WBAP COVERAGE OF JFK ASSASSINATION

[davalvideo]

Last fall, there were two specials that aired regarding the JFK assassination. One was called JFK: 3 Shots That Changed America, while the other was entitled "The Lost JFK Tapes: The Assassination. Both broadcasts replied heavily on material currently in the archives of Dallas' Sixth Floor Museum at Deally Pleaza. Now, although WBAP-TV (now KXAS) still owns its own tape and film, I belive the Sixth Floor Museum is where its JFK material is stored. In both mentioned broadcasts, there is a brief segment showing a man sitting in what looked kind of like a beach chair. He announces that the ascheduled program would not be seen so that they might provide coverage of the Chamber of Commerce Breakfast in Fort Worth. Wasn't that announcer broadcasting from the WBAP studios? Weren't all the studio cameras at WBAP color cameras? If so, why was he shown in black and white? Also, perhaps Gary Mack could hopefully shed some light on why when NBc initially switched to WBAP-Tv for reports, they were broadcast in color, but later then Dallas-Fort worth feed was only seen in black and white. Was that a network decision, and if so, weren't WBAP executives angry that their color broadcast was being seen in monocrome by the rest of the country?

 

[azumanga]

perhaps Gary Mack could hopefully shed some light on why when NBc initially switched to WBAP-Tv for reports, they were broadcast in color, but later then Dallas-Fort worth feed was only seen in black and white. Was that a network decision, and if so, weren't WBAP executives angry that their color broadcast was being seen in monocrome by the rest of the country?

I was curious about the WBAP report early on being in "living color", with NBC's own coverage, up to the funeral, being in black and white, ever since seeing the A&E "JFK: As It Happened" special in 1988. I would imagine NBC's bulletin studio where the special report was helmed was equiped only with B&W cameras, and along the way, after seeing WBAP's signal, insisted that all coverage is B&W, out of respect.

 

[davalvideo]

Reuven Frank said in his autobiography (which I read) that as President of NBC News...he made the decision to broadcast the WBAP feed over the network in black and white because he and other NBC executives were embarassed that their local affiliate had color and they did not, at least not for live news coverage. He said WBAP executives called New York and demanded their feed be shown in color and he said no. All of WBAP's studio cameras were color cameras since the mid-50's. The cameras in their mobile unit, which broadcast from Dallas Police Headquarters and did not have zoom lenses (they had the three lense turret), were all black and white. Had this not been the case, then Oswald's murder would have been recorded locally in color.