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NBC 5/KXAS Television News Collection, circa 1947 - 2002Add to your cart.View associated digital content.

By Laura Treat and Jaime Janda

Collection Overview

Title: NBC 5/KXAS Television News Collection, circa 1947 - 2002Add to your cart.View associated digital content.
ID: 01/ AR0776
Extent: 0.0
Arrangement: This collection is arranged into 15 series to reflect the different content created, acquired, and broadcast by the news station. Many film and video recordings are listed at the item level. Researchers are encouraged to refer to the Series listing below for a more complete description of the scope and content of each series.
Date Acquired: 00/00/2014. More info below under Accruals.
Languages: English

Scope and Contents of the Materials

This collection contains media created, acquired, and broadcast by NBC-5 (previously KXAS and WBAP-TV). The bulk of the collection consists of daily television news footage recorded on 16 mm film and a variety of videotape formats including 2" and 2" tape, 3/4" UMatic, Betacam, DVCPro, and DigiBeta. Although the station began broadcasting in 1948, the earliest known surviving daily news film is from 1951.

During the early 1950s, a day's broadcast for The Texas News consisted of a small number of stories that focused on events relevant to the Dallas-Fort Worth region including local politics, crime, and human interest stories. As the station continued broadcasting in the 1960s through the mid-1970s, the number of stories created and broadcast by the station increased, resulting in a larger number of materials from this time period. Many of the film reels contained in this collection are partially silent due to the practice of a news anchor reading a broadcast script on-air. Material includes full stories or news packages as well as b-roll, raw footage, and outtakes.

The station used material from the daily news reels to create special Year In Review programming that featured highlights from that year's news. This practice was sometimes documented with a label on the original film reel and it is sometimes indicated where the material was relocated to (e.g. "Diving Tiger in X-Mas 1961" or "LBJ Out"). Because of this practice, some stories were removed from their original broadcast reels and never returned. Some of this extracted footage appears in designated "Year In Review" reels.

During the 1970s, the station expanded its programming to include two television news magazine programs, "Inside Area 5" (IA-5) and "Texas '70s," both contained in this collection. Texas '70s was a monthly 30-minute program that featured reporters and camera operators traveling across the state of Texas to film stories about people and events unique to the state of Texas.This collection contains only production elements from the Texas '70s program, including A-Roll, B-Roll, soundtracks, credits, and outtakes. No known completed prints exist in the collection.

In 1976 - 1979, the station recorded news on both film and videotape. After that time,the station recorded news exclusively on videotape. This transition from film to videotape resulted in a larger number of stories and broadcasts. In the 1970s - 1980s, geographical coverage expanded beyond the immediate Dallas-Fort Worth area but remained largely focused on events and people from the state of Texas. As videotape and broadcast technology evolved in the 1990s and 2000s, the station began to broadcast more national and international news coverage. Videotaped materials include full stories or news packages as well as b-roll, raw footage, and outtakes.

This collection also includes station promotions and specials, local business commercials, and public service announcements. Athletic films include high school, college, and professional football as well as coverage of the Colonial National Invitation golf tournaments. A portion of this collection remains unprocessed including 2" and 1" videotape and sound recordings. Some materials not listed here have been temporarily removed due to advanced deterioration.

Collection Historical Note

In 1946 Amon G. Carter filed permits with the Federal Communications Commission to construct a television station in Fort Worth, Texas. The NBC affiliate, WBAP-TV, would be the first local television station broadcast in Texas. Carter was already well-known in the publishing world as the owner of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and radio station WBAP. The station first broadcast on September 29, 1948 when they recorded President Harry S. Truman's campaign stop in Fort Worth. This first broadcast also included speeeches by Amon Carter and station manager Harold Hough as well as a dedication film from NBC.

In the first years of local television, the station achieved a number of historic firsts including the first professional weather reportig program in the Southwest (1949) the first color broadcast for NBC (1954), and the first station in Texas to feature all color news film (1966). WBAP was stold to LIN Broadcasting on November 8, 1974 and became known as KXAS-TV. The station continued to achieve a number of historic firsts including being the first station to have live intercontinental satellite report (1977), the first commercial network to institute stereocasting (1985), and the first Texas station to debut closed-caption newscasts (1989). In 1998, KXAS became and owned and operated  station and became known as NBC-5 and continues to broadcast daily television news.

Access Information

Access Restrictions:

This collection is not restricted.

Use Restrictions:

Reproduction and publication of materials in this collection are subject to the policies of the UNT Special Collections department. Copyright restrictions may apply.

Physical Access Note:

This collection is stored off‐site and require a minimum of 24 hour notice prior to use.

Technical Access Note:

Due to the fragile condition of the original film and video contained in this collection, only digital access copies are made available to researchers. To make a digitization request, please submit a Reproduction & Digitization Request.

Reading Room or Duplication Requests

Depending on any access restrictions noted above, you may be able to request items be delivered to our reading room, or that we make reproductions for you. Just click on either the or icons in the listings below to be routed to our request form.

Administrative Information

Repository: University of North Texas Special Collections
Accruals: 2014-02
Acquisition Source: NBC 5/KXAS
Related Materials:

NBC 5/KXAS Photograph Collection

NBC 5/KXAS News Scripts

NBC 5/KXAS News Morgue Records

For more information please see https://texashistory.unt.edu/explore/collections/KXAS/.
Preferred Citation: NBC 5/KXAS Television News Collection, University of North Texas Special Collections

Box and Folder Listing
Series 1: Daily News Film, 1951-04-13 - 1979-08-01Series 2: Inside Area Five (IA-5), 1973-02-21 - 1976-01-08Series 3: Year In Review, 1952 - 1974Series 4: Texas '70s, 1970-01-29-1974-11-01Series 5: Pompeii Elements, undatedSeries 6: Miscellaneous Film, circa 1947 - circa 1979; undatedSeries 7: Color Negative TransfersSeries 8: Station Promotionals and Specials, circa 1963 - 1983Series 9: Advertisements and Public Service Announcements, 1954 - 1966Series 10: High School Football, 1971 - 1974Series 11: College Football, 1955 - 1975Series 12: Dallas Cowboys Football, 1970 - 1978Series 13: Miscellaneous Sports Films, 1952 - 1976Series 14: Engineering Test Films, 1949 - 1952Series 15: Daily News Video, 1976-12-14 - 2002-11-18All

The listing below is a partial representation of this finding aid's total contents. To see other series/containers, select an option in Browse by Series, above.

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