Travel back in time to Southern California, where live TV coverage of breaking news was born. Thrilling true stories from the pages of Los Angeles history, in the words of people who were there. Written and narrated by former KTLA News at Ten anchor Terry Anzur.  

Everyone’s Child, 1949: Two rival stations in Los Angeles televise the attempted rescue of little Kathy Fiscus 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 Cold War Hits Home, 1952: A local TV station brings the atomic bomb into America’s living rooms when the TV networks in New York said it couldn’t be done. Pictures From the Air, 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? 

The Real Ted Baxter, 1970s: Competing anchormen in Los Angeles define the image of local TV news presenters in popular culture, movies and sitcoms. How George Putnam of KTTV and Jerry Dunphy of KNXT inspired the iconic character of Ted Baxter on the Mary Tyler Moore Show.

Former KTLA news anchor and broadcast educator 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.