx-newsroom-the-day-jfk-was-shot/d/story/TbfIu_UdykuljsQillBuJg

  11. BC Fensley

    These pictures still makes us very sad. We often talk about where we were when we heard the shooting news. It was Friday afternoon, after school. We stayed stuck to our B&W TVs for the next four days. We witnessed Jack Ruby shoot Oswald in real time.

  12. Mike Chapman

    NBC’s live switch to Dallas seconds before Lee Harvey Oswald was shot while being transferred is the stuff of legend. On that sunday morning, NBC boss Robert Kintner called the Today Show control room from home, telling them to switch from Washington to Dallas. Oswald was shot moments later, on live TV.

  13. Mike Chapman

    McNeil called in with first word of the shooting and whoever took the call reportedly said, “Just a minute -” put the phone down, and forgot about it in the ensuing bedlam. This hapless employee was never identified, but News president Reuven Frank recalled that he was later hunted down and summarily fired. The delay gave CBS the jump on coverage – remember, this in a time with but three television networks. CBS later went with an unconfirmed report that Kennedy had died, NBC waited the extra minutes for confirmation. Executive producer Robert “Shad” Northshield wouldn’t budge, even when CBS went with the report – “This is one goddamn time I’m not going to be edited by CBS!”

  14. Wally Roper

    Bill Ryan was also a big part of the NBC Coverage with David Brinkley and Martin Agronsky in DC. Astonishing television.

  15. Steve Kurz

    I was in the school auditorium for assembly. It was our “freshman” day assembly. I was wearing a cardboard sign around my neck with my name on it, mispelled KURTZ. We were supposed to wear the signs all day. Then the principal came to the podium to announce that President Kennedy had been shot in Dallas. A hush went over the crowd and then the murmers began. We were released from school. I came home to my mother crying on the couch. It was a day starting with fun and meriment, but ended with a tragedy that will last us the rest of our lives.

    I will not forget it.

  16. Gary Lewi

    images that are “burned” into our collective tube

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