ABC13's oldest recorded newscast, Aug 23, 1978

Before video, it was difficult to record a newscast. This newscast is the oldest one we have in our archive.
The news of that day was a Geraldo Rivera report on the Houston Police Department which angered the then Chief Caldwell.
There's a story on METRO buying their first fleet of buses and Continental rolls out its new uniforms for 1979, complete with some bad dancing.
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[@gregshawphotography8828]

I remember that theme music. It's been in my head since I was a kid. Bring it back for the current news.

[@rexierabbit3280]

I lived in Sugar Land from 1979 until 1994. I watched KTRK Live at 5 and 6:00 news every day because my dad did (and loved watching Peter Jennings in between). One thing that always strikes me about watching old TV commercials was that everyone was just happy and genuine in them. Happiness sold. Everything had a happy jingle! Even the narrators sound genuine and excited describing everything. Nothing was focus-grouped, tested, or pre-determined. In other words, life was just genuine back then. Today, it's just too scripted, too focus-grouped and tested. Self-served and force fed. Fake. Things are sold to you using words that have been tested and determined to be buzz words to attract. You see those things not because you explored, but because it was recommended to you because of algorithms and observation of your habits. People back then went out of their way to do the best they could, be happy, and live a joyous, simple, and genuine life no matter who or what you were. Not everything was perfect, of course, but it was stable and people were by and large, happy. Life was really, really stable overall. Sad that's just no longer the case. PS: Bob Allen. That suit. haha!

[@crb4059]

Even more so in the 80's, everything started to sour in the 90's and definitely since 2010.

[@rexierabbit3280]

@Bourg Productions Yes. I was a kid and we lived in one of the first areas of first colony being built.

[@Imchriswalker]

Nah

[@MikeRichardson88]

Holy crap! It's the action news theme! You can still hear that every day on WPVI-TV. And this recording is freaking awesome with the original ads and everything! Way to go KTRK!

[@paulnguyen8910]

And WKBW - ABC 7 in Buffalo, NY.

[@joeblow8593]

And WABC - 7 in New York City

[@user-uz2ij7hh6p]

I never noticed that from wpvi until now lol. And I thought KGO had the same song for too long.

[@gregsells8549]

KTRK was owned by Capital Cities and became an ABC O&O when Cap Cities bought ABC, along with WPVI 6 ABC in Philly, WTVD ABC 11 in Raleigh-Durham and KFSN ABC 30 in Fresno.

[@ericsamuelson5656]

WNEP News Watch 16 Scranton had this theme music since 1977

[@micmac99]

I lived in Houston 2010-2012, but grew up in the SF Bay Area in the 70s and 80s; I remember Jan Carson from when she worked at KGO ABC 7 San Francisco around 1979-1980.

[@RageTVHTX]

I was 8 when this aired...So thats where she went! I just remember wondering why she wasnt on channel 13 anymore. She popped up at the end of 1979 in a end of the 70s retrospect channel 13 put together called "We Remember the 70s". I dont remember much of it but i do remember her appearance (kinda). Her segment looked like they had caught up to her at her home while working in her garden, i remember she was wearing like a red bandana on her head (and she still looked great) and she was talking about what she was doing these days and talked a little about her days at KTRK.

[@ericsamuelson5656]

The voiceover for the "Good Guys Wear Black" TV ad is none other than the late Ernie Anderson

[@HoustonMediaHD]

Those old cues........ The current and old ones for the commercial break are stuck in my head.

[@paulnguyen8910]

I was 7 when this aired, and lived in NW Harris County at the time. Game shows would usually follow the 18:00 newscast. By September 1982 the newscast would increase to an hour. Carson also worked at KPRC - NBC 2 in early 1980s.

[@Rebmetpes4]

Fam Feud was on @ 6:30 before 1982's expansion!

[@rudyiraheta80]

did carson worked at khou

[@Rebmetpes4]

Namely Family Feud @ 18:30!

[@jordanthomas7304]

​@@rudyiraheta80no, stupid.

[@nicholasyoder]

Dang I never seen Lake Houston that low! I used to fish there when I was a kid in 1985-1988

[@jayc3688]

Would love to see more 1977 footage!

[@joemartin1253]

LIGHTNING O 'GENE This is 1978.

[@RepentfollowJesus]

77 was a good year even though this was 78

[@theblackwolf6338]

WOW! I grew up in the 90s. I'm blown away at how many names go back this far! Melanie, Alma, Bob, Ed. Wow.

[@axtaxt8372]

When gas stations were full service “car” places...now you can get gas, lunch, lottery tickets, smokes, beer...the list goes on and on

[@Rebmetpes4]

RIP Ed Brandon!

[@JohnSmith-kz8yo]

Real name Ed Brandstetter

[@hashtag415]

Wasn't he outed in a sex scandal?

[@portafoy]

What a trip! Would love to see more.

[@ABC13Houston]

Hey David, glad you like the video. Check out our ABC13 Archives playlist for dozens of vintage videos from our vault.

[@crooow]

Regarding the archive-some years back, the ABC13 website posted the entire first Live at Five, from March 1977 IIRC. It was interesting to say the least. Dave Ward and Jan Carson read the headlines and mostly talked to reporters about stories they were working on. The rest was features. Bob Allen talked to a collector of Olympics memorabilia and Ed Brandon talked about the environment. Is that still in the archive?

[@paulnguyen8910]

No. It was 4-18-1977 when "Live @ 5" began, as the Million Dollar Movie moved back a half-hour to 15:00, and pre-empted "Edge of Night".

[@robertalexander4372]

I miss this period of time for so many reasons. Houston has gone the way of most large cities...

[@snotloutisagod2956]

How I miss the days when you hear about Astros & Oilers games played at "The Dome".

[@O.G_WINO]

Fucking troll!! 🤣

[@MinifigNewsguy]

Interesting to see an aircheck of a then ABC affiliate before it became an O&O; and how they mixed CapCities format, and brand that was well known to the O&Os. Wonder which creative heads managed to pull that off

[@wbchloe7168]

I know they have to have older newscasts than this. They're probably in 2" quad tape form and find a working quadruplex Video Tape Recorder is nearly impossible to find. This is when C type came out and they are easier to use and find.

[@crooow]

They once posted older videos on their website, such as the first 10 minutes of the May 1976 newscast talking about the ammonia spill. Scary stuff.

[@dougo1962]

Anyone remember JB Jim Priest, a videographer who I believe worked at this station. I use to work with him somewhere else. Wonders where he is now.

[@Rebmetpes4]

Jan Carson was so dam fine!

[@cityslacker6221]

stone cold fox

[@robertjordan5653]

I love looking at the old videos...

[@tyrese3745]

25:57 Hey, that's Rod Roddy (RIP), the VO for the ABC hit sitcom "Soap" (who would be the announcer for the majority of many CBS hit game shows like "Whew!" (1979-80), the uber-competive "Press Your Luck" (1983-86) and, of course, Johnny Olson's replacement for the network's already long-running, colossal-hit series called "The Price is Right" for his final 17 years (1986-2003)) in this Meineke commercial as a funny horse jockey.

[@bmasters1981]

And he was also on two NBC games, both short-lived: Battlestars w/the late, great Alex Trebek (the original one, 1981-82), and Hit Man w/the late, great Peter Tomarken (Jan. 1983-Apr. 1983; to celebrate its 40th anniversary on my 42nd birthday next year).

[@TimBoyd2012]

@@bmasters1981 "If you'd like to be a contestant on Hit Man, forget it!"

[@RepentfollowJesus]

I remember these wonderful news folk. Loved them. I grew up waching them so they were like family.I was 15 when this one was on. I wish you had footage from way back when Sid Lasher the weatherman was on there. I loved Ed Brandon too. I was little when Sid was on. Loved Dave Ward and Marvin Zindler . And thought we had the cutest sports reporter . Native Houstonian here. I miss the old Houston of the 70s. I would move back if it were the same again. I stuck it out until 2000.

[@crooow]

Sid Lasher worked at KHOU. He never worked at KTRK.

[@reving19]

If anyone has an earlier broadcast of KTRK, please find a way to share it! Those of us who grew up around that time in Houston would love to see it. thank you.

[@markofly76]

25:57 The world's greatest game show announcer for Meineke

[@StudioZ7]

With the Bonanza promo at the end, I take it the station didn't carry ABC Late Night (then mostly prime time reruns) or ran it on a one-hour delay.

[@texeddieguerra]

Do you keep full day broadcasts with included commercials in archive? If so, have they been digitized and accessible anywhere?

[@ldcharper8536]

I was 4 years old in 1978.. and I was living in Colombia Bogota South America..🌎

[@der22672]

Nobody recognized Charlene Tilton from “Dallas” in the hair dryer commercial at 21:07? 😊😊

[@Hilaire_Balrog]

lol I did right away. Cute as can be.

[@KDJW5]

🎵Move closer to your world, my friend... Take a little bit of time...🎵

[@RageTVHTX]

you can't swim in the San Jacinto river anymore. Who would want to?

[@RepentfollowJesus]

Back then people swam in the San Jac and both parts of lake Houston. Even ate fish they caught there. I wouldn't swim or eat fish there now.

[@hashtag415]

@@RepentfollowJesus I swam several times in Lake Houston back in 71. It was cold and murky but you could open your eyes underwater and if you got water in your mouth you didn't worry about it. I wouldn't even take a boat out on it now.

[@DGarcia879]

one of Earl Campbell's first TV commercials

[@jayalexander3356]

I was 9 when this aired. I miss the old Houston. I hate living here now.

[@wesleygonzales2049]

This is awesome! The Chuck Norris ad was a nice touch, too

I was 4 years old then.....sign....i miss my childhood...

[@Rebmetpes4]

The Late, Great Bob Allen!

[@chryslerelectronicleanburn1676]

WPXI 11 in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania. Use the same intro theme to. And they were using it in the 1990s

[@velorza71]

Did they just say a new cure for cancer!!! What!!!! And this was in the 70s they must already have it.

[@Mikethemenace415]

The day Kobe Bryant was born

[@lamontjack2351]

Weather segment sure came a long way!

[@jannydots3870]

Check out the 59 bridge in use before they set it out to pasture; I probably knew those boys swinging on the rope into the river, lived in Kingwood in the 70s;Good ole fashioned 70s summer fun

[@NoName-ux7lh]

I didn't know that Target existed in 1978. It didn't come to California until 1987-ish.

[@snotloutisagod2956]

Target was founded in 1962 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It entered the Houston market sometime in the early to mid 1970s. I worked there from 1996-2015.

[@billybassman21]

Check out the commercials for them from 1970 on KZbin.

[@nstents7781]

@@snotloutisagod2956 Target came to Houston in the later '60s, in Memorial along I10. I remember because my friends got the best Hot Wheels cars there when I was in grade school.

[@jamminman2867]

The '78 AMC Concord???

[@TheDgdunn62]

August 23, 1978 was my 15th birthday.

[@wmbrown6]

Looks like this news set seemed derived from at WABC-TV in New York.

[@kittygrrlhk]

I miss the Houston Oilers.

[@driver4011]

Oilers, luv ya blue, Astrodome, astroworld....those were the days.

[@ALVAREZ126126]

Check It Out ABC13 Live At Five Anchor Melanie Lawson Appeared For The First Time In This Newscast In 1978.

[@Rebmetpes4]

Say wha?!

[@kauzmanentertainment]

@sboudreaux27 so did Tom Koch

[@jonathanp9591]

Y’all need to bring back that intro music!

[@Rebmetpes4]

Jan Glenn from GMH!

[@noway9880]

Pray for the pelicans in 1979!

[@jjoyce46]

The first Eyewitness News started in Philly. And that's where that music started from too.

[@crb4059]

I was all of 5 days old

[@johnrenteria75]

AMC cars.. my uncle had one. I thought they were ugly cars then lol I really miss the 3pm Million Dollar movie as well.

[@Hilaire_Balrog]

Yes, that’s what I was watching after school in elementary school. Then watched Good Times, Sanford and Son or some other run run show at 5pm 😂

[@robertalexander4372]

Jan Carson.......

[@rusty9626]

love the commercials lol

[@hashtag415]

Chuck Norris lives in Houston.

[@garykaren143]

I believe he lives in Navasota now

[@DanKirchner5150]

captured the yutes in the stolen car

[@myesha2924]

And now can't keep the water from going into people homes

[@popcorngoddess89]

Man I've watched all these people, but Jan Carson on the news in my lifetime and I wasn't born til 1989. I wonder if Jan and Ilona are related, they have the same last name.

[@Jean0987654321]

Didn't know they used the Action News theme

[@joeblow8593]

The same intro as WABC 7 Eyewitness News in New York City

[@kauzmanentertainment]

2:07 crazy

[@RageTVHTX]

Jan does not look happy. You see Bob and Ed laughing during the opening sequence and Jan looks like she's not having any of it. If you also notice when she finishes the lead in to the first report, you see Bob to the right of her, it looks like he gets up, when she ends the lead in she looks off camera in his direction, there's a look on her face. Somethings not right.

[@FN_FAL_4_ever]

RageTV perhaps, but I was thinking that maybe she was just prepping herself for the newscast, going into straight professional mode. You may be right, even in those days, a female news anchor was still very rare, definitely a male dominated environment in the late 70s-late 80s.

[@gavinproduction7433]

@@FN_FAL_4_ever and mostly white male, not just male white male

[@gavinproduction7433]

@sboudreaux27 yeah at the open and also tv was white male dominated at the time, I know its diverse now

[@gavinproduction7433]

@sboudreaux27 Oh yeah ik I'm aware of that it was all over, but let's focus on today and all we've came from and all the diversity.

[@JohnSmith-kz8yo]

I've heard rumors that Bob Allen was a real jerk...

[@liquidninja6654]

What a treasure

[@joemartin1253]

I was 5 years old.

[@metro_via_transit]

15:22 OMG!!!

[@johntexas8417]

I was 17 on this date