March 1, 1974 Newscast | WTIC-TV (now WFSB) Hartford, Connecticut | Dick Bertel | Channel 3

Dick Bertel anchors the "6 o'Clock Report" on March 1, 1974 for Channel 3, WTIC-TV, in Hartford, Connecticut. Ken Garee provides the weather report and George Ehrlich is the sportscaster. Reporters contributing stories are Bill Haskell, John Kennelly (from WCBS-TV in New York), Bill Mill, Ron Milligan, Tom Seem, Sherm Tarr, and Ginny Wiltse. Included in the broadcast are commercials typical of the time and a promo for a UConn Huskies basketball game that mentions WTIC legend Arnold Dean.
The primary significance of this recording is that it marks the start of the last week of Channel 3 as WTIC-TV and its ownership by the Travelers Insurance Company which founded the station with those call letters on September 23, 1957. On March 8, 1974, Post-Newsweek would close on its purchase of Channel 3 and change its call letters to WFSB.

[@CityViewGuy]

The elegance of competence and simplicity of a professional newscast. WTIC was a high-brow operation from the start, and I was not quite ten when this aired. Seeing the call letters at the beginning, the time tone...and the instant start of the news cast just tugged at my heart. We lost a lot when Travelers sold them. They would've inevitably, but the radio, tv and weather service was completely dedicated to the well-being of the community and they held to high standards. Bertel was one of their best newsmen. That's why Voice of America took him on; He was a consumate professional.

[@JayJay-lc5qq]

LOVED the inclusion of the WTIC Radio "victory" beeps at the beginning of the newscast! Those were the days when stations were proud of their call letters and logo.

[@marx686]

I was on the Ranger Andy show when I was 8. Good times...

[@stephenr3910]

I was on The Ranger Station (the version after Ranger Andy passed away) when Gwen Reed visited and read a story.

[@KML0224]

The letters changed to WFSB-TV exactly one week later, when the sale to Post-Newsweek was completed.

[@Foxonian]

And they switched to the "Eyewitness News" moniker for their 6:00pm newscast that they still use today.

[@swami1]

The good thing about the old, "low-tech" newscasts is they weren't so dependent on flashy graphics and eye-catching video cuts. The information carried the story. A viewer was forced to LISTEN to the reporter, rather than absorb fast-cut images. Information, rather than images, ruled the day.

[@kellycunningham9920]

The weather report is the best!

[@1963Iota]

Wow....no expense spared on that weather report...lol

[@speakerleora]

Thanks for this. I fondly remember the TIC news team. You're dad's voice is so familiar. And Ken Gary was a favorite. So interesting to see his red jacket and black magic marker (and toupee?). Love looking at the actual meteorological equipment, too. By the way, my father, Ed Sparapani was a friend of your dad's for many years. Dad died at age 94 three years ago in St. Augustine, Fl. Good to know your father is well.

[@kirkcloud4837]

Wow how much things have changed through the decades lolololol

[@BELCAN57]

This really brings back memories.I grew up in Enfield and remember when you had 3 choices for channels.Dick Bertel was a mainstay on the news, it was a simpler time, but it was real news with straight, honest reporting. I especially like the analog instruments in the weather center.Oh, and as for the "People Mover" mentioned at the beginning of the broadcast, it was built, never used, and torn down by then CT Governor Ella T. Grasso.

[@arcanondrum6543]

Actually, it was the era. At the time, News was required public information as a requirement for the FCC License. Ron changed that. Reagan was a favorite of the owners and that is why you hear, to this day, how great he was. News today doesn't have to be non-profit and informative. It doesn't even need to be truthful. Fox won a Case (documentary "The Corporation" has details).

[@arcanondrum6543]

Oh and with regard to the people mover, one clue is the corporate badge of the competition 0:46 another is a reversal from the Governor 2:49 If things had been done correctly then sure, fewer Fords (and the others) would be sold but most people would fimd themselves better off. Heck, I'm old enough to remember when single incomes were enough for a family ... but then came that Ron guy and his "better" way.

[@millrad]

Great historic stuff. I remember these days well, watching as a middle schooler. the staff of WTIC radio and WTIC TV was one and the same at that time.

[@RagsTTiger]

Dick Bertell went on to Washington, DC as Director of the Voice of America

[@fuzzipariah]

Thanks for the blast from the past. I lived in CT at the time of this news broadcast.

[@cdgjr]

Doug thanks for putting this on here. I noticed the radar WTIC used in 1974 looked like it was in color.

[@ldchappell1]

Wow. I can't believe they're using a felt tip pen on paper to do the weather. I was a teenager in the 70s and I remember my grandfather saying how amazing weather prediction was compared to how it was when he was a young man in the 1920s.

[@definitedoll]

And by the way that panel of instruments with Ken Garee was there in the early mid-60s on channel 3. I wish they'd somehow still have that panel of instruments...

[@swami1]

I remember Ken Garee when he wore glasses and a crew cut in the late 60s. Ch 3 had some memorable meteorologists: Hilton Kaderli, Ken Garee, and of course, Fair Weather Charlie Bagley.

[@robertglenn5398]

Thanks much for the link here. I was 21 in 1974 and this sure brings back memories, the butt-ugly 70s cars and men's fashion had really gone off the deep end. I look at pics of myself from this era and ask myself what was I thinking?

[@brief_illusions]

everyone from this era asks "What was I thinking???" lol :)

[@3243_]

+robert glenn At least you and other American workers made more money than today, and the weather was still normal.

[@robertglenn5398]

threeby8887 Well, you are correct, sort of. You have to keep in mind that interest rates by 1977 had pierced the 18% ceiling which is why I didn't even consider buying a house or a new car. I thank God I was on the road three weeks out the month driving a company car when working for Duracell and later Procter and Gamble. My apartment, therefore, was a tiny thing and given I was home one week out of four, it was fine given that out of that seven days, I spent four of them at my girlfriend's. And unlike today, New York City was a dump and very dangerous. Man, the crime stats were off the map. Today, it's the safest city in the US and so clean, I find it amazing. All times and places have their positives and negatives...and sometimes, they reverse.

[@3243_]

robert glenn True about some things advancing while others have receded over the last four decades. Like you said, New York City is cleaner and safer now, racial relations have improved in a lot of ways; interracial relationships and marriages are far more common and accepted now, and Detroit (or what's left of it) has learned to build smaller, lighter, safer, and more fuel-efficient cars. On the other hand, the economy has gone downhill ever since Nixon took us off of the gold standard, the environmental situation is close to the nightmare scenarios that were prophesied to us in the 1970s, and even pro football is not nearly as fun or as competitive as it was in the '70s. Oh well, everything in life is a trade-off. Even history.

[@robertglenn5398]

threeby8887 Agree on all points particularly football losing its juice. I miss the days watching 49 year old George Blanda come onto the field and kick a last second field goal putting Oakland over the top...my dad and I used to go crazy watching such Sunday feats. I recall Nixon's final nail in the coffin of Bretton Woods when he said. "I guess we are all Keynesians now."

[@scherago]

Thanks so much for sharing this, Doug. Wow! Forty years ago. Notice the lack of graphics and no teleprompter. At least it was in color. Loved Dick's red shirt!

[@rheingoldlounge]

Nice stuff-thanks for posting. I spent much time in the Northwest Corner where channel 3 was the only station that would come in (maybe snowy channel 6 from Schenectady if the weather was right). I remember Ginny Wiltse from the newscast, also Brad Davis and John Sablon. And it was great hearing the TIC signature (de-de-de-DEEE) tone. It used to sound at the top of every hour. Thanks again!

[@CityViewGuy]

Miss the station name and call letters...and the time tone, to this day.

[@loriemccaughey4667]

I was in elementary school at the time when channel 3 was WTIC TV What ever happened to Dick Bertel? I also remember Ken Garee hand writing the weather forecast what a trip that was!

[@antoniod]

I guess the Gymnastics team just happened to be practicing during Mariel Grossfeld's interview, and in camera range, too!

[@brianarbenz7206]

Toby Moffett! I remember him as one of the post-watergate progressives elected in '74. Fascinating to see his origins as a candidate here. A long way from the corporate lobbyist that the Inside-the-Beltway existance made him.

[@anthonydennis7869]

How well I remember that Kinney commercial for those platform shoes, at the time I asked my mom to get them for me, they were very funky!

[@joebradio]

Did my eyes deceive me -- but, there wasn't a single mayhem story in that whole half hour ...

[@eightyblox6829]

I love the commercials

[@jerrycarriera8648]

Wow! TV news broadcasting has come along way since then. On the scene reporting by movie film instead of video cameras and simple graphics. I wonder what they used for studio cameras? Norelco or RCA? They were the rule back then.

[@JulianAlpsNews]

On the other hand, there were so many issues-oriented stories back then. These days, local TV news is obsessed with crime, fires, and lifestyle stories.

[@gordonfenderssonjr.8703]

I think they were GE's, which channel 30 also had at the time.

[@rareblues78daddy]

21:17 "Introducing the FORD PARADE OF FAILURE!"

[@antoniod]

Reminds me of how my family used to visit New Britain around that time.

[@lemondrop521]

my uncle , used to do 2 minute or so editorials at the end of the news , I wish I could find a clip. his name was Ralph Lombardi, from Enfield or Windsor Locks, CT.

[@swami1]

Did George Ehrlich retire or was he pushed out to make room for a younger guy(Ted Leitner)?

[@bilygates2509]

When the news were real

[@jbvideos6605]

19:57 IMO, I doubt that statement would fly today

[@kristintingey8172]

If you have any memories of ken Garee, please email them to me and I will share them with him! He'd love to hear what you remember! Thank you! [e-mail].

[@dougbertel4077]

Ken Garee can be heard on WTIC in 1975 at this link: kzbin.info/www/bejne/oanalqKBjbR9pKMm26s.

[@brianarbenz7206]

5:20 that is a LOUD coat!

[@gli7utubeo]

Gotta love those weather graphics at 8:29 and 8:43 and 8:57 (Sharpie-gate).

[@AarHan3]

0:39 - Was that Beethoven's 5th? :^)

[@NEPatriot]

+Doug Bertel And the mighty 1080 still does it to this very day. It wouldn't be WTIC Radio without it.

[@jv-ep2tc]

those highways coming into Hartford from the north are still a disaster in terms of design.

[@DTD110865]

Because they were never finished. Just look at the roads that weren't built, and see how things would've been much better if they were: www.kurumi.com/roads/ct/hfd-fwy-60s.html

[@arcanondrum6543]

There is a NASTY quick turn on I-91 South for all lanes in downtown Hartford. It's a weather disaster waiting to happen.

[@Mike-0201]

Wow, pre tel-a-prompter. This must have been just before the change over to WFSB. At that point it became Eyewitness News. New team Pat Sheehan, Al Terzi, Hilton on weather and Dave Smith on sports. I believe Ken Gary stayed a short time then went to Channel 30.

[@mtripoli]

I believe this was the last newscast for WTIC. Switched over to WFSB from then on.

[@Sauceman82]

Can someone please explain to me the part of the broadcast with the weather report explaining the heating requirements the season?

[@definitedoll]

Most likely had something to do with the oil embargo of 1973. and so since this is early 1974 the world was very focused on oil and heating and the high prices of gas and oil at the time.

[@evilwatermelon29]

Oh look, they had a bus fetish in Hartford back then too!

[@robertwells6724]

Why didnt we get the people mover???

[@definitedoll]

I remember that people mover still up in the 1990s? maybe. It was just an expensive fail...

[@MrCraigblaze]

Downtown Hartford looks nothing like this today. Xd

[@MrCraigblaze]

Is wtxx now channel 34?? They cut off all CT stations here in mass :(

[@greggmitchell4173]

+MrCraigblaze No its channel 20

[@MrCraigblaze]

Gregg Mitchell Same here in Springfield ma they cut off all CT channels. I love Scot Haney on eyewitness 3 he cracks me up. And I miss spine tinglier on Saturday afternoons.

[@MrCraigblaze]

What years did the call letters change for the network ??

[@videonut1988]

A week after this taping. New owners, logo and call letters.

[@MrCraigblaze]

@@videonut1988 Thank you Happy New Year !!

[@marx686]

Glad I got out of there, now Id be living in a tiny apt in the South End of Hartford on Social Security. NOPE!

[@swami1]

Who's the booth announcer?

[@thomasthevideoguy9921]

21:17 Ford

[@Tyler380]

Now everyone is going 100mph plus..

[@gregsells8549]

The Nutcracker on Ice in March?

[@TREALAH]

They ever get that people mover?

[@mikegruber172]

no

[@arcanondrum6543]

I checked with Google instead of Mike. Google says "yes". "A pseudo-monorail “People Mover” system was built at Hartford’s Bradley Airport in 1976 connecting the remote parking to the main terminal, all of seven-tenths of a mile away. The fixed-guideway system, with cars designed by Ford Motor Company, cost $4 million but never operated because the $250,000 annual operating was cost was deemed impractical. In 1984 it was dismantled, though you can still see one of the original cars at the Connecticut Trolley Museum in East Windsor." "Luckily" Ford got paid and thanks to this 2:49 they also got to sell a lot of cars.

[@brundage3]

These comments in aggregate,,, amaze me. So many make fun of these systems and tools. So many have the "classic" attitude of smug. "Look how dumb. Felt pens on paper" Well we THOUGHT with that outmoded thing called a human brain. Then as much as now. And gee! There are studies today which say, the slick, fast, movement of falsified images a viewer knows are often not really there, cause that viewer to DIS belive what IS. The computerized "slickfast" systems bore the thinking aria of the brain and cause the subconscious mind to wander> Oh a lot more "dumb OLD wisdom too. But,,,, you know what,,,, we used the pen on paper,,, crayon on white board, or magnates BEING PLACED AND MOVED BY HAND for solid reasons. STILL good THINKING. The WORDS are everyting in communication. On TV is the chance to SUPPORT them. So to use the "pre fab" picture just made the mind take it all in at once, sort the information and make meaning. Not good. We could have made prettier figures and jazzed them up. But we found by,,,, THINKING AND STUDYING that use of pens to draw the high pressure system moving in AS THE weatherman used words to describe it, got to the subconscious IN SYNC with the IMPORTANT words saying "but a tornado is not likely." SO.... people actually,,,, omg,,,,, actually comprehended what was said much better. Ain't that dumb!!

[@Ariamaluum]

I liked how he kept calm using the technologies. He got the message across.

[@MrCraigblaze]

Any footage of zany Scot Haney?

[@thomasthevideoguy9921]

21:50

[@4021971]

If only...

[@thomasthevideoguy9921]

6:40

[@MrCraigblaze]

When did the call letters change to 3 to 6 for wtic Why did the the naacp get in volved with The "people mover"?

[@Mike-0201]

Travelers owned WTIC channel 3/CBS until early 1974. When they sold Channel 3, the new company changed the call letters to WFSB. Travelers got back int TV in the late 80’s early 90’s and teamed with Fox. They are now WTIC Fox 61 in CT.

[@robertwelchny]

@@Mike-0201 Travelers never owned 61. Fact is WTIC and WTIC-FM were sold to the management of the radio stations in 1974… Known as The 1080 Corporation. The WTIC General Manager’s nephew got involved with Channel 61 and asked his uncle if the call letters could go on 61..as the FCC rules were relaxed by then allowing stations with different ownership to share call letters with permission from the party with the rights to them.

[@arcanondrum6543]

The answer to your second question is here 2:49 Mass Transit is helpful for low income families and racism is a real thing AND a deliberate tactic to distract people on why "Ford Motor Corporation 0:46 needs the Taxpayer money, more than people who paid the Taxes do".

[@MrCraigblaze]

Any g fox ads??...

[@joshuagalka3526]

8:07

[@MrCraigblaze]

How is your father doing?

[@MrCraigblaze]

Well I guess its ok.I'm from springfield and g fox was a step above them.I think.

[@CairnTerrier69]

We had a 72 Capri......laughable pile of....

[@101slowdream]

Low tech weather forecast.

[@byrd56]

Radar was at least 2 years away from going color.

[@Tyler380]

And Racism is alive and well on 9/3/2017..

[@DTD110865]

Building new transportation routes of any kind is not racist.