with the responsibility of television news.
Good evening, I'm Dan Miller and tonight on the scene at 6, Channel 4 News has learned that the scene of two recent child abuse cases was used by the Corrections Department as a foster home.
Tesh brought the first new way of thinking about news to Channel 4.
I was 22 years old, just turned 22 at the time, and so I just wanted to go out and conquer the world and do all these investigative pieces.
And Miller was always the guy that was calming me down, and when Mike Kettenring, the news director, at the time got there, he was the one that pretty much taught me everything I knew about journalism.
Though he'd stay just two years, John Tesh remembers them as the most important and the craziest years of his early career.
I lived in Bellevue, which is in New York, it's a mental hospital, so I don't know how that works.
But I lived in Bellevue and Miller and I would go out a lot of the time and raise heck.
Weatherman Pat Sajak made it a threesome, but unlike the newsmen, Pat didn't have to be serious on the air.
A good example was the early morning job march, a TV version of the want ads.
And I always thought if I were looking for a job, I wouldn't be up at 555 watching television, so I never knew why I was doing this.
So eventually I just started goofing around with it.
It sounds stupid to say now, but for example, I'd come on and I'd start screaming the jobs, or I would sink in my chair until at the end of the thing my head was gone.
Or if I read a good job, I'd fold it up and put it in my pocket, and I just acted silly.
And no one ever said a word, which confirmed that no one was watching.
Until one day the program director, a man named Elmer Alley, walked into the booth where I was working and said, he was a very low-key guy, and he said,
I don't know if you've ever looked at the program log, but job market is not listed as comedy.
And I did something, this is legitimate folks, I wrote a script for us.
You just read the script. You've not seen this, right?
That was so spontaneous and so rebellious and so mischievous that it was an adventure for him to come out there.
I never knew what he was going to do.
Well, where's boys tonight, Pat?
He's taking the day off today, Dan, but he'll be back tomorrow.
Well, it's great having you here. You're one of the most talented broadcasters in the country and you're a real asset to the show.
Gosh, Dan, you didn't have to say that.
There was something about working with those guys and Sajak, where a look or a phrase or a set-up situation, not intentionally, we could really relate.
A lot of times we would probably laugh and break up on the air more than I have ever done with anyone else.
Good afternoon, everyone. I'm Paul Eales, inviting you to stay tuned now to...
Paul Eales spent 12 years on the WSM Sports Desk. He's been gone just as long, but Nashville has never forgotten his wit nor his catchphrase.
Holy smokes. Holy smokes. Holy smokes.
I used the expression probably at the end of the game as Vanderbilt won it on a last-second shot, and someone made mention of it and liked it,
and I used it a few more times and all of a sudden it became kind of a trademark.
Paul, and I mean this in the best sense of the word, he's a sweet man.
I mean, there just isn't anything about Paul Eales that anyone could not possibly like.
He's a wonderful human being, and it came across on the air.
Simply put, good people made for good television, and there was plenty of both at WSM in the 1970s.
Well, nice to have you with us. Rudy Kalis is here with the sports.
Dan, as long as he's on the road, we'll talk about it. The Vanderbilt Commodores are in Gainesville, Florida.
I was a news reporter and a sports reporter, hired for both. It took them about six months to realize this boy doesn't know anything about news.
And this is live, folks. As you say, we're going to try something. I'm going to get in behind with Dale, and he's going to take us around the Nashville Speedway.
Rudy Kalis came from Green Bay, Wisconsin in 1974.
And from the first day I came here, everybody said, be yourself. There's something in every single one of us that makes us unique.
Like that one-of-a-kind weatherman who arrived at WSM a few months earlier.
We had people now in the street who stopped me and said, how do you ful get along so well up there?
And I have no idea. But, you know, I tell them we're blessed. I think we've been blessed over the years with that chemistry between the people they bring in here.
When I decided I wanted to get into television, Channel 4 is the only place that I had in mind that I wanted to be.
Born and raised in Middle Tennessee, Sharon Puckett arrived straight out of college.
Through the years, viewers have watched their hometown girl grow up, even become a mother.
And to this very day, Andrew is seven, almost seven and a half now, and people will say, how's your baby?
Because he's not a baby anymore. He's seven years old. He's playing baseball. He's in second grade. He's doing all these things, and they're so surprised.
Getting a job on television was beyond my wildest dreams.
In 73, the noon show reflected the changing times by adding a female co-host. But women still had a way to go in Nashville TV.
The first two years that I was on that program, every time Teddy took a vacation, they did not allow me to host the show by myself.
I had to have a male co-host.
The woman's role on the show needed to be upgraded, not only because of the feminist movement, but just it needed to be.
Like co-anchors in news today, where there is parody. Same thing on a show like that.
From Channel 4 News, this is the scene at 6.
Good evening. I'm Carol Marine.
Three years later, in 1976, WSM added its first ever female news anchor, a woman who would make an indelible mark on the city and on the state.
I wanted to take a chance because I knew we had such strength in Dan Miller as an anchor that I was willing to take a chance at that time
when a woman who had very, very little experience as an anchor to bring in her strength of reporting. And it worked terrifically.
There was a feeling early in the 70s that women reporters should be talking to the wives of politicians.
When I carved out a prison beat, which I started carving out when I was in Knoxville, I did so so that nobody would have any doubt that I was a serious person.
It was January 8, 1977, less than a year after Clayton Dawson had had his sentence commuted.
Boy did it work. Carol uncovered literally hundreds of stories questioning the state prison system and the Board of Pardons and Paroles.
In the end, all the reports, all the investigation boiled down to 16 and a half minutes live on the scene at 6.
Thank you for coming, Governor.
It's a pleasure.
First and foremost, the case of Roger Humphreys.
When we did the Roger Humphreys story, this young man who you probably know who was a convicted double murderer,
who ended up being the state photographer with press credentials and with credit cards, etc.,
when we did that story, suddenly we got a call from Blanton's people saying,
the governor is willing to be interviewed on this. And we were rather stunned, and it was a live interview.
So let's don't confuse the facts. Just stick with the facts and we'll be all right.
We saw bleachers, newspaper reporters were there, department heads were there, state troopers were there.
And it was clear that Blanton's people felt that there was going to be something happen here
and that Blanton was going to take care of Carol Marine.
And I remember the last piece of advice I gave to Carol before she went on the air.
So, Carol, I know you well. Listen, are you going to be fair? You know, that's a given.
You're going to be tough. That's a given. Be a reporter. This is not a debate. You ask questions.
No, Governor. What I'm asking you is, looking at his smile and looking at the way...
No, you're not asking. You're telling me. Now ask me a question and I'll respond to it.
As I said, Governor. You need a smile.
I said ask and I'll respond. It's just that simple.
She asked the tough questions. She was impeccably fair. She was the consummate reporter.
Ray Blanton got so flustered that he lost control of himself.
Let me explain it to you simple enough where you can understand it.
And the question was, wasn't this a political patronage kind of hiring? Wasn't this a special kind of justice?
Now, can you understand that?
In politics?
No, no. You ask me why. I've just given you four reasons why. You want ten more?
Thank you very much for dealing with us, Governor Blanton.
When the interview was over, I wasn't really sure what had happened.
It took a day and it took reflections on it in the newspaper for it to really hit us exactly what had happened there.
But the confrontation was, not to sound trite, but it was good television.
But we were all winded. Our hearts were pounding.
And it's hard to describe what we felt, but we didn't know at that moment exactly what had happened.
In an historic move, the first of its kind in Tennessee,
Governor Ray Blanton has been removed from office by the early swearing in of Governor-elect Lamar Alexander.
I'm saddened and hurt for the state of Tennessee.
You know, the irony is, for as negatively as I believe the Governor felt about me as a reporter,
I think that he unwittingly did more for my career than probably any individual did before or has since.
The city's most extensive search ended today when Marsha's body was found in a garage at 4007 Estes Road, only a short distance from her home.
But the Blanton story wasn't the only big event of the 70s.
The murder of Marsha Trimble a few years earlier would remain unsolved.
They said she had apparently been strangled and struck on the head.
And there was Waverly.
Waverly literally exploded.
An entire town exploded when that gas tanker car went up in flames.
Convicted assassin James Earl Ray escaped.
The death of Elvis focused worldwide attention on Tennessee.
And Hurricane Frederick dumped a deadly amount of rain on Music City.
Yet ask people what story they remember most.
Better yet, ask Huellhouser.
I have this theory that when I die my tombstone is going to say Huellhouser, he did the pig story.
The tip was too good to be true.
A 500 pound pig who lived with the Kentucky family indoors.
Huell was there for Porky's birthday party.
Unfortunately, he also covered the funeral.
And we talked about this for hours before the news saying, you know, please let's keep our composure and do this well.
Of course the moment I said something about it on the air, Miller lost it completely.
Porky went on a journey.
A journey.
He went on a journey.
He died.
Yeah, he died.
This is awful.
I mean, we're sorry about Porky dying.
Porky's passing turned out to be a laughing matter.
But there were other more tearful goodbyes.
Huell himself left in 1979 for New York City.
That 10 years at WSM was a wonderful, absolutely priceless experience that I still carry with me all the time.
Pat Sajak took his act west to Los Angeles.
For Paul Eels, the allure was big time college football in Little Rock, Arkansas.
And Channel 4 devoted nearly half the newscast to saying goodbye.
I'm going to miss you, pal. Best of luck.
When I got through looking at it, I thought I was watching my obituary.
But Paul's replacement wasted no time livening things up.
Take a shot over there. They got to see this. Charlie lassoed this animal.
We were free to do what we felt was fun and also at the same time professional.
Since you've been gone, I try to forget.
You were free to be yourself. I mean, it's obvious that you dressed yourself.
Well, in the dark sometimes. But I'd always dress that way.
And it got attention here, and I really didn't mean to get attention, though it was nice because people would send me in sport coats.
Wives would send me in sport coats that their husbands were given and they thought were hideous.
And they'd send them to me. And I even on the air one time said, I wear a 40 regular.
If you're going to send them to me, get close to my size, please.
From the first day at Opryland, we got along great.
When Lonnie Lardner got the call to audition for Carol Marine's job, she was ready for a hard-hitting interview.
And they took me to Opryland for the day and we went on rides and things.
And I thought, what are they doing? What's the point? If this is what Nashville life is like, I'm in.
We wanted somebody who looked a little different and with a different approach.
And Lonnie brought in a freshness that just jumped out at us the minute we saw her tape.
You might say Lonnie was the hair apparent.
So we sit down to take billboard pictures and this is after I'm hired.
The contract is signed and Kenton Ring comes down to the billboard session and he says, the hair has to go.
And I had big mane, sort of like what I have now. And I just burst out into tears.
I mean, it was my identity at 22.
I must say I think Mike was right because his theory was that it was a distraction.
And it probably was.
Yeah, but here it is still long and you still got it.
Why don't work for him anymore?
So with the help of a few bobby pins, Lonnie and Channel 4 were ready for the 80s.
And we're going to be able to do that by offering a real physical value to that frequent business flyer.
We've got a product now we can attract them back with.
We're going to give them a corporate rate that the corporate travel manager will approve.
And we're going to offer the flyer a real live first class seat in the process.
To meet the demand, we're doubling our first class cabin and no one can match this.
The other guy can't get there from here.
If you're single but just too busy to meet other singles,
are divorced and don't know how to begin dating again,
or you just haven't found someone special to share your life with,
well, great expectations can make it happen.
We're an exclusive video dating service where you can meet new people,
people you might not ordinarily meet who share your interests and values.
At Great Expectations, you simply look through member profiles
and find someone you'd like to know better without wasting a lot of time.
When you find someone interesting, you take a look at their videotape.
It's comfortable, it's confidential, and it's that simple.
All you really need are great expectations right from the start.
So make a date with great expectations. Call now for your free information kit.
...
The Bible is inexhaustible in its resources for information.
As I said to a friend of mine, the reason our program is last, we have the best writer.
...
Meet Charles J. Givens, author of America's number one bestseller,
Wealth Without Risk, on Saturday night at 12 midnight here on WSMV television.
And you'll learn how to cut your auto insurance in half,
how to cut your life insurance costs by 80%,
how you can get an 11.7% MasterCard or Visa,
and investments that'll pay you 15 to 25% a year.
The less you know about money, the more you'll enjoy this informative half hour.
So tune in Saturday night at 12 midnight here on Channel 4.
...
Watch Channel 4 and you could win $1 million.
Just pick up your McMillion game card and any McDonald's,
and then watch the new NBC shows this fall.
Win big with McMillions on Channel 4.
Channel 4's Enfired Middle Hero salutes the local chapter of the American Red Cross.
Red Cross staffers are supporting a recycling program of paper and aluminum cans.
The effort not only helps the environment,
but also generates money that the staff contributes to local charities.
Congratulations to the local chapter of the American Red Cross.
You're a Channel 4 Enfired Middle Hero.
There's a television station that has received more national awards for excellence
than any other TV station in the country.
That's more national recognition for news series, public service efforts,
and programs than any TV station anywhere in America.
The reason for that is a very simple standard we've lived up to for 40 years now.
You deserve the best.
We really believe that.
We're Channel 4 Nashville, America's most honored television station.
Watching Channel 4 WSMV Nashville.
I, Ronald Reagan, do solemnly swear...
It was you, Kristen.
Jane, you ignorant slut.
Putting on a woman's dress? That's funny.
The way he does it, it is.
Oh.
["We're Channel 4 Nashville"]
Yeah!
That's hunger!
["We're Channel 4 Nashville"]
We're making love with each other.
Uh-huh.
Hey, you know, we just drove 750 miles across the desert with your food,
and it occurred to us that there wouldn't be world hunger
if you people would live where the food is!
I'm not sure I understand the question.
Have you ever had a client?
What, you mean at this particular location?
Unfortunately, a lot of Americans don't believe that anymore.
I'm pre-med.
Pre-med. Whoa.
Here's the deal. I completely forgot about it.
Look, it's Wednesday night. Wednesday night is garden night here in the control room.
But I just want you to know, you won't be alone.
I'll be watching you.
["We're Channel 4 Nashville"]
The 80s seemed so distant when George Orwell penned his vision.
Ours was royalty, loyalty, a belated welcome home.
Shots on the street, shock in the sky, and more than once the question, why?
Uncle Walter signed off, CNN signed on, and someone shot JR.
And in Nashville, Tennessee, WSM would lose more than one of its stars.
The news was at the top. It was really at the most popular.
The ratings were good. The audience were good.
We had changed the set. A lot of wonderful things were happening.
But what was about to happen had never happened before.
A wholesale talent raid launched by Channel 2, among the targets, the stars of the noon show.
And they came to me, Teddy likes to say, with an offer we couldn't refuse.
And that was really the bottom line.
There was considerably more money offered, a lot more freedom.
I've always wanted to stretch and do new things, and that was a chance to do that.
It wasn't a great way to start the 80s, losing two top names to the competition
and losing Newman, an established Channel 4 tradition.
The viewers spoke loud and clear.
If I have to take a long trip and need to stay up, I read those letters, because they keep you up.
I mean, they were, they were, but how could you do this, Teddy, after all these years?
How could you go over there? I mean, it was almost as if I had, you know, gone to an alien place.
It was, it was, it was another television station, but I didn't anticipate that.
Live from the studios of WSMB, this is Channel 4 Magazine.
I had expressed interest when Teddy Bart left.
Of course, I didn't have the looks. I'm sure that was one of the drawbacks.
With your hosts, Charlie Chase and Sharon Cotter.
Thank you. Good morning, everybody, and welcome to Channel 4.
Charlie Chase was primarily a radio man at WSM.
But like Teddy, years before, he was given a chance with a new show called Channel 4 Magazine.
Right, okay.
And it was kind of a new experience, it was an experiment, an adventure.
Mike Kettering often referred to it as a laboratory where you try new things.
And we came home with a lot of enthusiasm, a lot of excitement, and it shows for you.
We have as our guest this morning, Charles Givens, a financial wizard and an entrepreneur.
I had a lot of fun on that show. I learned a lot.
After several co-hosts, Sharon Puckett moved from the news desk to that comfortable couch and never regretted it.
It's probably the best thing that ever happened to me.
The absolute best thing that I think that could have happened.
Because it taught me so many things that I could not learn sitting behind a desk, reading the news.
It taught me to be me.
I wanted a closed setting with no people around there that didn't have to be there.
I wanted a comfortable setting. I thought people always are comfortable in a restaurant talking.
So I wanted to just have conversations.
Good evening, welcome to our show.
What Nashville got was one of a kind, Miller & Company, a cozy, comfortable talk show without film clips or plugs or pretense.
Some big names shared a cup of coffee with Dan and a lot more.
Anyway, I'm not here to talk about you. We're here to talk about me.
That's right, and you're quite a guy too. I put myself right away with that. I didn't know where to go with that.
The man really does not have an ego like that.
What do you put on your tax form where it says, I'm your patient?
I don't know how many people over the years, national celebrities, would come up to me after having been interviewed by Dan Miller and say,
it was the best interview I ever had. And I would say, well, why?
And the answer was always the same, because he relaxed me, because I didn't feel threatened by him.
Yet one of the most memorable shows didn't involve a single guest and didn't sit too well with management.
They thought I had gone crazy. In fact, later, Mike Kettering would not let me rerun this thing.
So I came on, I said, this is for all you people who don't have a fireplace.
And so for 22 minutes, we just put the camera on a fireplace. We had no music, we had no audio, we had no edits.
And then we faded out and I came back and I said, good night.
And I got two letters from people who said that they were naming their kid after me.
That the fireplaces meant a lot to them.
It's those spur of the moment thoughts that can make TV entertaining and unpredictable.
George Goldtrap, a Channel 4 weekend weatherman, came up with an unbeatable gimmick.
We didn't have all the electronic gadgetry and the wizardry that you have.
So we drew on Black Voyage with chalk, drill high, etc.
At the end of the, or during the program, I would juggle the chalk in my hand back and forth.
And the producer said one day, that's distracting. You ought to put it up, do something with it.
And because I was a juggler just as a hobby, I pitched it up and caught it in my pocket.
That's AccuWeather by George.
And it caught on by George. Chalk-offs became a spectator sport and a staple of county fairs.
Viewers watched and waited for old George to drop one.
The best run I ever had was 87 straight. And that was during the last year that I was at WSM.
And I really wanted to make it to 100. That was a goal.
For Rudy Kalis, the goal was landing safely on the ground.
Rudy Kalis and Charlie Mack had fun with sports in the 80s, both out in the field and in the studio.
For the first couple of years, I really didn't, first two years I didn't know how to take Dan.
He was a lot of fun, but I didn't know how to come back on him to get back at him.
Here's Charlie Mack with sports. Remember your math?
Yeah.
What's 8 times 9?
76.
Is that right?
But one night, it finally clicked.
I noticed Dan had a piece of steak in his teeth.
And he was about to throw it to me and he said some cutting remark to me, jabbing at me.
And I said, Dan, I said, you've got a piece of steak in your, between your teeth.
I said, then, to be such a professional, you should, you should be much more careful.
And I said, it's over to the left. He said, well, just go ahead and do your sports.
You really have a piece of steak in your teeth. I don't think it's very professional.
I think you should get it out before you go any further.
Rarely did he blush, but he blushed then.
Come on.
News travel network report.
Lonnie was a different story.
I went to school in France for a year and I speak French.
And I had gone to Paris for a week on vacation.
And I came back to Nashville and was really brushing up on my French
and was really proud that I could speak it and I loved the accent.
And there was a story about, have you heard this?
There was a story about the French president in that time whose name I enjoyed saying.
So for some reason, I don't know, I was in that mode.
I said, French president Francois Mitterrand.
And Dan, who of course is sitting about eight inches away from me, didn't have to say a thing.
All he did was he did a quarter turn just like this as I'm on the air.
And I lost it. I just fell out.
I knew what I had done. I was obnoxious and pretentious and okay, he caught me.
Here's Bill sitting here waiting to go on the air.
How long you waiting?
I was waiting for a little piece of paper over there, sir.
Pardon? What do you need paper for?
We're going to check the current paper to see if it's right.
Okay.
I'm just being nosy.
Bill just would pick at me as one southerner to another.
Bill Hall's name was mentioned to me more than any other name that I've ever worked with.
Because, and I'm sure you know this, everywhere I went, it never failed.
The first thing out of people's mouth was, where's Bill Hall?
What's Bill Hall doing? Or you tell that Bill Hall.
You know, we were fortunate enough to have that chemistry between us.
And I think it's our current boss right now, Mike, here.
And I believe Mike said it.
He once told Dan and me that he felt that we had done more for race relations than any other group in the world in this part of the country.
But Bill says he and others do owe a lot to Bob Jordan, Channel 4's first black anchor.
The trip is part of a trade mission arranged by Commerce Union Bank.
I never had a problem, never got any phone calls, letters, anything.
As I said, I was readily accepted.
My toughest job was getting over my inexperience and any apprehensions I had about being on camera.
I hear from people all the time, people who, I see people in Nashville, who say, you know,
we watch you in Nashville all the time on cable.
The family of Angeline Gatewood continues to grieve, knowing that she was a victim in the wrong.
Bob now has a national audience anchoring news at WGN in Chicago.
That same city came calling for Lani Lardner in the winter of 1983.
It was a really hard departure.
I got in the car and I had a stack of mail from Well Wishers.
And I opened, I got in my car and drove toward Chicago.
Of course it was like 30 degrees below zero when I went in December.
I'm driving up there and I would stop at truck stops and pull out these letters and read them
and just start to lose it.
I would get real misty because people genuinely felt we were part of their family, I think.
There would be some key additions to the Channel 4 family yet to come.
Demetria Kalidimas is the best blend of all the female anchors that we've had
because you brought to us, you brought to us, and gee, I'm talking to you.
You brought to us the skills of the anchor, the communication skills already well refined.
But you also wanted to be a hard-nosed, intense reporter.
And you brought skills of that nature to us as well.
Good evening, the superintendent of Spencer Youth Center today is investing...
...find a job where I could do more than just anchor the news,
where I could actually go out and report on stories and use some of my writing skills.
And also I wanted to find a place where I could use my own name.
In my previous job, management had made me change my name.
They thought Demetria Kalidimas was far too long and complicated for television viewers to appreciate.
And when I came to Channel 4 they said, please, use it.
You know, all eight syllables, we want you to be comfortable.
And I think Nashville's gotten used to it.
They still can't spell it, but folks have gotten used to it.
I kept my name, but another did change.
The sale of Channel 4 to George Gillette in 1981 turned WSM to WSMV.
It was a dream. It was a dream come true for me that it was available.
I would never have dreamed that WSM television might be for sale.
Before the decade was over, the station would change hands again.
Cook Inlet Television Partners took ownership in June of 1989.
Yet the biggest headlines came in 1986 when Dan Miller announced he was leaving to anchor the news in Los Angeles.
Well, I guess this will be one of the last times that we'll turn to each other here and say this.
So it was an agonizing decision.
But I knew early on that I probably was going to take it.
And I asked many friends about it. I badgered you about it, I know, many times.
And it was a rough decision because it was rough to leave Nashville.
The community response was nothing short of incredible.
It's the worst thing that has ever happened to TV.
He's a tradition here in Nashville.
Oh, we love him.
Truthfully, and I had no idea that it would have that kind of impact. I really didn't.
I was amazed that my leaving made the front page of the paper.
I remember when I'd been there for two years and when I left it was like front page news.
And when Dan Miller left, I think it was like they closed the city.
More than you know, I appreciate the letters and the expressions of support, the good wishes, especially in recent weeks.
I'm confident that whoever ends up in this news desk in the future will find the same friendship and support that has meant so much to me.
Thanks for everything.
And we went through an amazing process to replace Dan.
We put up committees all over the station of employees.
We got committees of professionals from around the country.
We got people who had previously worked with the station because we were afraid that if we didn't choose someone ideally suited for Nashville, that there would be a huge negative backlash.
And there wasn't.
On tonight's scene at six, the former director of Community Access Television.
I didn't know anything about Dan Miller before I got here, before I came down for the interview.
But I had heard that he was a living legend and that he had moved on.
And that's why there was this opening.
And I had second thoughts about it because I thought, how do you follow and act like Dan Miller?
As it turns out, there was nothing for Jeff or Channel 4 to worry about.
We chose Jeff McAtee and Dan Miller left in 1986.
And in 1987, Demetria, Jeff, Bill and Rudy had higher ratings than we had had in 1986.
So it worked well.
From Channel 4 News, this is the scene at six.
And I think people feel comfortable with Channel 4 as an entity.
And if either or both of us should leave and our replacements come in,
I don't think that's going to change things significantly because I think people will still feel comfortable with the overall philosophy and the way we operate.
And they'll continue to watch because Channel 4 is what they're used to.
They appreciate our style.
Just like part of the family, the 80s solidified Channel 4's longtime commitment to family values with a campaign called For the Family.
More than just a slogan, For the Family has become a permanent philosophy at Channel 4.
And we sat down and this was not one of these things where you sat down and said, well, if we need a promotional campaign, what are we going to do?
And we sat down and said, how can we give something back?
Since then, countless news stories, documentaries and in-depth series have explored family issues and helped Channel 4 win some of journalism's highest awards.
In fact, WSMV became in the 80s the most honored television station in the nation.
You deserve the best. We really believe that.
We at Channel 4, Nashville, America's most honored television station.
And what you want as the flyer is you want first class.
But the bosses are going to approve first class.
So at Eastern, you can buy coach and fly first.
And we've got enough seats to accommodate all of you.
So what do you think?
It's like you're putting people first.
We've seen what empty airplanes look like here.
We don't like it. Our employees don't like it.
We know what it takes to bring you back.
And we're prepared to invest in it.
Technology is our way of investing in Tennessee's future.
The Tennessee Cable Television Association questions that investment.
Don't they realize technology attracts new business and industry, which means more jobs?
It improves education for our children, enhances medical services, and makes everyday living a whole lot easier.
Our investment in communications technology is vitally important to everyone in Tennessee.
For more proof, simply pick up your phone.
Static can add up to real embarrassment.
Static can also be a hair-raising experience.
And static can catch you off guard.
It'll stop you.
Because the more you move, the more static can build up.
But you can stop static cling by using bounce regularly, because bounce leaves clothes virtually static-free.
It won't stop you.
Bounce stops static before static stops you.
Voice Hawkins, Dave Overton, David Cobb, Dr. Carl Seifert, Barbara Moore.
Channel 4's Project Earth, sponsored by True Value Hardware, for the family.
I love to breathe it in, the deep breath I leave it in.
Wind, I feel like flying in the wind.
I run so fast that I begin to fly up to the sun.
When I fly, I breathe in all the air.
Channel 4's Project Earth, sponsored by True Value Hardware.
Thousands of men and women from the Mid-South are serving our nation in the Persian Gulf.
Channel 4 salutes those who serve and those who wait at home.
Hi, Scott. We miss you and we love you. Me and Parissa and, of course, your dog, Nicky.
And we wanted to tell you that we hope you'll be home soon and safe.
Channel 4 supports the families at home and encourages you to help with their special needs.
Donations can be made to the Chaplains Fund, Fort Campbell, Kentucky, or 2223-5000.
From Television City in Hollywood.
That saying about history repeating itself, sometimes it really is true.
In this case, you have to go back to about 1972.
From 72, 73, when Pat first came to Nashville, and we became very fast friends and very close friends,
and he used to say one of his goals in his future career was to do The Tonight Show or something like it.
And he would say, it would be great if you could be Ed McMahon. You could be my sidekick on there.
Once Dan Miller moved to Los Angeles, his dream news job took a nightmarish turn.
Three weeks after he arrived at KCBS, the people who hired Dan were fired themselves.
New management wanted to choose a new anchorman, regardless of an ironclad contract.
Which, you know, under normal conditions would have been great. I was at full pay, sitting home for over a year,
and really not knowing what happened, what was going to happen until Pat Sajak started saying,
I'm going to do a talk show and I'd like you to be a part of it.
Did you hear from anybody back home?
As a matter of fact, I did my family call.
All right, he's already doing bits. Two days and he's pulling out material.
I'm expected by number nine.
The two old friends would reunite in two new roles.
It was very hard for me to accept in many ways the role that I really was there to play.
And that was the second banana.
You know, less than six months ago, he was a newscaster interviewing congressmen.
I'm glad I did it. You know, this is only life. You do things.
Some work, some don't. Some are fun, some are not.
Well, then after the show ended, I got feelers and in fact one pretty good offer from different markets for news.
Pat Sajak's still in L.A., spinning that wheel.
Hewell Hauser reports on the lighter side for PBS on the coast.
Lonnie Lardner has put TV on hold to open an art gallery,
but you can still see John Tesh on entertainment tonight, hear his music on compact disc, and catch him anchoring the Olympics in 1992.
Good evening, I'm Carol Marine.
Carol Marine remains one of Chicago's top anchors and reporters.
Bob Jordan gives her good competition on the city's nine o'clock news.
You can tune in the Nashville Network to catch up with Charlie Chase or tune in your radio for another Charlie, Mack.
It's just what I'm doing right now. I'm more happy with than anything I've ever done.
Bob Olson practices law but admits he misses TV.
Elaine Gannock doesn't have time to. She's the mother of three.
Al Vex does morning radio. Teddy Bart's also on the dial.
And thanks to those siding commercials, you can still see Paul Eel smile.
It all started with television, something totally new.
Those who remember life before it now can't imagine life without it.
We've gone from black and white, from radio to television, from black and white television to color.
And something can happen around the world, across the world in China.
And you can see it in your living room within seconds. It's amazing.
To me, TV and air conditioning were the two biggest inventions in the world.
And I don't know how in that time we lived without either one of them.
I used to joke that if you put a test pattern on Channel 4, it might not finish number one, but it would probably finish number two.
I think that we have been there when they needed us.
Maybe occasionally we've been there when they didn't think they needed us, but maybe they'll forgive us for that.
The people out there who turned that little dob on Channel 4 signed my paycheck.
And you know, we put kids through college by people signing that paycheck out there, and you know, I owe them.
What working here did for me was to show me how good it can really be.
Here's to 40 years of memories. Still just the beginning.
WSMV, Nashville.
Good evening. Oil prices went shooting up today. Stock prices went way down.
At one point, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 64 points.
Dagny Stewart, Channel 4 News.
Metro detectives are hoping that new technology can be the breakthrough.
Fifteen years ago, police collected evidence hoping it would provide them with clues to the march.
Janet Sims, Channel 4 News.
For three days now, American Indians have been camped out in Bells Bend near the Psycho-Connell Channel 4 News.
Republican gubernatorial candidate Dwight Henry got some...
The strike, which hit at Radner Yards here in Nashville and in other cities across here in Nashville, Tennessee today, it has been a gorgeous day weather-wise.
The Division I AA football bowl will release today as well and the MTSU Blue Raiders are number one.