WGPR Channel 62 [Detroit, MI] – Morning Report – Big City News (Opening Moments, 1981)

Not from Chicago, but further up on the map, is the opening minutes of the Morning Report – “Big City News” on WGPR Channel 62 (which is today CBS owned-and-operated WWJ-TV Channel 62) in Detroit, MI. The anchor is Robert Byrd, and also features Denise James on weather.

(GRAPHICS NOTE: The CG typesetting is the same as used by Chicago production house Panos Productions which was involved with WCIU Channel 26’s Outdoor Sportsman and several local commercials including political ads for Michael Bakalis’ 1978 run for Governor of Illinois. Examples of all of these can be found on our page)

Includes:

Station ID slide featuring some street musician kids (voiceover by ??)

Show opening (music is “Rock Island Rocket” by Tom Scott & The L.A. Express)

Robert previews news headlines:

– Interview with Mayoral candidate who thinks he can unseat Coleman Young

– Congressman George Crockett discussing recent redistricting and how it would affect coming Congressional race

– Complaints on way Joe Louis Arena is being built

– Montreux Jazz Festival opening in Detroit

He then hands off to Denise who reports on the weather, then about recent heart attack of Detroit TV and radio personality and columnist Jim Ingram and previews Friends of Jim Ingram member George Ramsey’s appearance to talk about fundraising for Ingram, before signaling back to Robert who reads these items:

– President Reagan to address labor leaders in Chicago to assure them he’s not anti-union, in wake of firing of striking air traffic controllers

– Concerns looming over coming Congressional elections about loss of population in Michigan, with clip of Congressman George Crockett (13th District, which has lost the most in population) speaking about the issue

– The start of a report on September 15th primary before tape runs out

This aired on local Detroit TV on Thursday, September 3rd 1981 during the 10:00am to 10:04am timeframe.

About The Museum of Classic Chicago Television:

The Museum of Classic Chicago Television’s primary mission is the preservation and display of off-air, early home videotape recordings (70s and early 80s, primarily) recorded off of any and all Chicago TV channels; footage which would likely be lost if not sought out and preserved digitally. Even though (mostly) short clips are displayed here, we preserve the entire broadcasts in our archives – the complete programs with breaks (or however much is present on the tape), for historical purposes. For information on how to help in our mission, to donate or lend tapes to be converted to DVD, and to view more of the 4,700+ (and counting) video clips available for viewing in our online archive, please visit us at:
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