All the News

All ABC-owned stations were to start taking news seriously and beef up their operation. Economically, it made great sense in the long run. But it also eventually brought an end to an era of unique, locally developed commercial television programming. In addition to developing much more of its own programming, the ABC Network was willing to take risks.

In 1966, they aired a very controversial film: Lolita, a milder and earlier version of the 1998 film. It starred Sue Lyons, James Mason, Shelley Winters and Peter Sellers. The movie earned WXYZ a 70 percent share, an astonishing leap for a station that until then had always been in third place. But news was pushing ahead as a dominant force in the network, and at Channel Seven, the still miniature news operation was handled by Bill Fyffe, a Pival pick. He was a hard news-oriented news director who would become a key player in the future of the station. Dick Femmel for years and years had been the only newsman at the station. He was a reporter, anchor and news director.

Sports got higher billing with Don Wattrick as announcer of Lions games and college games. The Detroit scene in the 1960s was scenes of fun and high hopes, good times, prosperity. Motown was beginning to enjoy its success. Cars such as GTOs and Mustangs began making their appearances along Woodward and Jefferson on Saturday nights. Martin Luther King was attracting northerners to civil rights issues in the south and many Detroiters were responding, as was the UAW which financed much of his movement. Not all the news was dead serious.

By the mid 60s, the war in Vietnam was beginning to draw opposition. As Channel 7 expanded its news coverage it hired a young reporter from radio who would one day come to dominate news in Detroit for a generation. Bill Bonds was a radio reporter and got a call one day saying that they needed a part-time booth announcer. While Bill was there, the news anchor got sick and he was asked to substitute. While Bill was filling in, Fyffe decided he really had something that worked on TV. At the time, the news staff was Barney Morris and Bonds. Herrington was hired from Flint TV by Fyffe and by the time the riots broke out there were only three street reporters and Bonds and Morris in studio.

It was extraordinary, because here was little Channel 7 with only three reporters but it was the only station that was really in the riots and covering them -- along with the Free Press. Other stations had been asked to NOT cover or were solely attending press conferences. The riots led to powerful, harrowing footage and illustrated the very dangerous, dramatic and courageous coverage by Ken Thomas, Herrington, Mike Kalush, Dave Diles and others.

Bob Hynes had been hired as morning show host, the morning show being a John Pival concept. But one of the components was news. So when the rioting began they went down to 12th Street to do a segment from the devastation. As Hynes was reporting a shot rang out right behind them. They all hit the floor and got into a car and got out of the area. The riots lasted another six days. When the riots were finally over and they got a chance to breathe, they all could feel in their bones what they had done.

That single news event propelled Channel Seven into prominence in Detroit for the next 25 years.