The local coverage on the death of.....

[mleach]

The thread about the death of JFK and the TV coverage of that event had me wondering about the other well known deaths and how the networks had covered them but what about some local big name and their death? How was the coverage of that person's death?

Examples....

How did the Memphis TV & radio stations back in August 1977 handle the death of Elvis Presley? Around the clock coverage? Did all the local radio stations play Elvis even those where Elvis didn't fit their format?

I am pretty sure the UK nets like BBC and ITV did the 24/7 thing ( or close to it ) when John Lennon was shot to death and when Princess Di had died.

When singer Rick James died, didn't one of his hometown stations ( Buffalo ) showed the funeral..live?

The Phoenix stations and the murder of Bob Crane. Big deal? or "..nobody really cares..so why bother?"

When Pittsburgh sports broadcaster Myron Cope died not that long ago, I seem to remember reading elsewhere ( PBRTV ? ) that some of the Pittsburgh TV
stations were planning on showing the funeral live..did that ever happened?

The death of singer John Denver and the Denver TV & radio stations....for the longest time I have been told the attitude there was more/less like "..oh PLEASE....its only John Denver !!" As if they really could not had care less. Maybe a few moments on a TV newscast but nothing like "..lets do 24/7 coverage on the death of John Denver !!".

any other examples?

 

[Stanislav]

I am pretty sure the UK nets like BBC and ITV did the 24/7 thing ( or close to it ) when John Lennon was shot to death and when Princess Di had died.

http://www.meldrum.co.uk/mhp/continuity/diana.html

A summary of the U.K. coverage of the death of Princess Di, with stills and sound files.

This site, BTW, hasn't been updated since the turn of the century (boy, it STILL seems weird using that phrase to refer to 2000, and not 1900), but there's quite a bit of interesting British TV stuff there if you care to poke around.

 

[LynnW]

John Denver had no real connection to the city of Denver. It was just a name he picked for show business because his real name was to long and hard to pronounce. He could have just as a well been John Dallas or John Boston. As a matter of fact he managed to give himself a bad name in Colorado when he secretly installed a 5000 gallon gasoline tank at his Aspen home during the 1973 gas crisis. At the time, he was a self appointed spokesman for energy conservation and alternative transportation. Of course, he was burning up more than his share in several multiengine aircraft, including a Learjet. I do wonder how a pilot with 2700 hours could forget to fill the tank.

 

[firepoint525]

John Denver had no real connection to the city of Denver. It was just a name he picked for show business because his real name was to long and hard to pronounce. He could have just as a well been John Dallas or John Boston. As a matter of fact he managed to give himself a bad name in Colorado when he secretly installed a 5000 gallon gasoline tank at his Aspen home during the 1973 gas crisis. At the time, he was a self appointed spokesman for energy conservation and alternative transportation. Of course, he was burning up more than his share in several multiengine aircraft, including a Learjet. I do wonder how a pilot with 2700 hours could forget to fill the tank.

In the movie about his life (the one in which Chad Lowe played him), his first wife (played by Kristin (I can't think of her last name) from Sex and the City) actually criticized him for singing so much about how great Colorado is, but yet never wanting to spend any time at his home there!

I realize I am sending this a little off-topic, but I just thought that was interesting!

 

[firepoint525]

I am pretty sure the UK nets like BBC and ITV did the 24/7 thing ( or close to it ) when John Lennon was shot to death and when Princess Di had died.

http://www.meldrum.co.uk/mhp/continuity/diana.html
A summary of the U.K. coverage of the death of Princess Di, with stills and sound files.
This site, BTW, hasn't been updated since the turn of the century (boy, it STILL seems weird using that phrase to refer to 2000, and not 1900), but there's quite a bit of interesting British TV stuff there if you care to poke around.

I usually say "turn of the last century" when I am referring to an event from 1900, and "turn of the millenium" when referring to an event from around 2000. And I never say "year 2000," because to me, that is redundant. We know that 2000 was a "year"! :

Getting this back on topic, it amazed me that Mark David Chapman flew from his home in Hawaii to New York City with the expressed intent of murdering John Lennon, but actually passed on his first "shot" at Lennon. That photo of Lennon autographing a Double Fantasy album for Chapman was taken by an amateur photographer earlier that same evening (during Lennon and Chapman's first meeting). It wasn't until Lennon left and returned (about four or five hours later) that Chapman shot him!

 

[drt]

Here is how Channel 40- WWSB- Sarasota,FL (WXLT at the time) handled the death of one of their on the air personalities, who took her own life while on the air. This had to be a very difficult time for all involved and not something most directors would have a plan for.

Morbid, but somewhat on topic:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christine_Chubbuck

 

[landtuna]

I do wonder how a pilot with 2700 hours could forget to fill the tank.

It's been a few years since I read the official report but I believe the investigators came to the conclusion Denver lost control of his aircraft when he was attempting to switch fuel tanks. IIRC, the fuel switch was behind the pilots seat and he was not familiar with it apparently.

 

[landtuna]

Bob Crane's murder was, of course, reported in Phoenix since he was killed in a Scottsdale motel. I don't remember the coverage being anything surpassing a "normal" celebrity death but there was follow-up as the initial police investigation progressed and again when the suspected killer, never convicted, died some years later.

 

[searadiofreak]

In 1977, the death of Elvis was major news all over radio and tv.(I can't speak about local Memphis coverage, I was vacationing with my family on Vancouver Island, Canada.) At the time, as a 17-year old, I didn't quite get it. Being born in 1959, I was simply not aware of his legacy. Yes, I had heard of him, but my 17-year old brain said, "who cares?". Well, aging has a way of educating, and I now understand the reaction of the media. Since many in the media during this period were in their 30's and 40's, I can totally see why this was a big deal. Of course, his legacy has continued to grow since then. Death makes you more famous than you could have been, because the "could of beens" remain a mystery.

 

[mleach]

In 1977, the death of Elvis was major news all over radio and tv.(I can't speak about local Memphis coverage, I was vacationing with my family on Vancouver Island, Canada.) At the time, as a 17-year old, I didn't quite get it. Being born in 1959, I was simply not aware of his legacy. Yes, I had heard of him, but my 17-year old brain said, "who cares?". Well, aging has a way of educating, and I now understand the reaction of the media. Since many in the media during this period were in their 30's and 40's, I can totally see why this was a big deal. Of course, his legacy has continued to grow since then. Death makes you more famous than you could have been, because the "could of beens" remain a mystery.

That is exactly how I felt about Bob Crane. The day Crane's death was announced, I was with my family in Atlantic City, NJ ( the first casinos were opening up at the time ). I remember all of us were eating at a Howard Johnsons when my mother was reading the paper and on the front page was a story about Crane and his murder. Of course at the time I was only 9 so I really had not a clue as to who Bob Crane was but I do remember my mother being upset when she was reading about his death.

I just thought of another celebrity death and in this case the unusual way it was handled. The 1992 death of popular WUSA-TV Washington, DC sports anchor Glenn Brenner. Of course WUSA and their anchors were sad and did their usual tributes and such but it was actually WRC-TV's coverage that I remember the most. Seeing their anchors Jim Vance, Bob Ryan and George Michael breaking down and actually crying live on the air. George Michael was so emotional over Brenner's death that I don't think he even finished his sports report while Bob Ryan had a very difficult time doing the weather forcast with the tears coming from his eyes. I can totally understand their reactions but to see this on WRC and not WUSA, one would had thought Glenn Brenner worked at WRC.

 

[LynnW]

I do wonder how a pilot with 2700 hours could forget to fill the tank.

It's been a few years since I read the official report but I believe the investigators came to the conclusion Denver lost control of his aircraft when he was attempting to switch fuel tanks. IIRC, the fuel switch was behind the pilots seat and he was not familiar with it apparently.

It is true that the fuel tank selector was moved from its standard position in that aircraft, but the reserve tank was also empty.

 

[Ultimajock]

I am pretty sure the UK nets like BBC and ITV did the 24/7 thing ( or close to it ) when John Lennon was shot to death

...I'm open to correction on this point, but I don't think they did anything approaching a 24/7. Even NBC didn't go with an extended report when they aired their first bulletin; they merely interrupted that night's rerun of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson in the middle of Carson's second segment comedy bit, had the utility announcer (Fred Facey?) read the bulletin over a static "NBC News Special Report" slide and return, jarringly, to Carson's rerun. I'm kinda surprised that none of that night's local New York coverage of the Lennon assassination has popped up on YouTube; I've only seen Cosell's announcements on ABC's Monday Night Football and Ted Koppel's follow-up on ABC News Nightline, the newsbreak from KNXT/2 Los Angeles (delivered by Connie Chung) and the following night's open to WBBM-TV/2 Chicago's 10 O'Clock News (with Bill Kurtis)...

 

[RicoGregg]

When legendary quarterback Johnny Unitas died, Baltimore television stations showed his funeral live.

To most football fans, Unitas was a legend. Arguably the greatest quarterback ever. In Baltimore, the man was a god.

In Los Angeles in 1990, Channel 9 (not sure if it was still KHJ or if it had become KCAL by then) showed the star-studded funeral for Sammy Davis live from Forest Lawn. They also did the same for Sonny Bono.

 

[ixnay]

I usually say "turn of the last century" when I am referring to an event from 1900, and "turn of the millenium" when referring to an event from around 2000. And I never say "year 2000," because to me, that is redundant. We know that 2000 was a "year"! :

[/quote]

"Turn of the millenium"? Took the words right out of my mouth, firepoint.

ixnay

 

[charlestondxman]

Death has been handled many ways on our local news. Our local CBS affiliate's meteorologist, Charlie Hall, died about 12 years ago, and the station dedicated an entire night to his legacy (he had signed on the station in 1953).

I remember when Gerald Ford died, the local stations in Washington were all over the story, as you might expect, but network coverage still aired in the Washington area.

 

[cowboybud]

WMC's coverage of Elvis' death:
http://www.wmctv.com/global/Category.asp?C=107372

When Houston TV personality Marvin Zindler died, KTRK carried his funeral live. WGN, as you might expect, carried Harry Caray's funeral live.

 

[landtuna]

It is true that the fuel tank selector was moved from its standard position in that aircraft, but the reserve tank was also empty.

The experimental plane Denver was flying, a canard-wing LongEZ, is an excellent glider and lack of engine power will not cause the plane to fly out of control unless, as apparently in this case, the pilot jerks the stick or pushes the rudder while engaged in another activity (such as reaching for the fuel switch). The theory I believe was that Denver lost control of the aircraft while fumbling around for the fuel switch and was too low to recover.

Like they say - you should always be two mistakes high.

 

[radioman148]

When columnist Mike Royko died Chicago media was all over that for days.

 

[ixnay]

John Denver had no real connection to the city of Denver. It was just a name he picked for show business because his real name was to long and hard to pronounce. He could have just as a well been John Dallas or John Boston.

Or John Whitesulphur (sorry, couldn't resist, having recently on vacation driven through White Sulphur Springs in that other state immortalized by Mr. Denver, West Virginia (I made no attempt to get on the guarded grounds of the Greenbrier!).

I doubt if John could have (made it as a recording artist) if he'd remained Henry John Deutschendorf. ;D As for John's Centennial State connection, according to my 1996 Whitburn book he was born in New Mexico and moved to Los Angeles in 1964.

RIP, John. Your music (some of which I hear on the speakers at my store) will far outlive you.

ixnay