Throwback: Watch a NewsChannel 9 "Action News" broadcast from November, 1976

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — Here is one of the many reasons we're thankful for both YouTube and for videotape.

Former NewsChannel 9 employee Chris Palmgren recently uploaded a NewsChannel 9 news broadcast from November, 1976.

The broadcast is in four parts, and includes the commercials that aired between the news segments.

The clips show the legendary team of newscaster Bob Johnson, forecaster Don Welch, and sports reporter Darrell Patterson. The three men had an on-air chemistry that was fueled in part by a deep friendship that existed off the air.

Bob's lead story on this night was bout increasing inflation, which was a big issue for consumers in the mid-1970s. Reporter Don North localized the story, featuring footage from downtown Chattanooga and reaction from local viewers. Take note that this is in the era of film, pre-videotape. North and a photographer shot on film, and when they returned to the station, they spliced the film into a story in time for the 6pm newscast - a cumbersome process that had television journalists everywhere welcoming the videotape era.

Though inflation was an issue, the newscast continues with a look at the booming carpet industry in Dalton, with a report from reporter Gary Wordlaw.

After a couple of political news items, Bob tosses to a break. The first commercial is for clothier Ira Trivers, advertising the luxury of leisure suits - a fashion fixture in the mid-1970s. Other commercials feature a Shop-Rite ad featuring steak at "99-cents a pound" and an ad for the then-contemporary movie "the Way We Were" (rated PG) playing at the Showcase Cinema, and an ad for yet another 1970s fixture: CB radios.

The newscasts resumes with Bob reading a story that says TVA "may have overestimated a demand for future electricity." Footage also shows the Sequoyah Nuclear power plant, which in 1976 was in the middle of construction. Construction finished in 1980 and Units 1 & 2 at the plant were officially commissioned in 1981 & 1982, respectively. That particular story features a soundbite from Scott Penfield of the American Nuclear Society. Take note at how long Penfield's soundbite is: 53 seconds, which includes a follow-up question from the (unidentified) NewsChannel 9 interviewer. In today's world of TV newscasts, that represents an eternity.

It is evident that Bob Johnson is reading from the scripts in front of him, and not from a TelePrompTer. To do this - that is, reading from the script & knowing the right place while continuing to keep eyes focused on the camera - is an underrated skill, and Bob was one of the best in the business.

Bob concludes his newscast with a reader on a man known as the "foot stomper," who was convicted of stomping on random womens' feet in Knoxville, who managed to stomp on a woman's foot while he was under state custody.

Bob then chats about that story with Don, who says "that's not even nice, is it?"

Bob asks, "how about the atmospheric prognosticative weather information?" Don replies, "I think you mean is it gonna rain?" and then goes into his weathercast. Take note at how rudimentary the computer graphics are when Don calls them up. It's a reminder that this is 1976. After the graphics, Don resumes his forecast on camera in front of a weather map, with raindrops and temperatures superimposed on it. These maps were common for local TV news in the 1970s, but were later replaced by green chromakey walls. Don also shows a black & white satellite loop showing cloud cover. Don concludes his weather report with "rain will definitely be here; you get your umbrellas in the car for tomorrow for sure."

Time for another commercial break. This one features a local realtor, Swafford's furniture, a 1976 auto show at Eastgate, and Kentucky Fried Chicken.

Don returns with his forecast, and begins, "Darrell just gave me a violent order to get the rain out of here by Saturday night" and continues with his forecast, concluding with the word "if", saying "that little two-letter word can get me in a lot of trouble." Don then chats with Bob, and Bob continues with more news headlines, including a story about a local Head Start program. That's followed by a Chattanooga Police raid of an apartment that resulted in the recovery of a lot of stolen equipment. This is the kind of story that we normally would put nearer the top of our newscasts, these days.

Bob then tosses to a feature story about a familiar crow - named "Edgar Allen Crow" - who is an outdoors sight to see at Rivermont Elementary by Roy Crowley. The children you see in this footage are now in their mid-40s. The crow manages to sit on Roy Crowley's shoulder, resulting in a hilarious "interview." "Well, this is one crow that'll say nevermore." Nice closer.

Bob and Darrell laugh at Crowley's story, and then Darrell teases a new development in the Ruben Carter case for his sports segment.

Commercials in this break include ones for Colonial Bread, the Chattanooga Times (which closes with a *ahem* familiar tag line), American National bank, and a PSA for "Project Auto/SEE."

Then Darrell returns with an update on Ruben "Hurricane" Carter's case.

Unfortunately, though, the clip ends there.

Do you have some old NewsChannel 9 footage sitting in a box in your basement or attic? We would love to hear about it and feature it on our WTVC History page.