What were you watching when.....?

[danderson4411]

what i remember about the 2000 results is that cbs had cut to broncos seahawks because the dolphins colts game had ended first i guess they were not expecting the results to be announced until later

 

[ixnay]

CBS was taking a bath on its infamous baseball contract, and having 'relatively small midwest market vs. Canada' in the playoffs wasn't setting the ratings on fire, anyway.

It was CBS's misfortune that a Canadian team made the playoffs 3 of the four years of their contract. OTOH no NY or LA/Anaheim teams got in; LAD in 1991 was closest.

ixnay

 

[anotherguyTN]

CBS had also tried to please everybody, and ended up pleasing nobody, in October, 1991, when, on Friday night, October 10, an American League playoff game (Minnesota at Toronto) coincided with a session of the Senate Judiciary Committee hearings on Clarence Thomas's Supreme Court nomination-which was when the juiciest details of the 'Anita Hill affair' were made public.
CBS was taking a bath on its infamous baseball contract, and having 'relatively small midwest market vs. Canada' in the playoffs wasn't setting the ratings on fire, anyway. However, bound by its contract with MLB, and its news obligations, CBS covered both events on split-screen, with less than excellent results(They cut back and forth on the audio for each event, though they ultimately stayed with the hearings audio for the majority of the time that they overlapped).
Most viewers tuned into ABC and NBC for full coverage, while some baseball diehards complained about CBS cutting in.

At least they did keep up with the game. I was totally disgusted with all the big 3 networks during that time when they pre-empted Saturday morning kid's shows to carry the hearings. I wasn't married or a parent at that time but I still thought that was inexcusable.

 

[onairb]

Well, to cut the networks some slack, they also dumped Saturday cartoons for some Watergate hearings, and the Clinton impeachment proceedings.

 

[anotherguyTN]

Well, to cut the networks some slack, they also dumped Saturday cartoons for some Watergate hearings, and the Clinton impeachment proceedings.

That was also inexcusable especially in the case of the Clinton impeachment hearings.

 

[danderson4411]

also on September 11 i was watching CBS Eye on People which was showing "On Scene: Emergency Response" when my mom told me to turn it to ABC because they were saying that a plane had crashed in the World Trade center not sure what episode was airing but i think it was the one with the helicopter rescues at a multicar accident in Huntington Beach, Cal and the one with the two children trapped at the gunpowder river i simply switched the other TV to ABC and learned what was going on i think CBS Eye On People was one of the few channels that aired regular programming during 9/11 Game Show Network was the other one i remember every other channel preempted everything for four days even the NFL canceled all their games it was a sad time i wonder how much time i would had to react when Charles Gibson said they were about to be joined by the full ABC network and i was sick with Ulcerate colitis at the time that what i remember on 9/11

Almost two years later i had just gotten up and turned on CSPAN when chief administrator in Iraq Paul Bremer walked to the rostrum of a Baghdad press conference and uttered the words: "Ladies and Gentlemen, We Got Him!"

 

[danderson4411]

ABC was not unprepared for that one but with diana i wonder if they waited for the football game to finish before cutting away?

 

[danderson4411]

i saw this on NHL Center Ice so...
an honoree (son of a former player) at a Toronto Maple Leafs game had some sort of stroke during the pre-game ceremony and passed away i remember CBC switching to the Ottawa-Washington game while order was restored it was quite scary then after the game they announced that he had died

 

[danderson4411]

might add one more:
2005 was watching a movie following the local news on WLOS when Charlie Gibson broke in and said that Peter Jennings had died

 

[JeeperOne]

Here's the summary of my life as it relates to major disasters.....

PEARL HARBOR & D-DAY - Not alive (In fact, neither was my mother)

JFK ASSASSINATION - Not alive

RFK ASSASSINATION - Was just 2 years old & likely in bed when the news broke

REAGAN ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT - Had started secondary school (What is now referred to as Middle School). When the news broke, my school was just letting students out for the day when I (My memory is kinda vague here) overheard staff members commenting on an assassination attempt of President Reagan. When I got home, my dad had the TV turned to KWGN 2 (Then an Independent) & was getting coverage from there. By evening, we then switched to KBTV (Now KUSA) 9 & started watching ABC coverage (Channel 9 was an ABC affiliate then)

CHALLENGER DISASTER - I was at home sick with the flu at the time. We were watching KMGH 7 (Then the CBS affiliate) when the network broke into Price Is Right with Dan Rather handling the coverage. We stayed with CBS the whole day

SAN FRANCISCO EARTHQUAKE - I was living by myself by this time. I literally saw this happen the same way millions of others did - LIVE as Al Michaels managed to get out the words Ladies & Gentlemen, I believe we're having an earthquake here as the video replay of previous World Series action was going in and out. At the time though, I didn't even pay any attention to what he was saying. I thought the network was just having major technical difficulties & when ABC cut to commercial, I figured they would be worked out

Well they were - Except when ABC came out of commercial, I then saw Al Michaels explaining that it was NOT a case of technical difficulties but rather an earthquake.

From that point on, I went into channel surf mode. First stopping at CBS (Who was carrying coverage from KPIX), then CNN (Which utilized a variety of sources) & ultimately NBC (Who spent nearly all night plugged into then-affiliate KRON 4 - With JOHN PALMER (Not Tom Brokaw) as anchor)

OPERATION DESERT STORM - INVASION OF IRAQ BEGINS - I doubt any cable channel got higher ratings than CNN did on this night as I (Like millions of other Americans) was mesmerized by the reporting from Bernie Shaw & John Holliman (Who were stranded in a Baghdad hotel as they tried to get a last second interview with Saddam Hussein when the invasion began while an unmanned pool camera loaned by ABC showed the captivating footage of sortis raining down from the skies above)

I learned of the invasion as radio stations began carrying CNN audio & stayed with CNN the whole night on the TV

OKLAHOMA CITY BOMBING - When I got wind of the bombing, I was basically channel surfing (Catching coverage from mostly NBC & CNN with a smattering of coverage from CBS, who (Along with CNN) was literally plugged into KWTV 9 in Oklahoma City). I very vividly remember however KFOR's chilling on air interview with Terry McNichols. Never knew the anchors at the time, but one of them (Mitch Jelnicker) soon moved to Denver & I remember him bringing up the fact that he was one of the anchors who interviewed McNichols

COLUMBINE MASSACRE - Got word of this from friends in an Internet chat room on the old TalkCity. When I did, I went into channel surfing mode. But not having cable at the time, I was limited to what little live video I could get online. The coverage I got was pretty much a 50/50 balance between Fox News when it was streaming with RealPlayer & KUSA 9 via KXTV 10 in Sacramento, CA (Who was on the air & streaming their noon news on Broadcast.com & WAS NOT a sister station of KUSA 9 at the time). Fox News was getting local video primarily from KMGH 7 (It was there I saw one survivor being pulled from the window by a SWAT team)

SEPTEMBER 11TH - This was perhaps the most trying day of all for me

I had just gotten up & activated a BRAND NEW playlist for my OTR station on Live365 when I turned on the radio (I had no cable at this time neither). I was listening to Jammin' 92.5 here in Denver. Normally, it was THE outlet for Jammin' Oldies. But on THIS day, it was just another outlet for CBS to have its coverage carried on (The station was owned by CBS at the time)

With TV stations having suddenly dropped the streaming of newscasts on the Internet & radio stations still being SEVERELY limited IF they were streaming at all) just a couple of months earlier due to a legal issue, my channel surfing was relegated to what I could get on the radio locally

Needless to say, it didn't matter where I went. 92.5, 100.3, 105.1, 105.9 (The latter still being owned by Emmis at the time & was carrying MSNBC audio for its coverage). It didn't matter. It was all just as bleak

I wasn't awake when WTC I & II fell but caught Ashley Banfield's interview with an eyewitness on the street as 7 WTC came tumbling down.

Before 7 WTC fell however, I had aborted my newly uploaded playlist & COMPLETELY STOPPED my other stations on Live365 from broadcasting EVEN GOING SO FAR AS removing the playlist files (They only had one playlist & at the time, you had to do this in order to keep a station from broadcasting on Live365 in basic mode)

I then took to the airwaves of EACH station once I composed myself & gave my reaction (Like most Americans, I was in shock & still trying to absorb the magnitude of the events of the day to that point)

Also like most Americans, I caught President Bush's speech LIVE

To this day, I still lament on the one thing ABC's Peter Jennings did that day - The fact that Invesco Field At Mile High had just opened THE NIGHT BEFORE on MNF & wonder WHAT IF those hijackers had sent a plane into that stadium during a game which was televised LIVE TO A NATIONAL AUDIENCE as opposed to waiting to do it all the next day. Every time I do, all I can say to myself is THANK GOD it didn't play out like that

AURORA THEATRE MASSACRE - I first got wind of this via online postings on a message board where Arapahoe County folks hang out. Then my Twitter feed started exploding with the news

Since it happened in the middle of the night, I didn't expect much coverage (If any at all) till the next morning). Then I went into channel surfing mode

On the TV, I saw what everyone else was seeing. Video from KUSA 9 being shown on CNN & Fox News. Since it was a local event, I saw no need to watch either CNN or Fox News. So I went directly to the source itself - KUSA 9, who had a couple reporters doing voiceover narration of what was happening

I then contemplated staying up all night & all day the next day (And eventually did) to watch coverage of the event

As the trial of the man responsible approaches, all I can say is THANK GOD I had received my summons for jury duty not long afterward & BY LAW could not be sent another one just for the trial of James Holmes (That said of course, I pity those who will be sitting on that jury though)

That's all I can think of for now......

Cheers & 73

 

[JeeperOne]

I didn't even know there was a live "Live with Regis & Kelly" that day, as just about all of its affiliates (including home station WABC, no doubt) concentrated on the event.

Unless Canada had its own version or was airing it on a one day delay, there's NO WAY it could've come from WABC as there was no R & K on 9/11/01

Cheers & 73

 

[JeeperOne]

I recall that CBS was unprepared for that one. They ended up taking a British feed most of the night. (Not that the British broadcaster did badly, but you'd think CBS would have had at least some of its people on the air.

I remember catching a blurb about this on KWGN 2 (Then an Independent) during the news (I forget why I was watching their news. Perhaps it was the only thing on at the time)

If memory serves me right, it was somewhere toward the end of the broadcast

You would think if a local station WITH LIMITED RESOURCES like KWGN had at the time, CBS (With the VAST RESOURCES it had at its disposal) most certainly could've

I bet A LOT of people at CBS got fired when they realized how badly they had been beaten & how they left their affiliates (Especially in the Central & East) in such an awkward position at the local level)

Cheers & 73

 

[JeeperOne]

Most viewers tuned into ABC and NBC for full coverage, while some baseball diehards complained about CBS cutting in.

What CBS SHOULD have done was simply stay with the baseball game EXCLUSIVELY as not everyone cared to hear about the dirty laundry between Anita Hill & Clarence Thomas (I certainly didn't)

Those who DID care had NBC, ABC & CNN & C-SPAN to turn to. There was no need for CBS to carry it

ESPN & the general entertainment channels on cable probably gave the Big 3 a bloody bath in the ratings that night since they had the rest of the audience who didn't care that CBS didn't have

Cheers & 73

 

[onairb]

I remember catching a blurb about this on KWGN 2 (Then an Independent) during the news (I forget why I was watching their news. Perhaps it was the only thing on at the time)

If memory serves me right, it was somewhere toward the end of the broadcast

You would think if a local station WITH LIMITED RESOURCES like KWGN had at the time, CBS (With the VAST RESOURCES it had at its disposal) most certainly could've

I bet A LOT of people at CBS got fired when they realized how badly they had been beaten & how they left their affiliates (Especially in the Central & East) in such an awkward position at the local level)

Cheers & 73

You didn't care (and, honestly, neither did I, as a high-school senior, even though the hearings were a big part of 'current events ' in my US government class), but millions of people tuned in,and it was CBS that 'took a bath' in the ratings. The non-news cable channels hardly made a ripple.

 

[danderson4411]

i remember faintly during the LA riots that my NBC station WYFF actuality simulcast KNBC with anchors Jess Marlowe and Colleen Williams until Tom Brokaw could get into position to interrupt the network but i am not 100 percent sure it was during the soap opera "Another World" my guess is that NBC gave the go-ahead for WYFF to pick up KNBC because it was a really big story

 

[danderson4411]

was reading a article about the riots and when Reginald Denny was getting beat up Colleen Williams knew right away she would have to interrupt programming for a special report i remember right in the middle of whatever NBC was showing they cut to her and then the live picture it was very shocking to see someone get beat up then the rioting started all over again i think Tom Brokaw was not on duty? it was during the Country Music Awards i had a big dish and when i saw Colleen sit down at the KNBC newsroom i knew there was trouble right away

 

[danderson4411]

Here's the summary of my life as it relates to major disasters.....

PEARL HARBOR & D-DAY - Not alive (In fact, neither was my mother)

JFK ASSASSINATION - Not alive

RFK ASSASSINATION - Was just 2 years old & likely in bed when the news broke

REAGAN ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT - Had started secondary school (What is now referred to as Middle School). When the news broke, my school was just letting students out for the day when I (My memory is kinda vague here) overheard staff members commenting on an assassination attempt of President Reagan. When I got home, my dad had the TV turned to KWGN 2 (Then an Independent) & was getting coverage from there. By evening, we then switched to KBTV (Now KUSA) 9 & started watching ABC coverage (Channel 9 was an ABC affiliate then)

CHALLENGER DISASTER - I was at home sick with the flu at the time. We were watching KMGH 7 (Then the CBS affiliate) when the network broke into Price Is Right with Dan Rather handling the coverage. We stayed with CBS the whole day

SAN FRANCISCO EARTHQUAKE - I was living by myself by this time. I literally saw this happen the same way millions of others did - LIVE as Al Michaels managed to get out the words Ladies & Gentlemen, I believe we're having an earthquake here as the video replay of previous World Series action was going in and out. At the time though, I didn't even pay any attention to what he was saying. I thought the network was just having major technical difficulties & when ABC cut to commercial, I figured they would be worked out

Well they were - Except when ABC came out of commercial, I then saw Al Michaels explaining that it was NOT a case of technical difficulties but rather an earthquake.

From that point on, I went into channel surf mode. First stopping at CBS (Who was carrying coverage from KPIX), then CNN (Which utilized a variety of sources) & ultimately NBC (Who spent nearly all night plugged into then-affiliate KRON 4 - With JOHN PALMER (Not Tom Brokaw) as anchor)

OPERATION DESERT STORM - INVASION OF IRAQ BEGINS - I doubt any cable channel got higher ratings than CNN did on this night as I (Like millions of other Americans) was mesmerized by the reporting from Bernie Shaw & John Holliman (Who were stranded in a Baghdad hotel as they tried to get a last second interview with Saddam Hussein when the invasion began while an unmanned pool camera loaned by ABC showed the captivating footage of sortis raining down from the skies above)

I learned of the invasion as radio stations began carrying CNN audio & stayed with CNN the whole night on the TV

OKLAHOMA CITY BOMBING - When I got wind of the bombing, I was basically channel surfing (Catching coverage from mostly NBC & CNN with a smattering of coverage from CBS, who (Along with CNN) was literally plugged into KWTV 9 in Oklahoma City). I very vividly remember however KFOR's chilling on air interview with Terry McNichols. Never knew the anchors at the time, but one of them (Mitch Jelnicker) soon moved to Denver & I remember him bringing up the fact that he was one of the anchors who interviewed McNichols

COLUMBINE MASSACRE - Got word of this from friends in an Internet chat room on the old TalkCity. When I did, I went into channel surfing mode. But not having cable at the time, I was limited to what little live video I could get online. The coverage I got was pretty much a 50/50 balance between Fox News when it was streaming with RealPlayer & KUSA 9 via KXTV 10 in Sacramento, CA (Who was on the air & streaming their noon news on Broadcast.com & WAS NOT a sister station of KUSA 9 at the time). Fox News was getting local video primarily from KMGH 7 (It was there I saw one survivor being pulled from the window by a SWAT team)

SEPTEMBER 11TH - This was perhaps the most trying day of all for me

I had just gotten up & activated a BRAND NEW playlist for my OTR station on Live365 when I turned on the radio (I had no cable at this time neither). I was listening to Jammin' 92.5 here in Denver. Normally, it was THE outlet for Jammin' Oldies. But on THIS day, it was just another outlet for CBS to have its coverage carried on (The station was owned by CBS at the time)

With TV stations having suddenly dropped the streaming of newscasts on the Internet & radio stations still being SEVERELY limited IF they were streaming at all) just a couple of months earlier due to a legal issue, my channel surfing was relegated to what I could get on the radio locally

Needless to say, it didn't matter where I went. 92.5, 100.3, 105.1, 105.9 (The latter still being owned by Emmis at the time & was carrying MSNBC audio for its coverage). It didn't matter. It was all just as bleak

I wasn't awake when WTC I & II fell but caught Ashley Banfield's interview with an eyewitness on the street as 7 WTC came tumbling down.

Before 7 WTC fell however, I had aborted my newly uploaded playlist & COMPLETELY STOPPED my other stations on Live365 from broadcasting EVEN GOING SO FAR AS removing the playlist files (They only had one playlist & at the time, you had to do this in order to keep a station from broadcasting on Live365 in basic mode)

I then took to the airwaves of EACH station once I composed myself & gave my reaction (Like most Americans, I was in shock & still trying to absorb the magnitude of the events of the day to that point)

Also like most Americans, I caught President Bush's speech LIVE

To this day, I still lament on the one thing ABC's Peter Jennings did that day - The fact that Invesco Field At Mile High had just opened THE NIGHT BEFORE on MNF & wonder WHAT IF those hijackers had sent a plane into that stadium during a game which was televised LIVE TO A NATIONAL AUDIENCE as opposed to waiting to do it all the next day. Every time I do, all I can say to myself is THANK GOD it didn't play out like that

AURORA THEATRE MASSACRE - I first got wind of this via online postings on a message board where Arapahoe County folks hang out. Then my Twitter feed started exploding with the news

Since it happened in the middle of the night, I didn't expect much coverage (If any at all) till the next morning). Then I went into channel surfing mode

On the TV, I saw what everyone else was seeing. Video from KUSA 9 being shown on CNN & Fox News. Since it was a local event, I saw no need to watch either CNN or Fox News. So I went directly to the source itself - KUSA 9, who had a couple reporters doing voiceover narration of what was happening

I then contemplated staying up all night & all day the next day (And eventually did) to watch coverage of the event

As the trial of the man responsible approaches, all I can say is THANK GOD I had received my summons for jury duty not long afterward & BY LAW could not be sent another one just for the trial of James Holmes (That said of course, I pity those who will be sitting on that jury though)

That's all I can think of for now......

Cheers & 73

i remember that even though abc was showing the wonder years my ABC station WLOS cut to Cheryl Jennings(the anchor for KGO) until Ted Koppel could get into the Washington anchor desk

 

[vchimpanzee]

I don't think I was watching TV during any of that.

I didn't know Reagan had ben shot for hours.

For Challenger I was at home and my mother came and told me about it and I wondered how the astronauts could have gotten out and they didn't. I watched TV for a while.

For 9/11, when I came home I turned on the station where I would normally watch "Gilmore Girls". A Drew Carey rerun was on as usual. I think that's important to mention since the Big Three and maybe the Big Four didn't stop coverage of the disaster for weeks, interrupting only for local news. Now that I think of it, a local newscast was on after I got home and it did have other stories. When prime time network shows were to come on, instead of "Gilmore Girls" I got still more of 9/11 on CNN. I think I turned it off.

In the car I was on the Stardust affiliate and the DJ had just played "Near You" by Roger Williams. He said a second tower had been hit, so it was clearly intentional. That was the first I had heard of any of it, and I had been listening to the radio for about 30 minutes. The way he described it, it was like the Empire State Building in the 40s. I certainly never expected what happened. At the library I got on the Internet as usual and looked at comic strips that weren't in the paper. It was SLOW. And one person was looking at updates, so we all crowded around to see what was going on. He announced the Pentagon had been hit. And so on, and so on. I didn't know the towers fell (not clearly understanding what the guy had said) until I was back on the same radio station in the car at 5, with continous coverage. But all radio stations that day, everywhere I went, were all news.

 

[danderson4411]

I don't think I was watching TV during any of that.

I didn't know Reagan had ben shot for hours.

For Challenger I was at home and my mother came and told me about it and I wondered how the astronauts could have gotten out and they didn't. I watched TV for a while.

For 9/11, when I came home I turned on the station where I would normally watch "Gilmore Girls". A Drew Carey rerun was on as usual. I think that's important to mention since the Big Three and maybe the Big Four didn't stop coverage of the disaster for weeks, interrupting only for local news. Now that I think of it, a local newscast was on after I got home and it did have other stories. When prime time network shows were to come on, instead of "Gilmore Girls" I got still more of 9/11 on CNN. I think I turned it off.

In the car I was on the Stardust affiliate and the DJ had just played "Near You" by Roger Williams. He said a second tower had been hit, so it was clearly intentional. That was the first I had heard of any of it, and I had been listening to the radio for about 30 minutes. The way he described it, it was like the Empire State Building in the 40s. I certainly never expected what happened. At the library I got on the Internet as usual and looked at comic strips that weren't in the paper. It was SLOW. And one person was looking at updates, so we all crowded around to see what was going on. He announced the Pentagon had been hit. And so on, and so on. I didn't know the towers fell (not clearly understanding what the guy had said) until I was back on the same radio station in the car at 5, with continous coverage. But all radio stations that day, everywhere I went, were all news.

how long was it before ABC asked the stations not airing GMA to join the network? i can remember seeing the Special Report opening a few minutes after the first plane hit so..

 

[WMC2006]

In no particular order:

-OJ Simpson jury verdict: Heard this live on the radio while driving on the Washington DC Loop.

-Challenger: I was a sophomore in college. Had just walked into class (Accounting, I think) and the professor announced that "In case you hadn't heard, the Space Shuttle Challenger blew up shortly after liftoff...there were no survivors". Not long before class, I had walked into and out of the college's "community center" where a tv was tuned into the upcoming liftoff. Lots of people were watching coverage. As I stayed only long enough to probably grab something from the snack bar, I missed the disaster by mere minutes.

9/11: At the time, I had a part time mail carrier job with the US Postal Service in central Massachusetts. But on this day, I was off for a few days enjoying some time on Cape Cod. As I recall, I was getting ready to head to the hotel's restaurant for breakfast. Heard something on the radio about a plane flying into one of the towers. Turned on the tv, watched coverage for a few minutes, then went for breakfast. Went back to the room, watched coverage for a while longer. Really not sure if I saw the 2nd plane hit live or not. Then, since I was basically on vacation, I headed to the beach for the day, listening to Howard Stern's account of what was happening on the way. The beach was mostly deserted and I didn't have a radio on the beach with me and I didn't bother to walk back to my car to check the news. Didn't see any tv coverage of it all until much later in the day. On the plus side, the weather was beautiful, got a nice tan. Back at the USPS job the next day, everything was all about safety and I believe it was mentioned that the only government agency to continue working that day (whether just in NY or everywhere, I don't recall) was the USPS.