Chronicle: WYFF 4 Celebrates Seventy Years

TIME AND TEMPERATURE FROM HONDA DEALERS OF THE CAROLINAS. GOOD EVENING, EVERYONE. LEADING THE WAY FOR 70 YEARS. THIS IS STATION. WE WHBQ-TV. THIS IS ONE OF AMERICA’S GREAT TELEVISION STATIONS. PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE. SEEN AT SIX AT THE NEWS DESK AT THIS HOUR FROM WFBQ. LIVE ON THE SPOT COVERAGE TO WIFE FOR WIFE. NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS, NEWS IS GOING TO BE IMPORTANT. WE’VE BEEN YOUR HOME FOR THE BIG STORIES AS THE EIGHT STORY ANDREWS BUILDING COMPLETELY COLLAPSED, KILLING FIVE PERSONS, THE WORST MAINLAND DISASTER. IN. THEY ARE ONLY BACK HOME. SUSAN SMITH HAS BEEN ARRESTED AND OUR COMMITMENT TO THIS COMMUNITY HAS NEVER WAVERED. NOW ON CELEBRATING 70 YEARS. GOOD EVENING AND WELCOME TO CHRONICLE. I’M CAROL CLARKE AND I’M NIGEL ROBERTSON. BEFORE WE WERE WIFE FOR WE WERE WFBC-TV. AND THAT WAS BORN OUT OF A MERGER BETWEEN GREENVILLE’S TWO OLDEST RADIO STATIONS, WFBQ AND WMC. WHEN THE TECHNOLOGY TO TRANSMIT SOUND AND PICTURES CAME ALONG, MANY RADIO EXECUTIVES ENTERED A NEW AGE OF BROADCASTING. WHILE OUR CALL LETTERS HAVE CHANGED SINCE 1953, THE FOUR HAS REMAINED. WE ARE COMMITTED TO THIS COMMUNITY AND COMMITTED TO BEING YOUR FRIEND FOR. MORE, GABRIELLE KOMOROWSKI TAKES A LOOK BACK AT OUR 70 YEARS OF BROADCASTING. GOOD EVENING EVERYONE AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU. THIS IS STATION WFBC-TV IN GREENVILLE, SOUTH CAROLINA, SIGNING. ON THE AIR, NORVIN DUNCAN SAID THE FIRST WORDS OVER OUR AIR SHORTLY BEFORE MIDNIGHT ON DECEMBER 31ST OF 1953. THIS IS WHAT PEOPLE WATCHING US AT HOME SAW. SALAMANCA WAS BORN AND BORN IN A 30TH ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL IN 1983. ANCHORS KIM BRATTON AND KARL CLARK EXPLAINED. AND WHAT HAPPENED ON THAT VERY FIRST NIGHT THE FUTURE HAD COME IN JUST HOURS BEFORE AIR TIME BY AIR EXPRESS, AND IN THEIR HASTE AND EXCITEMENT, THE STAFF FAILED TO PREVIEW IT. SO IT RAN UPSIDE DOWN AND BACKWARDS. AND SO THAT’S HOW THE GIANT. OF SOUTHERN SKIES IT WAS BUILT IN THE EARLY YEARS BEGAN ITS MEMORABLE FIRST NIGHT OF BROADCASTING. THE STAFF IN 1953 WORKED OUT OF A SMALL STUDIO ON PARIS MOUNTAIN. THEY WERE EXPERIENCED IN RADIO, BUT TELEVISION WAS A DIFFERENT CHALLENGE. IN AN INTERVIEW IN 2003, FORMER ANCHOR MONTY DUPUY REMEMBERED IT LIKE THIS EVERYTHING BEING LIVE. OF COURSE WE’D HAVE TO SOMETIMES IF THINGS WENT WRONG, WE’D FAKE IT TV BY CANDLELIGHT. IN 1954, STOWE HOYLE BECAME THE ATLANTIC WEATHERMAN. HE SAID HE DIDN’T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT WEATHER AT THE TIME. THEY SAID, THAT’S GOOD, THAT’S GOOD. WHAT WE WANT YOU TO DO IS DO A WEATHER PROGRAM AND LET THE PEOPLE KNOW WHETHER THEY’RE GOING TO BE WET OR DRY. HOT OR COLD AND DO KIND OF AUTHORITY. IN 1955, STATION OWNERS BOUGHT THE PROPERTY OFF RUTHERFORD STREET IN GREENVILLE, WHERE THE CUSHMAN MANSION STOOD, AND BUILT A NEW STRUCTURE SUITABLE FOR RADIO AND TELEVISION. THIS IS STILL OUR HOME TODAY. WELL LET’S GO. COME ON. SOME OF YOU MAY HAVE COME HERE AS CHILDREN TO BE ONE OF MONTY’S RASCALS. THE INCREDIBLY POPULAR CHILDREN’S SHOW MONTY’S RASCALS DEBUTED IN 1960. STOWE HOYLE PLAYED MONTY DUPUY’S SIDEKICK. MR. DOOHICKEY. HOW YOU DOING, HONEY? FINE. OVER MORE THAN TWO DECADES, MONTY AND MR. DOOHICKEY ENTERTAINED THOUSANDS OF LOCAL CHILDREN. AND YOU WERE ONE OF THOSE KIDS ON THE SHOW? I WAS PEOPLE LOVED IT. UH OH. IS THAT I SAW YOU ON MONTY’S RASCALS. WOW. OKAY. UH, THEY DID LOVE IT. BECAUSE IT’S HOMETOWN TO THE GREER CITY COUNCIL IN SPARTANBURG. LEE BROWN GOT TO WORK IN HIS HOMETOWN, JOINING THE WFBC-TV TEAM IN 1976. FIRST IN FRONT OF THE CAMERA AS A REPORTER. MY GOAL WAS TO WORK HERE BECAUSE. AND IT WASN’T JUST BECAUSE IT WAS HOME. I WANTED TO WORK HERE BECAUSE OF HOW DOMINANT THIS STATION WAS AND HOW GOOD IT WAS. THE REPUTATION FURMAN LEE BROUGHT HIS LOCAL KNOWLEDGE TO THE ROLE OF ASSISTANT NEWS DIRECTOR FOR MORE THAN 30 YEARS, AND. RETIRED AFTER 44 YEARS. MY FAMILY GAVE ME A RING WHEN I, UH, WHEN I RETIRED. THAT SAID, FOR IT’S IT’S THE STATION. FOLLOW THE UNVEILING OF OUR NEW CALL LETTERS. LEE WAS HERE WHEN WE CHANGED TO WIFE FOUR. WHEN WE CHANGED OWNERS IN 1983. THAT’S WHAT WE’VE BEEN SINCE 1953. AND THAT’S WHAT WE INTEND TO BE IN THE YEARS TO COME. FORMER GENERAL MANAGER DOUG SMITH IS CREDITED WITH CREATING THE CATCHY SLOGAN YOUR FRIEND FOR HERE ON YOUR FRIEND FOUR. WE HAVE BEEN AN NBC AFFILIATE THROUGH OUR ENTIRE HISTORY AND YOU MAY REMEMBER THESE NAMES TO SET THE NEWS DESK ANCHOR DAVE PARTRIDGE, DEBORAH LEE, WHO WAS THE FIRST AFRICAN AMERICAN ANCHOR IN SOUTH CAROLINA. ADVANCED WARNING WE’VE HAD CHARLIE GERTZ, A NAVY METEOROLOGIST, JUST JOINED THE TEAM IN 1980. IF CHARLIE SAID IT WOULD, IT PROBABLY DID. DID PULL THAT TRIGGER. EMS WORKERS ARE ON SITE. WE THANK YOU FOR CONTINUING TO WELCOME MEMBERS OF THE WIFE. FOUR FAMILY INTO YOUR HOME. EACH NIGHT AT SIX ON NEWS FOUR. I’LL BRING YOU CAROL CLARK IS THE LONGEST SERVING ANCHOR IN OUR STATION’S HISTORY. THANK YOU. THIS IS GREAT. IT’S GREAT TO BE HERE. JOHN SAYS RICH WAS OUR LONGEST SERVING CHIEF METEOROLOGIST. JOHN RETIRED IN 2019 AFTER NEARLY 29 YEARS AT WYFF. FOUR THE NEXT GENERATION OF NEWS GATHERING IS HERE. SKY4 BECAME A PART OF OUR FAMILY AT THE TURN OF THE CENTURY. FROM THE GROUND TO THE SKIES, YOU’RE LOOKING AT EXCLUSIVE VIDEO. IT IS THE ONLY NEWS HELICOPTER IN SOUTH CAROLINA. CORONAVIRUS CASES CONTINUE TO RISE. PART OF A VIRTUALLY CONTACTLESS BEEN TRYING TO MAKE ENDS MEET DURING THE COVID 19 PANDEMIC. THE WAY WE BROUGHT YOU THE NEWS CHANGED, BUT OUR COMMITMENT TO YOU DID NOT. SOMETIMES WE BROUGHT THE NEWS INTO YOUR HOME. THE NFL DRAFT IS NEXT WEEK FROM OUR HOMES. IT’S A BELIEF. THAT WHAT WE’RE TRYING TO DO IS BIGGER THAN OURSELVES. UM. UH, IT’S FOR SOME OF US, IT’S IT’S LESS A JOB AND MORE OF A CALLING. NOW, IN OUR BREAKING NEWS HERE THIS AFTERNOON, VERY ACTIVE. SO WE BEGIN WITH TEAM COVERAGE. THIS IS OUR LEGACY. FOR 70 YEARS, EVERY DAY WE REMEMBER OUR COMMITMENT TO EXCELLENCE AND OUR. COMMITMENT TO YOU WILL BE A NEW STAR. FOR OVER THOSE 70 YEARS, THERE WAS NO SHORTAGE OF LOCAL NEWS TO TELL YOU ABOUT SOME STORIES STOOD ALONE AS A MOMENT IN TIME, BUT OTHERS HAD A LONG LASTING IMPACT, RESONATING THROUGH THE YEARS, HERE ARE SOME OF THE BIGGEST STORIES IN OUR 70 YEAR HISTORY. A MAJOR STORY TOOK OFF IN 1958 WHEN LAND WAS BOUGHT TO CREATE THE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG AIRPORT. IT OPENED THE DOOR TO MORE BUSINESS. THEY WORKED VERY HARD TO GET THAT AND THAT WAS HUGE FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE AREA. AFTER THE FIRST FLIGHT TOOK OFF FOUR YEARS LATER, TOURISM TOOK OFF IN THE 1950S AS WELL WITH THE CREATION OF THE SOUTHEAST LARGEST RECREATIONAL LAKE. THEY’RE BUILDING SOMETHING HERE THAT WILL NOT ONLY CONSERVE PRECIOUS WATER FOR THE LAKE. HARTWELL PROJECT BEGAN IN 1955 WITH THE BUILDING OF THE DAM THAT HELD BACK PARTS OF THE SAVANNAH, TUGALOO AND SENECA RIVERS. I REALLY DO BELIEVE WITHOUT THE LAKE, THE SURROUNDING COUNTIES ECONOMICALLY. WE WOULD NOT BE WHAT THEY ARE TODAY. GREENVILLE’S DONALDSON AIR FORCE BASE DEACTIVATED IN 1963 AFTER 21 YEARS OF SERVICE. CHRIST DYING FOR YOU. AND HE SUFFERED THE PANGS OF HELL. THE REVEREND BILLY GRAHAM CAME TO GREENVILLE IN MARCH OF 1966. HE BROUGHT HIS CRUSADE TO THE TEXTILE EXPOSITION CENTER. THOUSANDS CAME EVERY NIGHT FOR A WEEK TO HEAR HIS MESSAGE OF HOPE AND REDEMPTION IN THE 1970S, A HOPE FOR MANY PEOPLE BECAME REALITY. THE COURT ORDERED INTEGRATION OF GREENVILLE COUNTY SCHOOLS, SO WE BUILT AN ENTIRE CAMPAIGN ON THIS THEME. EDUCATION IS THE IMPORTANT THING WE, FORRES GENERAL MANAGER AT THE TIME, DOUG SMITH, HELPED ENSURE IT WAS A PEACEFUL CHANGE NOT ONLY DID HE USE THE STATION’S RESOURCES TO MAKE CERTAIN THAT RUMORS WEREN’T DRIVING WHAT PEOPLE WERE FEELING AND HEARING, BUT THAT THEY WERE GETTING ACCURATE INFORMATION, AND IT TOOK RESOURCES TO DEAL. WITH TWO CALAMITIES IN 1970S. ON OCTOBER EIGHTH, 1977, THE ANDREWS BUILDING IN SPARTANBURG COLLAPSED JUST ONE DAY BEFORE DEMOLITION. FIVE MEN DIED WHEN THE EIGHT STORY BUILDING COLLAPSED ON TOP OF THEM. NEARLY A MONTH LATER, A DAM ABOVE TOCCOA FALLS BIBLE COLLEGE IN GEORGIA FAILED. THAT SENT A 25 FOOT HIGH WAVE OF WATER SLAMMING INTO THE CAMPUS. I JUST REMEMBER BEING WOKEN UP IN THE NIGHT IN THE DARK. THERE WERE NO LIGHTS AND I COULD HEAR WHAT SOUNDED LIKE A TRAIN GOING OUTSIDE MY WINDOW, AND WE COULD LOOK OUT AND KIND OF SEE RUSHING WATER AND DIDN’T REALLY KNOW WHAT WAS HAPPENING. 39 PEOPLE DIED OUT OF THE TRAGEDY. ENACTMENT OF THE NATIONAL DAM SAFETY PROGRAM. BUT AS WE ENTER THE 1980S, THE ONCE. THRIVING TEXTILE INDUSTRY HERE FELT ANYTHING BUT SAFE FOREIGN COMPETITION TOOK ITS TOLL. THE WOMEN IN THIS. FACTORY TURN OUT TWO AND A HALF DRESSES AN HOUR. THEY MAKE JUST $1.14 AN HOUR. BUT THAT’S WHY THIS FACTORY CAN SELL THESE DRESSES FOR JUST $8 EACH. IMPORTS AND MODERNIZATION MEANT JOB LOSSES. HERE, AND PLANT CLOSINGS WERE COMMON IN SOUTH CAROLINA. WE ARE READY TO DO BUSINESS WITH YOU. BUT IN THE 90S, OTHER PLANTS OPENED AND AUTOMAKER BMW BUILT A PLANT IN GREER. THE FIRST CARS ROLLED OFF THE ASSEMBLY LINE IN SEPTEMBER OF 1994. THE 90S ALSO BROUGHT ONE OF OUR AREA’S MOST NOTORIOUS MURDER CASES. I REMEMBER THE TRAGEDY OF IT. OF COURSE. I REMEMBER BELIEVING HER WHEN OTHER PEOPLE DID NOT. I WAS AS SHOCKED AS ANYBODY STANDING THERE. SUSAN SMITH OF UNION WAS CONVICTED OF DROWNING HER TWO YOUNG SONS IN 1994 THAT APPEARED TO BE AT LEAST A 727. IN 2001, DURING THE NINE OVER 11 TERRORIST PLANE CRASH, I WAS JUST STRUCK IN AWE BY ALL THE ASPHALT AND THE CONCRETE AND THE PEOPLE MOVING SCORES OF PEOPLE FROM OUR AREA TRAVELED NORTH TO HELP. THERE IS NO DOUBT THE STREETS OF NEW YORK ARE NOT THE SAME AS THE STREETS OF THE UPSTATE. IN FACT, FOR MOST OF THE PEOPLE ON THIS MISSION, THIS WAS THEIR FIRST TRIP TO THE BIG CITY. NEARLY 3000 PEOPLE DIED IN THE TWIN TOWERS ATTACK ALONE BACK IN GREENVILLE, THE CAMPERDOWN BRIDGE WAS REMOVED IN 2002 AND IN ITS PLACE CAME FALLS PARK. ONE OF THE MANY DEVELOPMENTS THAT HELPED MAKE GREENVILLE A DESTINATION AGAIN. IN NOVEMBER OF 2016, A DECADES LONG. SPREE OF MURDER, RAPE AND KIDNAPING CAME TO AN END WITH THE ARREST OF TODD KOHLHEPP IN SPARTANBURG COUNTY. IT’S ONLY BY GOD’S GRACE WE FOUND OUT THAT THAT LITTLE GIRL ALIVE, A WOMAN, WAS FOUND CHAINED IN A CONTAINER ON HIS PROPERTY. BODIES BURIED NEARBY AMONG COAL HEAPS. KNOWN VICTIMS FOR PEOPLE KILLED 12 YEARS EARLIER IN A CHESNEE MOTORCYCLE SHOP. TODD KOHLHEPP IS SERVING LIFE IN PRISON. I WISH THIS WOULD NEVER HAPPEN. I DON’T I DON’T EXACTLY KNOW WHY I DID THIS. JESSE OSBORNE IS IN PRISON TOO. IN SEPTEMBER OF 2016, THE THEN 14 YEAR OLD SHOT THREE STUDENTS AND A TEACHER AT TOWNVILLE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL. AFTER SHOOTING AND KILLING HIS FATHER. SIX YEAR OLD JACOB HALL. LATER DIED IN THE HOSPITAL IN FEBRUARY OF 2018, WORLD FAMOUS EVANGELIST BILLY GRAHAM DIED AT HIS HOME IN MONTREAT. HE WAS 99 YEARS OLD. THE 2020S WERE USHERED IN WITH A WORLDWIDE PANDEMIC AND BY FAR THIS IS DEFINITELY THE THE WORST YEAR THAT THAT I’VE EVER EXPERIENCED. AS THE GREENVILLE COUNTY CORONER, THE COVID 19 VIRUS PROMPTED MASK MANDATES, QUARANTINE LINES AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF VACCINES. THERE WILL BE NO MOMENT IN YOUR PRESENCE FOR ALL THE SAME. BUT IN MAY OF 2022, THE WORD WAS UNITY. GREENVILLE’S NEWEST PARK OPENED ON THE FORMER SITE OF TWO SEGREGATED PARKS. ITS NAME IS UNITY PARK, AND SO IT’S AN OPPORTUNITY FOR US TO BE ABLE TO COME TOGETHER AND GET PAST WHAT HAS DIVIDED US IN THE PAST TO A PLACE WHERE WE CAN BE UNITED TOGETHER MORE THAN PLAYGROUNDS AND WATER PARK, WALKING TRAILS AND BALLPARKS, THE PARK SYMBOLIZED A SENSE OF COMMUNITY. SO WE’RE SO EXCITED TO BE HERE. THE DONATIONS HAVE BEEN COMING IN ALL THROUGHOUT THE MORNING, CELEBRATING 70 YEARS BY GIVING BACK TO THE COMMUNITIES WE SERVE. YOU NEVER KNOW WHO’S EXPERIENCING FOOD INSECURITY. AARON BAKER AND DESTINY CHANCE