CHANNEL 4 SCOOPS NBC ON SHUTTLE
KNBC-TV Channel 4 in Los Angeles scooped its own network Tuesday with live coverage of the Space Shuttle launch and subsequent explosion.
Local viewers of Channel 4 and of Cable News Network witnessed the shuttle launch, which all three commercial networks had chosen not to air live.
KNBC with correspondent Kent Shocknek, who had covered nine previous shuttle launches, broke into NBC’s morning “Today” program 35 seconds before the launch at 8:38 a.m. (PST). The explosion came less than two minutes later.
Shocknek said he was providing a voice-over to the video pictures when, just before the explosion, “It was easy to see that things were not as they normally are.
“It was shocking to see this thing explode right before your eyes.”
Shocknek said KNBC chose to cover the blastoff because of the “overriding importance of the aerospace industry” in the region.
CNN, the 24-hour all-news network, carries all shuttle launches.
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