Conn. Learns of JFK Assass. on WTIC & NBC Radio (with Timeline of Events)

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• published: 25 Oct 2013
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Breaking news of an assassination attempt on President Kennedy interrupts the casual conversation of the call-in program "Mikeline" on WTIC Radio in Hartford, Connecticut. For the next sixteen minutes, announcers Floyd Richards, Bob Ellsworth, and Dick Bertel as well as studio engineers, the news staff, and other support personnel will manage the story locally until NBC News offers continuous coverage to WTIC and its other radio affiliates nationwide. Floyd Richards (1920 - 2011) is perhaps best remembered as the host of "The Hap Richards Show," a children's program on Channel 3 in Hartford when it was WTIC-TV. Like all WTIC personalities of the era, however, Richards was a utility player for both television and radio. Joining the staff in 1944, he anchored newscasts for legendary morning radio man Bob Steele, hosted "Sports Final," added color commentary to live play-by-play of UConn Huskies football and basketball games, and led Channel 3's coverage of the annual Greater Hartford Open golf tournament at the Wethersfield Country Club. He left WTIC after 34 years of service. Bob Ellsworth (1925 - 2009), who earned a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart in the Pacific during World War II, joined WTIC in 1956 and anchored the weekday 11:00 p.m. newscast from the date Channel 3 went on the air in 1957 until he left the stations in 1968. Writing for WTICalumni.com, he recalled decades later what it was like to lurch into this breaking news coverage: "Dick O'Brien came into our studio from the newsroom. He handed me a bulletin as he stared intently into my face before releasing it as if to remind me to look at it and understand the content thoroughly. I looked and was properly taken aback. I then signaled Floyd that I needed to interrupt him. He caught on quickly and I gave the bulletin. At that point, I gave it back to Floyd and [caller Ros Fichman]. By this time, she had the wind knocked out of her sails and she hesitated and said she would rather not continue with details of her cake recipe at this time. So, we said a few words and further information prompted us to turn the proceedings over to the NBC Network as everything was collapsing around the tragic event." (While Floyd Richards speaks to another caller about pruning maple trees, a sound like a finger emphatically thumping the studio desk can be heard. Perhaps this is Dick O'Brien communicating the importance of the bulletin to Bob Ellsworth.) Dick Bertel, who was a radio and TV personality on WTIC from 1956 to 1977 and has been retired from broadcasting since 2006, recounted his experience in a memoir written for his family: "I was editing tape in studio 'C' for my upcoming 'Americana' broadcast when I noticed the door to the newsroom close suddenly. Moments later, one of the newsmen ran into the studio carrying a bulletin in his hand and handed it to Bob Ellsworth. 'There is a report,' he began, 'that President Kennedy has been shot in Dallas.' [Bob and Floyd] limped along after that, not knowing what to say and hoping the network would come to their rescue. At 2:05 p.m. I hit the air, ad-libing as best I could without a whole lot of information. Suddenly, the control room signaled me to go to the network and there we stayed for the next three days. After that, we broke away from NBC Radio only for our major local newscasts. "The next morning, Saturday, I was scheduled to do the 6:50 a.m. news. The writer wanted to close with a funny story about a horse. I told him, 'no kicker stories.' This was not a time for levity. Fortunately, I prevailed. "As I read the 8 o'clock newscast, which was 15-minutes in length, the eyes of Bob Ellsworth, who introduced me and sat across the table from me, were filled with tears. I managed to hold together until the last story which described Jacqueline removing the wedding ring from the president's hand and kissing it. My voice choked. "It was okay. We were all feeling the pain. Two days later, as he described the caisson's arrival at Arlington National Cemetery, Russ Ward, a veteran NBC newsman, began to sob. That was okay too." Later in his career, Bertel would himself anchor hourly newscasts and breaking news reports for NBC Radio ---most notably the terrorist bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland in 1988 and milestone events throughout the 1990 - 1991 Persian Gulf War--- many of which were carried by WTIC (AM). He is first heard in this recording announcing live the 2:00 p.m. legal station identification. The legal ID is followed by the dot-dot-dot-dash Morse code signal for the letter "V." Without fail, WTIC (AM) has broadcast this sounder, which is performed in the signature notes of Beethoven's Symphony No. 5, every hour on the hour since 1943. It represents the "V for Victory" slogan that was popularized among the Allies during World War II. (The BBC used a similar symphonic sounder from 1941 to 1945.)