WGN Channel 9 - Len Johnson and the News (Complete Broadcast, 3/5/1965) 📺

[@jchow5966]

This clip is an amazing piece of cultural history. Thank you for sharing.

[@retronewfoundland]

Always a rare treat.

[@StudioZ7]

What I find interesting is the broadcast is mostly black and white, except for the title cards on the newscast and two commercials. As most households had only black and white TVs in those days, few viewers would have noticed.

[@ChristopherSobieniak]

I'm sure. I suppose it depended on what channel or program was in color at this time, since it varied greatly.

[@rogertemple7193]

"the actor in the Salvo commercial was the late Mark Tapscott a veteran actor of many tv shows and several films throughout the 50's,60's,70's & 80's up until his death, Soap Opera fans of the 70's may remember him from "Days of Our Lives" & "the Young and the Restless"."-🤔🖥🌐..

[@smadaf]

9:10 Now there's a commercial I would sit through! The modern ones are almost all obnoxious from beginning to end.

[@ChristopherSobieniak]

At least you understand how I feel.

[@smadaf]

Imagine that! A local station starts its evening newscast with stories of national and global importance-not a single reporter standing "live at five on the southside" at the site of a housefire that was extinguished ten hours earlier because, hey, housefires are exciting.

[@andyrose5616]

Standards and expectations change with the times. I find coverage of a house fire much less problematic than news crews holding their cameras literally inches from the faces of grieving mourners and pallbearers (5:33) as they enter the funeral service for a fallen airman. As far as the national stories are concerned, WGN was an independent station. It had no nationally-produced network newscast to air, so they tended to run more national stories in their local newscast than other stations.

[@wmbrown6]

Notice the wording at the end: "Portions of the preceding program were mechanically reproduced." Then-sister station WPIX Channel 11 in New York switched two key words at the end so it read " . . . were pre-recorded."

[@iangraham9988]

That Tums commercial reminds me that LSD was still legal in 65

[@SteveC619]

I remember Salvo laundry tablets. God, I'm old.

[@Tomovox_PAMS_Radio_JIngles]

Not necessarily a bad thing. One day, someone will say "I remember Taylor Swift. God, I'm old." No generation gets out alive without saying "God I'm old" at some point- but I'm glad I grew up as a child of the 60's/70's; A Much more fun time!

[@bethdibartolomeo2042]

@@Tomovox_PAMS_Radio_JIngles I get that way when I think how I have lived through the history of the PC and cell phones, or how records were dying when I was a child and now they've come back again.

[@Tomovox_PAMS_Radio_JIngles]

@@bethdibartolomeo2042 Thanks for letting me know I was on the right track! It really surprised me once when I heard a co-worker talk about feeling old, and he was in his late 20's- that's when I kind of realized everybody and every generation is going to feel like this at some point! Still, I always feel like everyone should be pretty proud of the changes they lived through.

[@ChristopherSobieniak]

@@bethdibartolomeo2042 Explains my life.

[@The_best_days_are_yesterdays]

You and me both. But then again, all the cool people are! 😉

[@ChristopherSobieniak]

I guess their telecine equipment was already set for color despite mostly being in black and white at this point in time at the station.

[@davanmani556]

The same year, WGN covered Jim Maloney’s no-hitter In color.

[@ChristopherSobieniak]

@@davanmani556 Nice! I'm sure those cameras cost a pretty penny.

[@MrWolfTickets]

2:40 interesting wording on the American Airlines ad. They must have offered installment accounts to pay for a vacation?

[@napoleonsolo3784]

Glad that 1500 spot underground parking lot solved Chicago parking issues

[@raydemos1181]

just think, the Vietnam war was just starting to escalate, I was born 23 days after this broadcast.

[@StudioZ7]

Also interesting, the Salvo detergent commercial does not feature housewives or any women for that matter, but some pretty macho rodeo men. Unusual for the time.

[@batterymakermarkii2654]

How odd, title cards in color, b/w camera for the news...

[@derrickquintero1489]

I know as years change tv in general changes. Channel 9 is still channel 9 however it had a different vibe almost like different channel but in a different decade.

[@edwinearl4584]

Len Johnson. Memories.

[@davanmani556]

Alvin Dark should have been Cubs full-time and lead manager.

[@smadaf]

Interesting pronunciation of "gangrene" at 7:35: "gang-rene" instead of "gan-grene".

[@GiddeonFox]

Man I am so glad that South Vietnam with the help of Yugoslavia managed a diplomatic end to the fighting, that really could have gotten out of hand.

[@ChristopherSobieniak]

Apparently the North had better ideas! Who knew? 😀

[@MrWolfTickets]

I picture a Yugo pulling up with diplomat plates😄

[@smadaf]

That map has Florida very skinny.

[@MrDuds1984]

Joel Horlan couldn’t get $3K additional to his $21K salary from the Sox.

[@KeithE4]

WGN switched back and forth from live to filmed/tape in the early/mid 1960s. There's a KZbin video of a 1965 Cubs game in color with a filmed Hamm's beer commercial with Jack Brickhouse and Lloyd Pettit in black and white that's just as jarring. They went full-color soon thereafter.

[@bsteven885]

American Airlines Commercial: 1:49 - 2:49 2:16 - "California, see it before it grows up." Little did they know what would happen just 2-3 years later... 2:40 - "...and you don't even have to bring the money..." DId American Airlines have their own credit service, or were credit cards starting to dominate?

[@ChristopherSobieniak]

I'm sure it was credit cards.

[@smadaf]

The end of the ad suggests that it's not a credit card.

[@DanKirchner5150]

good old st josephs home of the friendless gets the cake again -bravo bb

[@jchow5966]

Canadian.

[@idiotsloveboxes]

I too would like a plastic head. My hair will never move again.

[@jamesward6935]

Let the friendless eat cake...

[@rogertemple7193]

"I wished the news was still like this and not what it is now a bunch of drama queens pretending to report news."-🤔🖥🌐..

[@fratzogmopars]

No unbiased reporting of facts today, only an agenda driven media now.

[@radiosaido66]

idk what news program you watch to only have those, but that isn't how they are nowadays.

[@torgman]

They could broadcast thier graphics in color but the show itself is in black and white?!

[@andyrose5616]

This was very common during the color transition because every single piece of video equipment had to be changed to become color-ready. They had already replaced the transmitter, some film chains and processing equipment. It took longer to retrofit entire studios, including replacing cameras, VTRs, and switcher. The same thing happened in the transition to HDTV decades later. Most local stations were carrying high-definition national programs years before they started producing their newscasts in HD.

[@tkaye2]

@@andyrose5616WGN had color cameras for several years by this point. Stations with early color capability often treated it as a premium for which they could charge advertisers extra. Rate cards would charge more for color spots. To some degree, it was more expensive to produce a color program, as it required more lighting and the sets had to be painted in more than just shades of gray. For news, shooting and developing stories on color film was a big cost factor. I don't know about WGN specifically, but some stations would have their early evening news in color because it had the sponsorship to justify it. The 10 or 11 p.m. broadcast would be in black and white.

[@darrylh1971]

Was it 1966 or 1967 WGN News went all color?

[@FeralFoodieGuy]

6:23 Nak i dish

[@russbott4062]

look theirs Nancy and Joe