September 2, 1983…The Tom Brokaw Era Begins At NBC
September 2, 1983…The Tom Brokaw Era Begins At NBC
In 1983, September 2 was a Friday. That was the day it was announced on the ‘NBC Nightly News’ that beginning Monday, Tom Brokaw would take over as the sole anchor.
On April 5, 1982, Brokaw began co-anchoring NBC Nightly News from New York with Roger Mudd in Washington. After a year, NBC News president Reuven Frank concluded that the dual-anchor program was not working and selected Brokaw to take over.
Along with Peter Jennings at ABC and Dan Rather at CBS, Brokaw helped usher in the era of the TV news anchor as a lavishly compensated, globe-trotting star in the 1980s. The magnitude of a news event could be measured by whether Brokaw and his counterparts on the other two networks showed up on the scene. Brokaw’s retirement in December 2004, followed by Rather’s ouster from the CBS Evening News in March 2005, and Jennings’ death in August 2005, brought that era to a close.
In the clip, Tom talks about his early days in Omaha at KMTV and WSB in Atlanta. I remember him from Atlanta, along with fellow reporter Judy Woodruff who was there at the same time. Enjoy and share! – Bobby Ellerbee
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfR6TXbnNTA
As a new college graduate, journalist Tom Brokaw was newly married to a doctor’s daughter and desperate for a job. Watch as Tom reflects on starting out maki…
When I was a high school kid, Brokaw anchored the 11pm newscast on KNBC Los Angeles. Same period had Tom Snyder anchoring at 6.
I was one of those that grew up in the Rather/Jennings/Brokaw era of the nightly news. Yet in my parents’ and grandparents’ homes, nobody dared change to Rather or Brokaw until I was about 8 or 9. I believe one of my parents called Rather a “damn dirty liberal”. I did actually get to meet Dan Rather back in 2004, shortly before the story that started his downfall. Very professional and very nice. I still have my autographed copy of The Camera Never Blinks sitting on my shelf.
When they start reminiscing about Tom Brokaw’s work it probably means his cancer is beating him which saddens me to end when I think about it.
Lots of great talent worked in Atlanta, particularly at WSB and WAGA. Chuck Scarborough (WNBC-TV) worked at WAGA from 1969 to 1972. He’s been at WNBC for 40 years.
Inspiring story! Does that stuff still happen?