Inventing TV News. Live and Local in Los Angeles.

Travel back in time to Southern California, where live TV coverage of breaking news was born. Everyone's Child, 1949: Two rival stations in Los Angeles televise the attempted rescue of a toddler from an abandoned well pipe. For the first time, TV provides live images of breaking news as it happens. Covering Crime, 1951: An eight-year-old girl is abducted from a movie theater by a known sex offender.
With live coverage of the shocking crime, TV news embraces the motto: If it bleeds, it leads. The Atom Bomb, 1952: A local TV station brings the Cold War into America's living rooms when the TV networks in New York said it couldn't be done. The Telecopter, 1958: A brave engineer risks his life to invent the world's first TV helicopter. Will a crash on live TV prevent aerial breaking news coverage from getting off the ground? Celebrity News Anchors, 1970s: Competing anchormen in Los Angeles define the image of local TV news presenters in popular culture, inspiring characters in movies and TV sitcoms. Former KTLA news anchor Terry Anzur takes you behind the scenes of legendary broadcasts to meet the heroes and rogues responsible for Inventing TV News, Live and Local in Los Angeles.