I was only 5 years old, but I can remember how sad my mom was. I had never seen her like that. During the funeral I wanted go outside and play, but she insisted I stay and watch the funeral, which I did.
I was 4 1/2 and sitting on the floor in front of the TV. I wasn't paying attention until my mother reacted to the announcement. I started paying attention to the "news" ever since.
Jay Watson's local WFAA TV bulletin in the Dallas-Fort Worth viewing area was NOT the first bulletin broadcast concerning the JFK shooting. Watson came on the air at 12:45 pm CST (15 minutes after the shooting). But Walter Cronkite already had broadcast the first CBS network TV bulletin five minutes before Watson at 12:40 pm CST (or 1:40 pm EST). Nevertheless Watson and his colleagues at WFAA Channel 8 did a marvelous job of covering the story.
I've spent a lot of time thinking about this and wondering what the truth was. I've read studies and seen countless re-enactments. I've attended lectures. I've read books. I have even conducted my own simulations. I can now confidently say I know the truth: Zippers and buttons in no way make a hood easier to put on or take off.
My God, I was not born yet in 1963 (not until 1980) and this absolutely sends chills up my spine every time I watch. I cannot even imagine what people who were watching TV were thinking when they heard, "The president has been cut down by assassins' bullets..."
Can you imagine the shock that viewers in Dallas must have experienced hearing this for the first time on their local station? Would have just been incredible.
At the Book Depository Museum you can buy a DVD entitled "The Story Behind the Story," and it has this as well as most of the coverage from WFAA (the station that produced this). It's a very interesting collection.
@jwmellott I think this bulletin aired on WFAA at 12:35 P.M. Central time (1:35 Eastern time), which would make it five minutes before the first network TV bulletin (on CBS at 12:40 CST/1:40 EST). I believe the first NBC and ABC TV network bulletins were around 1:43 or 1:45 EST. But on the other hand, I think ABC and NBC weren't feeding programs on the East Coast, whereas CBS was (with "As The World Turns"). That may have been a factor.
One of our nation's saddest and tragic moments, that actually turned out to be one of the most defining moments in broadcast journalism and patriotism. It's been almost 50 years now since Jack died, and the further it becomes, the lesser the likeliness that we'll ever come up with an answer to what really happened. May he, Bobby, and Ted all rest in peace.
He was actually along the parade route and saw the president go by then heard the shots a few seconds afterwards and then probabaly dashed back to his station.
@altfactor You are wrong. This bulletin by WFAA TV did not air until 12:45 pm CST. This is easily verifiable if one possesses the entire WFAA TV coverage, which I do. This WFAA TV bulletin was NOT the first Kennedy shooting bulletin that was broadcast that day.
The Cuban missile crisis, the assassination of Kennedy, the civil rights movement, the ascendancy of the Beatles, the moon landing, the Woodstock Music and Art Festival,the Viet Nam War -- all these things are associated subconsciously in the minds of many people because of their chronological proximity and political inter-relatedness. It was the end of the fifties and beginning of the Brave New World. That's how I saw it, anyway.
@recordingautist Zipper discussion: Just before this, Betsy (on the right) was describing women's ski clothes. The hostess asks what all the zippers are for - "not for mad money, are they?" Betsy says zippers can be anywhere they're needed,"to keep the snow out", for example. And then, of course, there's the important point about the zipper on the side of the jacket insuring "that straight, sleek look that it should have". Then that guy talks about the other stuff.
The claim that this is the first television bulletin is incorrect. The first television bulletin was on CBS at 12:40 CST and featured Walter Cronkite reading over a bulletin slide following the interruption of As The World Turns. The WFAA-TV interruption by Program Director Jay Watson was, according to the station log, at 12:45.
What do you guys think about this?!! I was born in 1971........However, any mention of JFK causes my antennas to go up. There is something about President Kennedy that either fascinates or spooks me. He was a great President...I get it. But I just don't understand why I am so consumed by him...any thoughts?!!
Kennedy was a man on a mission for peace after the scary Cuba missile situation in Oct. 1962. That change to a peaceful co-existence with the Soviet Union and Cuba scared the war-hawks in the Pentagon and intelligence agencies, as they would not get to have a first nuclear strike that was their dream. "Kennedy must be a traitor or secret Soviet sympathizer" (aka Communist) since he did not want to kill tens of millions in the USSR, and more tens of millions dead in the U.S. with their retaliatory nuclear bombs. That was the insane thinking by the war-mongers in 1961-63, as Kennedy himself exclaimed: "Are they crazy" when presented with the nutty March 1962 Operation Northwoods plan by the military Joint Chiefs in having false flag attacks on Miami with U.S. imposters in Cuban uniforms, so war could be declared and nuke Cuba, plus killing Castro. This was the war insanity over Cuba and the USSR with only Kennedy standing in the way of a first strike to kill as many of them as possible. Gen. Curtis LeMay (Air Force chief) was the worst war-crazy person, but the other service chiefs were not any better. Kennedy repeatedly rejected their war-crazy plans to mass murder Cubans and/or Russians, plus the nuclear radiation unleashed by all the nukes would have sickened or killed hundreds of millions more for decades! Plus, a nuclear winter in absorbing the Sun's rays causing a massive cold spell that would result in low growth of food crops starving hundreds of millions around the world!
This must have been a shock for viewers. One minute they're watching some mundane discussion about zippers on clothing, and the next second they hear the President was cut down by an assassin's bullets. The lady talking about zippers looks to be appearing on a local talk show. Stuff like that was usually broadcast live. After she was cut-off midsentence, someone probably told her she could go home now. They wouldn't be talking about zippers anymore.
This is in fact a genuine news flash. Note the cigarette in Jay Watson's hand....things were quite different back then. This was not a national flash..rather a local Dallas station.
@altfactor Local stations are often beaten to the punch by the networks especially in national emergencies like presidential shootings. The ABC radio network with anchor Don Gardiner was first on the air at 12:36 pm CST. The first TV bulletin was by the CBS television network with anchor Walter Cronkite (voice only, at first) at 12:40 pm CST. So kingdaevid is simply wrong when he assumes that this WFAA TV bulletin was the first one that day; it did not air until 12:45 pm CST (easily verifiable).
NOTHING IS WHAT IT SEEMED... JFK DEATH THREAT, SO JACKIE AND MR AND MRS CONNALY BODY DOUBLES ARE USED.... AGENT NOT SEEN ON LIMO BY JAY OR HE WOULD HAVE ANNOUNCED WHAT HE SAW.... ATOPSY SHOW SLASHED THROAT...
Darrin Holub - Cronkite confirmed his death, that's why that's used in almost every single JFK documentary in existence. This is just a serious interruption informing the people people watching what has happened minutes after Kennedy was shot.
@recordingautist Hey, Nick, in one way I love your wit, but as a young person you can't share the poignant feeling of someone like myself who heard that news as a 16 year-old on a November evening in 1963 in Dublin, Ireland. The cliche is true, all those of us alive at the time have remembered where we were when we learnt of the assassination. I caught a fleeting glimpse of President Kennedy when he visited Ireland earlier that year...
Jay Watson, WFAA Program Director, witnessed the presidential motorcade and the subsequent shooting. He and Jerry Haines, "Mr. Peppermint" host, were on the air IMMEDIATELY after returning to the studios with their eyewitnesses, Bill and Gayle Newman.
I sort of know how he feels. I felt the same on assasination of Benazir Bhutto in December. I am a Pakistani, even though I was not a supporter of Mrs Bhutto, I was truly shocked and dazed at how brutally she had been killed. I am sure most Americans felt the same way.
@petequentin - I think Jay was the program director for WFAA at the time and held that post until 1966. I do know he later worked for Storer Broadcasting in the '70s and was general manager of Detroit's then-CBS, now-Fox affiliate, WJBK-TV. And despite the fact that he probably wasn't used to being in front of the camera, he did do a fine job. As for the smoking... 1963 was a different era, and probably Jay and his cohorts needed the cigarettes anyway. Give him a break, people.
This bulletin may have not been the VERY first one, but it carries a special weight because Jay Watson had actually seen the shooting taking place and knew how serious it was. He was out of breath from running back to the station. He does a good job considering he was only the station's program director and probably not used to being on camera. Jay later worked for WJBK-TV in Detroit in the '70s and '80s. He died in 1995.
As for the smoking, there's plenty of smoking on-set if you watch the NBC and ABC network coverage as well. Cigarette ads on TV and radio weren't outlawed until 1971 and a lot of ads (especially in the '40s and '50s) actually touted the supposed health BENEFITS of smoking. And after all, I don't think anyone would have begrudged Jay Watson a cig considering the enormous amount of stress he (and every other newsman in America) was likely under at the time.
compare the number of bystanders in the Nix v. Zapruder films, particularly after the kill shot /watch?v=gWEXZyMJMtA JFK Assassination Stabilized Motion Panorama HD Nix v Zapruder see also /watch?v=-g7qhn7KFDs JFK Zapruder 18fps no interpolated frames HD stabilized motion panorama
I was eight years old then. We were visiting in North Carolina because my grandmother was on her deathbed (she passed away the next month). All the family was already depressed, and then my uncle came home and told us that President Kennedy had just been killed.
I was four and my family was going to visit The Bronx Zoo. My parents already knew about the shooting. When we got to the zoo, we noticed a small sign on the locked gate. My father got out of our VW bus to go and read the sign. When he returned, he quietly said that the zoo was closed because the president had been killed.
Nice answer to a direct question, KenfromDublin. Let's hear a real answer. By the way everything I stated was not an opinion, but FACT, a word JFK conspiracy buffs despise.
I'm an independent researcher for the JFK assassination, and I must say that I'm appalled by all of the information I found, our own president killed by our own government.
They heard several gunshots fired it doesn't mean all bullets connected. It has been proven that one bullet could have done the damage the autopsy showed.
@feckingbillgates As this was lunchtime, the television would have contained programmes aimed at women. A modern equivalent in Britain now would be if the Prime Minister was assasinated, then ITN would cut into This Morning, a female oriented magazine show where fashion is a big feature.
0:21 The way it was badly cut in gives goosebumps.
TV handovers are too perfect now. This got your attention.
No speculation, no personal views, just pure facts. This is how the news used to be.
I was only 5 years old, but I can remember how sad my mom was. I had never seen her like that. During the funeral I wanted go outside and play, but she insisted I stay and watch the funeral, which I did.
I was 4 1/2 and sitting on the floor in front of the TV. I wasn't paying attention until my mother reacted to the announcement.
I started paying attention to the "news" ever since.
Yes, same here. I was 5 and remember that weekend so well.
Yeah. Just talking and describing events, more or less accurately and without any political spin or agenda. In black and white, no less!
This is pure news. This is how they should be done.
HE LIES....COVERED UP SEEING AGENT ON LIMO...OR THE SHOOTING IS A ILLUSION....
yes
Jay Watson's local WFAA TV bulletin in the Dallas-Fort Worth viewing area was NOT the first bulletin broadcast concerning the JFK shooting. Watson came on the air at 12:45 pm CST (15 minutes after the shooting). But Walter Cronkite already had broadcast the first CBS network TV bulletin five minutes before Watson at 12:40 pm CST (or 1:40 pm EST). Nevertheless Watson and his colleagues at WFAA Channel 8 did a marvelous job of covering the story.
I've spent a lot of time thinking about this and wondering what the truth was. I've read studies and seen countless re-enactments. I've attended lectures. I've read books. I have even conducted my own simulations. I can now confidently say I know the truth: Zippers and buttons in no way make a hood easier to put on or take off.
Lmao
Perfect!
Love it! Great comedic genius!
My God, I was not born yet in 1963 (not until 1980) and this absolutely sends chills up my spine every time I watch. I cannot even imagine what people who were watching TV were thinking when they heard, "The president has been cut down by assassins' bullets..."
Can you imagine the shock that viewers in Dallas must have experienced hearing this for the first time on their local station? Would have just been incredible.
The days of real journalists
Thank you for posting this. I had not seen it before.
I wanted to hear more about the zipper.
Why?
that announcer handled himself really well considering the circumstances
fascinating footage
At the Book Depository Museum you can buy a DVD entitled "The Story Behind the Story," and it has this as well as most of the coverage from WFAA (the station that produced this). It's a very interesting collection.
@bkj333 Thanks for the correction.
Given that this was from a Dallas TV station, I thought that they would have had the news prior to any network.
amazing clip
@heycomeandgetit As noted elsewhere, I think this bulletin aired in Dallas at 12:35 CST, which would be 1:35 EST.
@jwmellott I think this bulletin aired on WFAA at 12:35 P.M. Central time (1:35 Eastern time), which would make it five minutes before the first network TV bulletin (on CBS at 12:40 CST/1:40 EST).
I believe the first NBC and ABC TV network bulletins were around 1:43 or 1:45 EST. But on the other hand, I think ABC and NBC weren't feeding programs on the East Coast, whereas CBS was (with "As The World Turns"). That may have been a factor.
One of our nation's saddest and tragic moments, that actually turned out to be one of the most defining moments in broadcast journalism and patriotism. It's been almost 50 years now since Jack died, and the further it becomes, the lesser the likeliness that we'll ever come up with an answer to what really happened. May he, Bobby, and Ted all rest in peace.
dose anyone know the name of the show being played at begining
He was actually along the parade route and saw the president go by then heard the shots a few seconds afterwards and then probabaly dashed back to his station.
I wonder how many people were initially pissed off that their soap operas were interrupted.
This is the WFAA feed. I picked this up on ITunes a few years ago. This is good stuff. Zepuruder gets interviewed later on.
I saw this clip in a TV documentary about the coverage of the assassination. Very chilling. It was shown on a cable channel in the UK for teachers.
I was 11 and had stayed home from school that day. I remember it well.
Sadly missed still John ,Bobby and Martin
@altfactor You are wrong. This bulletin by WFAA TV did not air until 12:45 pm CST. This is easily verifiable if one possesses the entire WFAA TV coverage, which I do. This WFAA TV bulletin was NOT the first Kennedy shooting bulletin that was broadcast that day.
i wanna know about the god damn zippers.
That is GREAT !!!!
Especially the one in the sleeve.
OH MY GOD! I WANNA KNOW ABOUT DEM ZIPPERZ!!! PLLLZZZZZ!!!!!! >:cccccccc
The Cuban missile crisis, the assassination of Kennedy, the civil rights movement, the ascendancy of the Beatles, the moon landing, the Woodstock Music and Art Festival,the Viet Nam War -- all these things are associated subconsciously in the minds of many people because of their chronological proximity and political inter-relatedness. It was the end of the fifties and beginning of the Brave New World. That's how I saw it, anyway.
back in the days when the only way you found out about events was through television and/or radio - no Twitter
So sad. Historic.
@recordingautist Zipper discussion: Just before this, Betsy (on the right) was describing women's ski clothes. The hostess asks what all the zippers are for - "not for mad money, are they?" Betsy says zippers can be anywhere they're needed,"to keep the snow out", for example. And then, of course, there's the important point about the zipper on the side of the jacket insuring "that straight, sleek look that it should have".
Then that guy talks about the other stuff.
Does anyone know what station was this from?
What station is this and what city?
Could you please let me know which TV station was that?
Feli WFAA?
What a pro newsman.
The claim that this is the first television bulletin is incorrect. The first television bulletin was on CBS at 12:40 CST and featured Walter Cronkite reading over a bulletin slide following the interruption of As The World Turns. The WFAA-TV interruption by Program Director Jay Watson was, according to the station log, at 12:45.
What do you guys think about this?!! I was born in 1971........However, any mention of JFK causes my antennas to go up. There is something about President Kennedy that either fascinates or spooks me. He was a great President...I get it. But I just don't understand why I am so consumed by him...any thoughts?!!
I wasn't even around that time but same things happen to me.
O-O
Kennedy was a man on a mission for peace after the scary Cuba missile situation in Oct. 1962. That change to a peaceful co-existence with the Soviet Union and Cuba scared the war-hawks in the Pentagon and intelligence agencies, as they would not get to have a first nuclear strike that was their dream. "Kennedy must be a traitor or secret Soviet sympathizer" (aka Communist) since he did not want to kill tens of millions in the USSR, and more tens of millions dead in the U.S. with their retaliatory nuclear bombs. That was the insane thinking by the war-mongers in 1961-63, as Kennedy himself exclaimed: "Are they crazy" when presented with the nutty March 1962 Operation Northwoods plan by the military Joint Chiefs in having false flag attacks on Miami with U.S. imposters in Cuban uniforms, so war could be declared and nuke Cuba, plus killing Castro. This was the war insanity over Cuba and the USSR with only Kennedy standing in the way of a first strike to kill as many of them as possible. Gen. Curtis LeMay (Air Force chief) was the worst war-crazy person, but the other service chiefs were not any better. Kennedy repeatedly rejected their war-crazy plans to mass murder Cubans and/or Russians, plus the nuclear radiation unleashed by all the nukes would have sickened or killed hundreds of millions more for decades! Plus, a nuclear winter in absorbing the Sun's rays causing a massive cold spell that would result in low growth of food crops starving hundreds of millions around the world!
I believe this is how it aired on WFAA-TV in Dallas on that day.
Fascinating - note that he stated '...assassins bullets...' in the plural, we all know today that there were at least two assassins.
This must have been a shock for viewers. One minute they're watching some mundane discussion about zippers on clothing, and the next second they hear the President was cut down by an assassin's bullets. The lady talking about zippers looks to be appearing on a local talk show. Stuff like that was usually broadcast live. After she was cut-off midsentence, someone probably told her she could go home now. They wouldn't be talking about zippers anymore.
Whatever happened to Jay Watson? Is he still alive?
Died in 2001
This is in fact a genuine news flash. Note the cigarette in Jay Watson's hand....things were quite different back then. This was not a national flash..rather a local Dallas station.
@altfactor Local stations are often beaten to the punch by the networks especially in national emergencies like presidential shootings. The ABC radio network with anchor Don Gardiner was first on the air at 12:36 pm CST. The first TV bulletin was by the CBS television network with anchor Walter Cronkite (voice only, at first) at 12:40 pm CST. So kingdaevid is simply wrong when he assumes that this WFAA TV bulletin was the first one that day; it did not air until 12:45 pm CST (easily verifiable).
I've never seen this before. TV documentaries make it seem like Walter Cronkite (CBS) was the only one who made the announcement.
NOTHING IS WHAT IT SEEMED...
JFK DEATH THREAT, SO JACKIE AND MR AND MRS CONNALY BODY DOUBLES ARE USED.... AGENT NOT SEEN ON LIMO BY JAY OR HE WOULD HAVE ANNOUNCED WHAT HE SAW.... ATOPSY SHOW SLASHED THROAT...
+ALEISTER CROWLEY Are you ok? Your not making sense .
Jamey Summers neither does the JFK hoax...it's all lies.
Darrin Holub
Darrin Holub - Cronkite confirmed his death, that's why that's used in almost every single JFK documentary in existence. This is just a serious interruption informing the people people watching what has happened minutes after Kennedy was shot.
Sad day.
I KNOW YOU
There's a good one with Walter Cronkrite from CBS as well.
It terrifies me tot hink about what future "urgent" broadcasts we will have to watch.
WHAT ABOUT THE ARM ZIPPER???
Hey can I get permission to use this in a film?
Ask the person who posted this if they would let you use this because COPYRIGHT
He ran from the Plaza to the studio...so what was the distance between the two?
He's out of breath and yet, still has a cigarette going in his left hand.
They didn't know as much about cigarettes back then.
I think that's a microphone.
Mic in his right hand, cig in his left as he's holding the papers.
Different world back then.
Welcome to 1963
Such a sad day
WFAA-TV. Dallas, Texas.
What a time capsule...
Can only imagine what that must have been like watching that.
First reply from 12 years ago
@@Zeltonn Crazy huh? Feels like every other day this year is just as shocking and historical.
@@clemenceau16 yep
It is. That's Jay Watson reporting while smoking a cigarette.
What TV station is this? I don't think it's WFAA.
And that day has changed the course of history ever since.
I was about to make a call to buy the darn zipper.. Come on!
@recordingautist
Hey, Nick, in one way I love your wit, but as a young person you can't share the poignant feeling of someone like myself who heard that news as a 16 year-old on a November evening in 1963 in Dublin, Ireland.
The cliche is true, all those of us alive at the time have remembered where we were when we learnt of the assassination. I caught a fleeting glimpse of President Kennedy when he visited Ireland earlier that year...
Jay Watson, WFAA Program Director, witnessed the presidential motorcade and the subsequent shooting. He and Jerry Haines, "Mr. Peppermint" host, were on the air IMMEDIATELY after returning to the studios with their eyewitnesses, Bill and Gayle Newman.
I live this kind of stuff. Does anyone know the name of the news anchor?
I sort of know how he feels. I felt the same on assasination of Benazir Bhutto in December. I am a Pakistani, even though I was not a supporter of Mrs Bhutto, I was truly shocked and dazed at how brutally she had been killed. I am sure most Americans felt the same way.
@petequentin - I think Jay was the program director for WFAA at the time and held that post until 1966. I do know he later worked for Storer Broadcasting in the '70s and was general manager of Detroit's then-CBS, now-Fox affiliate, WJBK-TV.
And despite the fact that he probably wasn't used to being in front of the camera, he did do a fine job. As for the smoking... 1963 was a different era, and probably Jay and his cohorts needed the cigarettes anyway. Give him a break, people.
This bulletin may have not been the VERY first one, but it carries a special weight because Jay Watson had actually seen the shooting taking place and knew how serious it was. He was out of breath from running back to the station. He does a good job considering he was only the station's program director and probably not used to being on camera. Jay later worked for WJBK-TV in Detroit in the '70s and '80s. He died in 1995.
why oh why didn't they go back to resolve the issue about the zipper...
Old news.
Twitter reported 1 hour ago.
@HelenHish I know right? Fox News is the worst with this, declaring a "news alert" any time Angelina Jolie eats spaghetti.
Jay Watson - that's the name of this guy reading the bulletin.
I wish they would get back to the show they cut off, it seemed very interesting.
and we would never hear about zippers and the US Presidency again until Clinton came onto the scene
WELL PLAYED!!
how much sooner than the networks?
As for the smoking, there's plenty of smoking on-set if you watch the NBC and ABC network coverage as well. Cigarette ads on TV and radio weren't outlawed until 1971 and a lot of ads (especially in the '40s and '50s) actually touted the supposed health BENEFITS of smoking. And after all, I don't think anyone would have begrudged Jay Watson a cig considering the enormous amount of stress he (and every other newsman in America) was likely under at the time.
banned on TV and radio in 1963 where i live...billboards and cinemas in 1971...in magazines in 1991...sponsorship and shop signs in 1995.
@tryithere haven't
compare the number of bystanders in the Nix v. Zapruder films, particularly after the kill shot
/watch?v=gWEXZyMJMtA
JFK Assassination Stabilized Motion Panorama HD Nix v Zapruder
see also
/watch?v=-g7qhn7KFDs
JFK Zapruder 18fps no interpolated frames HD stabilized motion panorama
I have examined this at the time... takes a kid to figure it...
is he smoking? I saw what looks like cigarette smoke coming from his left hand
I was eight years old then. We were visiting in North Carolina because my grandmother was on her deathbed (she passed away the next month). All the family was already depressed, and then my uncle came home and told us that President Kennedy had just been killed.
There was journalism from the now legacy media back then.
what's this dude blathering on about? I WANT TO HEAR MORE ABOUT THE ZIPPERS!!!
Could be a connection there!
I was four and my family was going to visit The Bronx Zoo. My parents already knew about the shooting. When we got to the zoo, we noticed a small sign on the locked gate. My father got out of our VW bus to go and read the sign. When he returned, he quietly said that the zoo was closed because the president had been killed.
420SensiStar
It was called "The Judy Bonelle Show"
totally agree
Nice answer to a direct question, KenfromDublin. Let's hear a real answer. By the way everything I stated was not an opinion, but FACT, a word JFK conspiracy buffs despise.
just finish watching quantum leap and it had all those on there real good show
it was one of my favorites back in the early 90s, where have the good ol days of TV gone?
I ❤ Quantum Leap.
I have infact seen this footage before November 2003 the 40 year mark of the Kennedy assassination
Poor guy's hands are shaking and he looks like he's about to cry. I wouldn't have handled it any better.
Amazing
I'm an independent researcher for the JFK assassination, and I must say that I'm appalled by all of the information I found, our own president killed by our own government.
They heard several gunshots fired it doesn't mean all bullets connected. It has been proven that one bullet could have done the damage the autopsy showed.
The lady was talking about zippers in the sleeve of a woman's garment, probably a jacket.
Wtf!! When did this happen?! I’m always the last to know.
i thought he said assasin's. as in belonging to the assasin
The zippers!
@airscrew1 This is real. Spoofs are meant to be funny.
Your friend's Uncle was only 7 when he had a heart attack? How old was your friend?
heard two shots, eh?
@feckingbillgates
As this was lunchtime, the television would have contained programmes aimed at women. A modern equivalent in Britain now would be if the Prime Minister was assasinated, then ITN would cut into This Morning, a female oriented magazine show where fashion is a big feature.
"this morning" sounds like utter trash TV.