BEHIND THE CAMERA
Throughout the 1960s, local television news transformed from a 15-minute, black-and-white broadcast involving a solitary anchorman seated behind a desk to a 30-minute, color broadcast featuring a team of correspondents providing live coverage and on-the-scene reporting. Despite recent declines in television news viewership across all three sectors—local, network, and cable—local news continues to draw the largest audience. According to a 2013 survey from the Pew Research Center, local television news reaches 71 percent of American adults, compared to 65 percent for network and 38 percent for cable.
The following video collection turns the camera on local television news producers themselves. Beyond providing a closer look at programming and on-air personalities found at Houston stations KPRC and KHOU, selected films also highlight developments in news-gathering technology.
Throughout the 1960s, local television news transformed from a 15-minute, black-and-white broadcast involving a solitary anchorman seated behind a desk to a 30-minute, color broadcast featuring a team of correspondents providing live coverage and on-the-scene reporting. Despite recent declines in television news viewership across all three sectors—local, network, and cable—local news continues to draw the largest audience. According to a 2013 survey from the Pew Research Center, local television news reaches 71 percent of American adults, compared to 65 percent for network and 38 percent for cable.
The following video collection turns the camera on local television news producers themselves. Beyond providing a closer look at programming and on-air personalities found at Houston stations KPRC and KHOU, selected films also highlight developments in news-gathering technology.
