The WDAU Review
With all the talk of "interactive newscasts" at WYOU, it can be hard to imagine a time when the news was simple. No fancy graphics, gimmicks, promotions, or meddling consultants...just the news you wanted to know, and needed to know.
That's why I'm pleased to offer a complete edition of the WDAU Review from December 1961. It was a promotional newsletter of sorts, much like the WNEP Extra newsletter mailed out last year. I believe WDAU sent this newsletter until the 1970s.
What makes this edition such a valuable piece of local television history is a complete photographic roster of the employees at WDAU (and WGBI radio). From the anchors, to the directors, to the engineers, to the secretaries, and even the mailroom boy, it's all here.
If you're on a modem, these images will take a while to load. Enjoy!
(For those who don't koow, WYOU was formerly called WDAU.)
That's why I'm pleased to offer a complete edition of the WDAU Review from December 1961. It was a promotional newsletter of sorts, much like the WNEP Extra newsletter mailed out last year. I believe WDAU sent this newsletter until the 1970s.
What makes this edition such a valuable piece of local television history is a complete photographic roster of the employees at WDAU (and WGBI radio). From the anchors, to the directors, to the engineers, to the secretaries, and even the mailroom boy, it's all here.
If you're on a modem, these images will take a while to load. Enjoy!
(For those who don't koow, WYOU was formerly called WDAU.)
posted by Howard Beale at 2:13 PM
16 Comments:
Two comments:
(1) The staff is shown in alphabetical order. That's class; the station is teamwork, not starwork.
(2) Ted Raub cut a fancy figure even without a fez.
Ted Raub was also a highly decorated WWII hero. He was likewise one of the nicest guys in the biz.
Howie, thanks for posting these images, they are priceless. A goodly chunk of my adolescence is right there staring back at me.
And at 11? The Million Dollar Movie!
That's great. Excellent find. Just priceless. I for one could use a little of that "back to the future".
This is just wonderful. Some of the names I grew up with on TV. Bill White, Jerry Griffen, and Tom Powell. When I was 12, my cousin and I would go to a tennis court in West Pittston just to see Tom Reilly, the sports guy play with one of his sons or his wife. I had the pleasure of working with Carol Guild at WVIA TV in the early 70s and John Perry, also a mean tennis player interviewed me when a fellow station co worker and I did a charity radio marathon for the blind. What I am struck by though is the size of the staff. Looking at the WYOU website today and seeing a handful of people, well the contrast is amazing. Remember when if you mailed a self addressed envelope to WDAU you could get copies of Tom Powell's editorials? For you youngsters out there, they were usually at the end of the newscast, given by the news director and were regarded as a literate opinion on the news events of the day. Thanks for the stroll down memory lane.
Yonkstur
Howard, love the WDAU newsletter! Would love to see more things like this on your blog. Nothing like a good history lesson in the biz!
Thanks for the trip back to the news of my childhood! My family always watched "the Scranton station" as WDAU was known. I got a kick out of seeing John Perry and Bill White the weatherman again! I'd love to see an old weather segment when they drawed on boards with no computers! Thanks again - it was a treat!
Excellent find. Just priceless.
I agree. There's a lot of history in this market, and things like this prove it.
A reader e-mailed me these scans last week. It'd be nice if anyone else out there had similar pieces of history to share here. WNEP assignment manager Carl Abraham has a similar collection on his website.
...my cousin and I would go to a tennis court in West Pittston just to see Tom Reilly...
You'll have to forgive my splitting hairs, but I could swear Reilly lived out in the Green Ridge section of Scranton, somewhere near Marywood. One thing I couldn't agree more with is your observation at the size of the staff - totally amazing.
Man, I wish we could have that kind of quality back.
And all the men wore suits and ties, all the time.
COOL my dad retired from WDAU after 35 years. A copy of this WDAU Review still hangs in his workshop. Brings back good memories. When TV was still really good.
you'll have to forgive me for splitting hairs....................
Tom Reilly may have lived in Greenridge at one time but in the late '60s he was seen around and about in the West Pittston area. Saw him many times at the A&P and on those tennis courts. Now he might have had a Santorum house thing going on back then or maybe his parents or in laws lived there but he was around. One of the biggest thrills for us small town kids was seeing Reilly, (never approaching him though) and Bob Oliver from WARM who also lived in that area for a while. If we had cameras, we'd be junior papparazzis.
yonkstur
p.s. on ted raub, in person, he was hysterical. i hired him for a girlfriend's kid's birthday party in 1978, the guy charged $50.00 for three hours. What a bargain. The magic show he put on was spectacular. In the fifties, he did a show where he drove a Purvin dairy milk truck onto the set. It was a children's show i believe. His WWII exploits were supposedly chronicled in either the novel "Catch 22" or "Kelly's Heroes". And like most WWII vets, he never talked about his service or bragged about it.
I wish I could get copies of Uncle Ted's Monstermania. Even just the wraparounds with Uncle Ted, Nephew Ned, etc.
Viva le Ted!
Thank you so much for posting this awesome trip into the local TV archives! Wish I was around to see local TV in its infancy. Great job and a refreshing change from all the "Nexstar ruined my life" shenanigans here.
FYI, Carl Abraham is the Assistant News Director at NEP now.
There's a bunch of Uncle Ted Monstermania clips on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jI5iLY5NGC0
Bill White was an icon....THE REAL DEAL in weather forecasting.
He was a humble "star" and did as much in charity work as he did on TV.
His family was everything to him. I remember him talking about them growing up on his shows and he even had the girls sing on TV at a young age. He also had a younger son. Are they still in the area?
No one will take the place of the "old guys" They were true professionals intent on delivering the news, weather and sports. The "plastic images" today on TV can never come near their standards .....ah, the good old days!!!
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