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David Witherspoon, Paul Montgomery & Fred Fletcher

Capitol Broadcasting Launching Effort to Collect History

  • Angie Emerline
  • January 27, 2014
  • News
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David Witherspoon, Paul Montgomery & Fred Fletcher
The photo with David Witherspoon, Paul Montgomery and Fred Fletcher was probably taken in the late 50s or early 60s. Fred was the President of WRAL-TV, Paul was the legendary “Uncle Paul,” and David Witherspoon was WRAL-TV’s first Promotions and Public Relations Director. These guys used to perform live on television all the time and this was an example.

Over the last ten years or so various CBC employees have worked to gather materials and information about CBC history.   Among them – legends like former CBC Vice Presidents Paul Pope and the late Ben Waters.  Upon his return to CBC last year, now Corporate Director of Special Projects John Harris took over the job and he’s leading the effort to create a website devoted entirely to CBC’s history.

Some of the major steps of the project are already underway.  Last fall we sent off more than a thousand legacy videotapes to a company in Atlanta that specializes in transferring old media to digital files.  We just received 650 files back containing everything from old children’s programming to long-forgotten interviews and specials.

We’re working with a web design company now to create the look and functionality of the history site.

“The history site will be laid out in four general content categories:  People, Programs, Community Involvement and Technology,” explained Harris.  “CBC has some wonderful stories to tell in all those areas.”

We’ve been recording “Oral History” interviews with former employees who can tell the CBC story from a first-hand perspective.  We plan to shoot a lot more of these in the months to come.

“The history site will be a living, breathing database of content that we’ll update and build on into the future.  CBC covers history in the making every day, so this is just a starting point for a wonderful archive that will continue to grow.”

We’re gathering old photos, scripts, documents and mementos from anyone who has them.  If you have anything you can contribute, please contact John Harris at jharris@cbc-raleigh.com.

“It’s been exciting to work on the CBC History project.  It’s a great fit for an old WRAL News Director who loves history and storytelling.”

Stay tuned for progress on this important step in archiving and preserving CBC’s history.

WRAL-TV production trucks
The production truck fleet is probably from the late 50s or early 60s. Note how everyone wore uniforms! Wonder where those are today – our live truck operators would look good in them!
Bette Elliott
Bette Elliott was WRAL’s “Woman’s Director” and was host of the daily program “Femme Fare.” Bette joined the station in 1963 after more than a decade writing for the Raleigh Times. Her program dealt with everything from cooking, fashion and exercise to author interviews.
Charlie Gaddy
Good Morning Charlie was of course the first television program that Charlie Gaddy hosted when he joined WRAL-TV in 1970. This was a call-in show and Charlie used to begin many shows by singing a song!
David Witherspoon, Paul Montgomery & Fred Fletcher
The photo with David Witherspoon, Paul Montgomery and Fred Fletcher was probably taken in the late 50s or early 60s. Fred was the President of WRAL-TV, Paul was the legendary “Uncle Paul,” and David Witherspoon was WRAL-TV’s first Promotions and Public Relations Director. These guys used to perform live on television all the time and this was an example.
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