CBS RADIO NEWS AT 1 A M , NOV 24, 1969

First 90 seconds of the CBS Radio News at 1 a.m., Nov. 24, 1969, with legendary CBS reporter Allan Jackson (1916-1976). Includes information on Apollo 12 approaching splash-down, Vietnam War news including first report on the investigation into the My Lai Massacre, and the signing of a US-USSR Nuclear Arms Treaty (reported by Dan Rather), with the voice of President Richard Nixon.

[@altfactor]

I think this was actually the 1 P.M. EST newscast and not 1 A.M., since I recall that Apollo 12 splashed-down late in the afternoon (around 4 P.M. eastern time) of November 24th, 1969 (after I had come home from school)

[@mytimemachine]

Hmmm, that's a puzzler. My notes have I recorded this at 1 a.m., but could be wrong. I checked and you are correct as to when Apollo 12 splashed down--I was probably glued to the TV at that moment. The problem is I recorded this from WCBS while I was in southern New Hampshire and usually wasn't able to pick up the New York signal that far away from WCBS until after sundown. I checked back at the original reel-to-reel tape but it offered no help--same time logged there. I wonder if there's a way to check with the other news items in the report? Like the My Lai report--did that break on the 23rd (which it would have been to make the 1 a.m. news) or the 24th, which would indicate more likely this was recorded that afternoon.

[@altfactor]

@@mytimemachine I live just south of Boston, and on my better AM radios, I can get WCBS-AM during the day.
Additionally, back in 1969, WAMG in the Boston area (which broadcasts on 890) didn't yet exist, so WCBS-AM's daytime signal didn't have to worry about interference on the frequency next-door and might (1) have been picked-up on AM radios in the Boston area that today would have trouble trying to get WCBS-AM during daytime hours, (2) could be heard more clearly during daytime hours on better AM radios in the Boston area than today, and, (3) might have penetrated further north into more of New England during daylight hours than it would today (again, with no 890 in Boston).

[@mytimemachine]

I'm leaning toward believing you are correct. During the winter months I was more likely to get a strong AM signal coming in from afar during the day that I otherwise couldn't get during the summer. In an upload of airchecks I recorded in December 1969, you can hear that I was able to get WKBW during the day--again, rare but not impossible in the winter. The oddity of WCBS coming in so strong during the day may have been the reason I recorded that newscast. Of course, I'm pressing my memory back nearly 50 years on this one. Some of my recordings are preceded or followed by a brief comment by me specifically giving the day and time, but I didn't on this one. I could've been rushing off to watch Cronkite report on the splashdown of Apollo 12!